{"id":219871,"date":"2026-08-12T16:28:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T06:28:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/?p=219871"},"modified":"2026-08-12T16:28:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T06:28:24","slug":"new-sydney-football-league-sfl-to-commence-in-2027","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/2026\/08\/12\/new-sydney-football-league-sfl-to-commence-in-2027\/","title":{"rendered":"New Sydney Football League (SFL) to commence in 2027"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>NEW SOUTH Wales will have a premier state league in 2027, with the Sydney Football League (SFL) announced to start next season. The aim of the competition is to provide a clear second tier in the state similar to the QAFL Women&#8217;s, whereas previously talent had been split across multiple leagues headlined by AFL Sydney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following a review into the Greater Sydney pathways, the AFL determined the formation of the SFL will help to elevate the standard of football in the state, and define a clear and accessible premier pathway for players, coaches, umpires and officials. The review included recommendations and an extensive consultation process with the AFL Commission and Executive, AFL Sydney clubs, stakeholders and partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>AFL Chief Operating Officer <strong><em>Tom Harley<\/em><\/strong> said it was a positive move for the growth and quality of football in New South Wales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe AFL has a long-term commitment to grow Australian Rules Football in New South Wales, and the Sydney Football League represents a significant investment by the AFL in the state&#8217;s football landscape,&#8221; Harley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe depth of talent emerging from the state is undeniable. We are seeing more AFL and AFLW draftees from New South Wales, more local coaches progressing through the talent pathway and more officials making an impact across the game.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe SFL has been designed to support and accelerate that growth and will provide a clear and accessible pathway for those aspiring to reach the highest level.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is about ensuring New South Wales continues to produce elite football talent, while strengthening the foundations of the game for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The SFL will commence in April 2027, with the league including four divisions of Senior Mens, Senior Womens, Under 19.5 Mens and Under 20 Women. To support the elevated level of competition, teh AFL has granted a total of nine licences following a tender and assessment process, with the various teams split across Sydney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The clubs that will contest the inaugural 2027 SFL seasons are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>South West Sydney Blues (South West)&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>St. George Dragons (South)&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sydney University (City and Inner West)&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>UNSW Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs (East-Bayside)&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>UTS Bats (East Parkside)&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>North Shore Bombers (North Shore)&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Manly Warringah Wolves (Northern Beaches)&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pennant Hills Demons (North West)&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>East Coast Eagles (West)&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In another exciting announcement regarding the league, the SFL &#8216;Match of the Round&#8217; across Senior Mens and Senior Womens will be broadcast via Kayo Freebies on Kayo Sports when the competition commences in 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEW SOUTH Wales will have a premier state league in 2027, with the Sydney Football League (SFL) announced to start next season. The aim of the competition is to provide a clear second tier in the state similar to the QAFL Women&#8217;s, whereas previously talent had been split across multiple leagues headlined by AFL Sydney. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":219872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22176,22177,8,3129,15,137],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-219871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afl-sydney","category-afl-sydney-womens","category-news","category-nsw-act","category-state-leagues","category-womens"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219871"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219887,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219871\/revisions\/219887"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}