The club did not have enough players for a team, nor a coach, nor a ground to play on yet they commenced training at 5pm on Tuesdays in December at the St Augustine's school oval such was their enthusiasm for the game.

The second issue was to travel for away games across to Armidale almost 180 kilometres away via Dorrigo Mountain with a large unsealed section of road at Ebor.

The club was very fortunate to have Mike Cain as a committee member as he was working at the time as a town planner with the Coffs Harbour Shire Council.

Brian Saville said in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 5 October 1979: "Having a strong side for a long time will not benefit the sport in this area".

The other clubs to form the North Coast Australian Football League were Grafton, Urunga, Woolgoolga and Port Macquarie.

Woolgoolga won the first of its nine premierships in the North Coast AFL when it beat Port Macquarie in the first-ever grand final.

For the first time AFL on the North Coast was serviced by one entity covering both Seniors and Juniors, stretching from Taree to Yamba.

That same year AFL North Coast made its first foray into female footy with the introduction of a four team Youth Girls (Under 17) competition.

In 2018 an open age Women's competition commenced with teams from the Port Macquarie Magpies, Sawtell/Toormina Saints, and Coffs Breakers competing.

2019 and 2020 saw a period of significant local growth, with the Northern Beaches Blues club forming in Woolgoolga in 2019, followed by the Nambucca Valley Lions in 2020.

Further expansion was achieved in 2021, with Lismore Swans moving south from the former AFL Northern Rivers League, together with the Casino Lions that reformed after many years in recess.

Unfortunately, the state-wide lockdown enacted by the state government on 14 August meant that the season had to be abandoned after the first week of Finals, with the Minor Premiers acknowledged in each grade.

In 2004 a medal was struck to honour the many years of service Jim and Jill Woodlock each gave to the league as administrators and Life Members.

The players who have won the most League Best & Fairest awards are former Sawtell-Toormina ruckman Brian Rava in 1991, 1992 and 1998, fellow Saint Mark Couzens who claimed the prize in 2007, 2009 and 2014, Port Macquarie forward Jesse Schmidt in 2012, 2013 and 2015 and Fraser Duryea in 2016, 2021 and 2022.

The list of League Best & Fairest winners follows: The Women's Best on Ground in the Grand Final was introduced in the inaugural season of the competition.

The list of Best on Ground winners follows: Prior to the introduction of the Women's Competition a series of demonstration matches were played during the 2017 season.

In conjunction with the announcement of the Team of the Decade (2010 to 2019) AFL North Coast also celebrated those that were the champions of the commencement of Women's footy in the region.

At a function on 17 April, 38 individuals were named as "Legends of Local Footy" by their clubs for their contribution throughout the 40 years of the League's history.