Following a review of Senior Football in Southeast Queensland and in consultation with local clubs, AFL Queensland has confirmed changes to the QFA Division 3 and QFA Division 4 competitions for season 2025.
The QFA Division 4 competition will be dissolved, with QFA Division 3 expanding into four regional competitions. These new competitions will be:
- QFA Division 3 Sunshine Coast
- QFA Division 3 Brisbane North
- QFA Division 3 Brisbane South
- QFA Division 3 Gold Coast
The QFA Division 3 and 4 competitions have among the fastest growing sectors across football in Southeast Queensland, with 36 clubs now participating in QFA Division 3, up from 17 teams competing across QFA Division 3 and 4 in 2020.
AFL Queensland Competition Manager, Mitchell Simpson, said the evolution of the competitions over the past four seasons had been significant.
“We want to ensure our competition environments remain as accessible as possible and are appropriately structured to manage movement both in and out of the competitions.”
Excitingly, three new clubs are expected to enter the QFA Division 3 competition in 2025. The Kawana Park Eagles will make their inaugural entry into senior football, Narangba Crows will see a return to senior football and the Alexandra Hills Bombers will extend their senior men’s program into Friday night football.
"Feedback over the past few seasons has highlighted the growing travel challenges associated with Friday night competitions," said Simpson.
"The difficulties of crossing Brisbane or navigating traffic on the M1, especially on Friday evenings, are burdens that we’re working to alleviate."
The new structure will also provide a clearer pathway for clubs progressing from QFA Division 3 to the Saturday-based QFA Division 2 North or South competitions.
"Recently, we’ve seen Zillmere and Pine Rivers successfully promoted to QFA Division 2, and we want to continue supporting clubs as they advance through our aspirational competition pathway," Simpson added.
The overall structure of Southeast Queensland’s senior football framework remains unchanged. The four new regional QFA Division 3 competitions will sit beneath the QFA Division 2 North and South competitions. These, in turn, feed into the premier community competition, the QFA Division 1 HART Sport Cup, and ultimately the QAFL, which remains the flagship competition for men’s football in Queensland.