AFL Hunter Central Coast


The AFL Hunter Central Coast is an Australian rules football competition in the Newcastle, Hunter Region and Central Coast regions of New South Wales.
The Black Diamond Australian Football league was formed in 2000 and ran until the end of the 2018 season. Following the end of the 2018 season, the league was disbanded and a new league under the AFL NSW/ACT banner was formed; AFL Hunter Central Coast. Teams in the AFLHCC's top division still play for the Black Diamond Cup.

History

Foundation

The league was formed in 2000 from a merger of the Newcastle Australian Football League and the Central Coast Australian Football League.
The proposition of an alternate competition started from rumblings during the 1990s that both competitions were dreadfully uneven and it was generally considered the administration, although keen and resolute, was far from what was needed to sustain a viable football league/s.
Visits from AFL executives to both the Newcastle and Central Coast took place during the 1999 season where they addressed meetings of delegates to look at alternatives to their contemporary competitions. It turns out these people were more interested in a proposed regional Club to participate in the Sydney Competition.
This proposal didn't address the concerns of the general situation of the local competitions. As there was no follow-up by the AFL both boards issued invitations to senior officials of all clubs to discuss the options for the future.
A meeting was held at Mt Penang, Kariong in October 1999 where it was decided to merge both leagues to create a stronger more balanced competition.
The name "Black Diamond AFL" derives from the Black Diamond Cup which has been awarded to the Newcastle AFL Premiers since 1888.

League development

The Black Diamond AFL were successful in winning the Southern NSW AFL Championships in 2007, defeating the Riverina Football League.
In 2008 both Woy Woy and Singleton were removed from the First Grade competition and Lake Macquarie Crows were promoted to First Grade, meaning nine clubs competed for the premiership.
In 2011, Singleton returned to first grade, after winning the reserve premierships for 2009 and 2010. Nelson Bay however will only compete in Reserve Grade. Woy Woy, now known as the Peninsula Swans, will compete as a joint venture with the Gosford Tigers, allowing players at both clubs to compete in First Grade, Reserve Grade and Under 18s in 2011.
Gosford left the league in 2012, competing in the Sydney AFL for the next four seasons, before returning to the BDAFL in 2016.
The Maitland Saints also entered a senior side in 2012. From 2012, the competition was restructured to allowed clubs to enter teams across Premier, 1st, 2nd and 3rd divisions. This allowed smaller or newer clubs to field their firsts against the reserves or even third senior side of the stronger clubs.
Further clubs have joined the league in recent years, including Muswellbrook Cats and The Entrance Bateau Bay both entering senior sides 2014. Muswellbrook had competed from 1988 until 1994 in the Newcastle AFL, and then later in the Tamworth AFL until 2013.
A women's competition started in 2015. Wyong Lakes was the first and only Central Coast club to enter the inaugural women's competition, along with Hunter-based clubs Newcastle City, Nelson Bay, Maitland, Warners Bay and Lake Macquarie. Killarney Vale and Gosford fielded their inaugural women's teams the following year. In 2018 the Ladypies, as the team came to be known, became the first and only Central Coast team to make the grand final in the women's competition.
In 2018, junior club Port Stephens fielded a Women's team, their first senior team in the club's history and Wallsend was revived as Wallsend-West Newcastle and fielded a team in the Women's competition and a team in the Black Diamond Plate. The league was renamed AFL Hunter Central Coast following the conclusion of the 2018 season under the banner of AFL NSW/ACT.
The 2019 season saw Lake Macquarie, with only one senior team, drop down to Black Diamond Plate and Nelson Bay was also reduced to just one senior team but still continued to play in the Black Diamond Cup. Newcastle City also fielded one women's team that same year, as the previous two years the Blues had fielded two teams.

Senior Clubs

Former Clubs

Clubs with Juniors only

YearPremiersRunners UpScore
2000Terrigal-AvocaCardiffTA ' d CAR
2001West Newcastle-WallsendCardiffWEST ' d CAR
2002CardiffTerrigal-AvocaCAR ' d TA
2003Newcastle CityCardiffNC ' d CAR
2004CardiffTerrigal-AvocaCAR ' d TA
2005CardiffKillarney ValeCAR ' d KV
2006CardiffNewcastle CityCAR ' d NC
2007Killarney ValeNewcastle CityKV ' d NC
2008Newcastle CityCardiffNC ' d CAR
2009Newcastle CityCardiffNC ' d CAR
2010Newcastle CityCardiffNC ' d CAR
2011Newcastle CityCardiffNC ' d CAR
2012Terrigal-AvocaCardiffTA ' d CAR
2013Newcastle CityTerrigal-AvocaNC ' d TA
2014Terrigal-AvocaKillarney ValeTA ' d KV
2015Terrigal-AvocaNewcastle CityTA ' d NC
2016Newcastle CityTerrigal-AvocaNC ' d TA
2017Terrigal-AvocaCardiffTA ' d CAR
2018Newcastle CityTerrigal-AvocaNC ' d TA
2019Terrigal-AvocaNewcastle CityTA ' d NC

Premier division

2015 Ladder

2016 Ladder

2017 Ladder

2018 Ladder

2019 Ladder

Division One

2015 Ladder

2016 Ladder

2017 Ladder

2018 Ladder

2019 Ladder

Division Two

2015 Ladder

2016 Ladder

Black Diamond AFL Div 2WinsByesLossesDrawsForAgainst%PtsFinalTeamGBPtsTeamGBPts
Muswellbrook 14 0 0 0 1866 380 491.05% 56Elimination Warners Bay 5 5 35 Terrigal Avoca 3 12 30
The Entrance Bateau Bay 12 0 2 0 1286 443 290.29% 48Qualifying The Entrance Bateau Bay 9 9 63 Newcastle City 7 4 46
Newcastle City 10 0 4 0 1394 446 312.56% 401st Semi Warners Bay 9 9 63 Newcastle City 6 9 45
Terrigal Avoca 10 0 4 0 1181 636 185.69% 402nd Semi Muswellbrook 8 12 60 The Entrance Bateau Bay 9 5 59
Warners Bay 7 0 7 0 673 1085 62.03% 28Preliminary The Entrance Bateau Bay 22 11 143 Warners Bay 3 6 24
Gosford 6 0 8 0 823 1038 79.29% 24Grand The Entrance Bateau Bay 7 10 52 Muswellbrook 5 6 36
Maitland 6 0 8 0 650 1213 53.59% 24---------
Nelson Bay 4 0 10 0 870 1089 79.89% 16---------
Singleton 3 0 11 0 663 1536 43.16% 12---------
Killarney Vale 3 0 11 0 488 1341 36.39% 12---------
Wyong Lakes 2 0 12 0 550 1237 44.46% 8---------

2017 Ladder

After the 2017 season, the league was changed from having three senior men's grade to two, consisting of the Black Diamond Cup and Black Diamond Plate, onward from the 2018 season.

Black Diamond Women's football competition

2015 Ladder

An open age women's competition commenced in 2015. Initially starting with 6 teams the competition expanded to 10 the following year. The 2017 season saw 2 new teams and the 2018 season saw 16 teams.
Black Diamond AFLWinsByesLossesDrawsForAgainst%PtsFinalTeamGBPtsTeamGBPts
Nelson Bay 13 0 1 0 761 95 801.05% 521st Semi Warners Bay 11 9 75 Lake Macquarie 1 1 7
Newcastle City 12 0 2 0 703 125 562.40% 482nd Semi Nelson Bay 7 7 49 Newcastle City 4 1 25
Warners Bay 8 0 6 0 480 311 154.34% 32Preliminary Newcastle City 5 7 37 Warners Bay 4 6 30
Lake Macquarie 5 0 9 0 352 660 53.33% 20Grand Newcastle City 4 5 29 Nelson Bay 1 1 7
Wyong Lakes 3 0 11 0 277 502 55.18% 12---------
Maitland 1 0 13 0 148 1028 14.40% 4---------

2016 Ladder

2017 Ladder

2018 Ladder

2019 Ladder

Newcastle Central Coast Umpires Association

The Newcastle Central Coast Umpires Association provides umpires to the following competitions:
• AFL Hunter Coast ;
• AFL Hunter Coast:
The NCCUA not only provides umpires to these competitions but provides training and support to these umpires.
The NCCUA trains at the following locations, starting at 6pm:
Tuesdays - Lisarow Sports Ground, Lisarow
Wednesday - Tulkaba Park, Teralba
The Newcastle Central Coast Umpires Association is led by President Rachel Robinson, Treasurer Ashley Borg, Secretary, Tomas Steward and a committee of several umpires.
The current Umpire's Coach is Christine Burrows. She works across Junior and Senior Football umpiring pathways.
There are also several people who assist both Christine in various coaching and mentoring roles.