Following a decade long hiatus in the sport, Australian rules saw renewed interest during the Federation of Australia and fans in Queensland at the turn of the century regrouped floating the idea of a new competition that would endure in the state.

The Queensland Football League (QFL) was formed in July 1903 at a meeting with 50 present at the South Brisbane Cycling Club and a total of 150 signed on as members.

[3] The first premiership was held in 1904 with most games being played at Queen's Park, a sporting facility within the grounds of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens.

Yeronga and Taringa fielded senior sides in the league for the first time in 1931, both having an immediate impact[5] and finishing runner up in the years to follow.

In 1964 the QANFL dropped the 'National' reference to their name and became the Queensland Australian Football League (QAFL), a limited liability company.

However, after several failed attempts to relocate Melbourne clubs including Fitzroy and Richmond, it soon became evident that the VFL's preference was a new licence.

The admission of the Brisbane Bears and to have the club based on the Gold Coast had a huge impact on the QAFL's crowds, with attendances falling from an average of 500 to just 50.

In November 2010 the AFL Queensland's Premier Division merged with AFL Canberra to form the North East Australian Football League, featuring all of its previous teams as well as the Gold Coast Suns and Brisbane Lions reserve teams in the Northern Conference of the league.