New_England_Football_League

New England Football League

New England Football League

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The New England Football League (NEFL) is a semi-professional american football league based in Salisbury, Massachusetts and owned by Thomas Torrisi.[1] It is the largest semi-professional league in New England.[2] The NEFL was founded in 1994 and was also known as the Greater Lawrence Men's Football League.[3] In 2023, it comprises nine teams, down from a recent high of 32, with about 2,000 players.

Quick Facts Formerly, Sport ...

Since 2021, the NEFL has had single-A, and AA Conferences, with annual promotion and relegation among Conferences based on game results, so that the best teams work their way toward the AA level.

The league provides competitive football for adult players. It is a "working man's league", as most players have regular jobs during the week.[4][5] Teams practice on weeknights and play virtually all games on weekends.[2] Players are not paid for their participation, but they often pay $200 to be on the team's roster.[2][5] The league runs from July through September, followed by single-elimination championship tournaments within each Conference. Each team can dress up to 55 players.[6]

The league is unrelated to the original NEFL, which operated from 1964 to 1969.[7]

League history

The New England Football League was founded in 1994 by League President and Director of Marketing, Tom Torrisi, Chairman Matt Brien, Commissioner Bob Oreal, Vice-President and Treasurer John Motta and Secretary Christine Torrisi.[2] It started its 1994 season with four teams. By 1997, the number of teams tripled to twelve; in 2002, the league had at least one team in each New England state, and started its three-conference alignment with three different skill levels, one for each conference. The 2006 was the first season with at least 30 teams, making the NEFL one of the largest semi-pro football leagues in the country.

Game rules

The NEFL describes its rule set as "modified NCAA rules". Most rules are adopted from the NCAA rulebook, but there are also a few NFL rules and NEFL-specific rules. Games use a free-running clock until five minutes left in either half or overtime, at which time the clock stops according to NFL rules. Game time is usually kept by an official on the field, but for some games is kept on the scoreboard by a paid, uniformed official operating it.

Current teams

North Atlantic Conference (AA) (2023)

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Maritime Conference (A) (2023)

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League champions

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References

  1. [1]
    "North Shore Generals Football - League Information". north-shore-generals.com.
  2. [2]
    "Love of the game drives semipro football players - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. 2015-07-26. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  3. [3]
    "New England Football League - Champions". www.semiprofootball.org. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  4. [4]
    Gasper, Christopher L. (2004-08-29). "Blue-collar bruisers". Boston.com. Retrieved 2015-12-12.
  5. [5]
    "Semipro football players in it for love of the game - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. 2014-09-09. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  6. [6]
    COLLINS, ED. "Foundation set for South Coast Outlaws semi-pro football team". southcoasttoday.com. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  7. [7]
    William J. Ryczek. Connecticut Gridiron: Football Minor Leaguers of the 1960s and 1970s, McFarland & Company, 2014. ISBN 0786478330
  8. [8]
    THOMAS, BUDDY. "McCann has Clippers 'D' primed for title game". southcoasttoday.com. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  9. [9]
    Correspondent, Rob Duca. "SOUTH COAST OUTLAWS: The boys are back in town". Wicked Local Wareham. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
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