AFLNT master plan: Darwin City Stadium critical in order to tackle ‘growing pains’
Northern Territory footy has experienced exceptional growth in recent years, but with that comes growing pains and a need for a plan to ensure its sustainable, writes AFLNT chairman Sean Bowden.
As the 2024-25 TIO NTFL Grand Finals kick off, a fast and furious season reaches its pinnacle.
The highs and lows, the debates and the drama will be put aside as the Territory’s top teams battle for premiership glory.
It’s a day of celebration, a showcase of elite-level football, and a testament to the strength of the game in the Northern Territory.
This season has been extraordinary.
Last weekend alone, nearly 11,000 fans passed through the gates for our Junior and Senior Grand Finals, and we expect big numbers at TIO Stadium again.
This year we’ve seen a 15 per cent growth in player numbers for the second consecutive season.
In 2024-25, almost 5,300 players took the field, with 700 from interstate. That’s a significant jump from 3,200 in 2019.
Women and girls now make up 40 per cent of the playing group – double the national average.
In recognition of this growth, Darwin was privileged to host the inaugural NAB AFLW Dreamtime Game – a landmark moment for our community and a true highlight of the year.
The clash between Essendon and Richmond was more than just a game; it was a celebration of culture and football, bringing nearly 1,000 interstate visitors to the Top End.
This event showcased Darwin’s role in championing Indigenous recognition in the AFL and reinforced the Territory’s passion for the game.
Bringing this iconic fixture to Darwin was an honour, and we hope it remains a key fixture in the AFLW calendar for years to come.
But with growth comes challenges. We’ve grown, and we’ve got growing pains.
Every single NTFL club has felt the pressure and it’s no wonder our presidents stress out, committee members run around with three or four or five different hats on – and we are playing games around the clock.
The demand for facilities has never been greater.
We are running out of ovals, change rooms, and training spaces.
As the final siren sounds on this season, our focus will immediately shift to 2025-26 and beyond.
If we are to honour the great love Territorians have for our game, we must ensure every club and team has access to quality playing fields and facilities that cater to both men’s and women’s football.
This is not just a challenge for our game; other major Territory sport is experiencing rapid growth. We need to work collaboratively to ensure that all codes have the infrastructure they need.
A Territory-wide infrastructure plan is essential.
This plan must stretch from Central Australia to Tennant Creek and Katherine, reach into remote communities where footy is a way of life, extending out to the Tiwi Islands, Wadeye, and Arnhem Land.
A Darwin City Stadium will be a critical part of this plan – it’ll be the centrepiece, ensuring all sporting codes unite in a sustainable vision for the future.
It will be a source of pride and enhance liveability, one day it will host our own AFL Team.
The benefits of sport extend beyond the scoreboard.
Footy builds physical fitness, emotional wellbeing, and good health – footy links us together as a community and provides pathways to elite competition.
For young Territorians it provides an outlet for their skill and energy.
Volunteers, players, coaches, umpires, administrators, sponsors, and fans, every one of them is vital to the success of the game.
To honour their contributions, we must continue to invest in the future of NT sport.
The Territory lives and breathes football. It is part of our identity.
To do it justice, we must think big, plan carefully, and work together to ensure our game - and all Territory sport thrives for generations to come.
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Originally published as AFLNT master plan: Darwin City Stadium critical in order to tackle ‘growing pains’
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