Membership Evolution
1965 - The New England Football Conference is founded by charter members Curry, Bridgewater State and Maine Maritime.
1971 - Plymouth State and New England College become conference members.
1972 - Nichols College and Boston State become conference members.
1972 - New England College suspends football program following '72 season; Mass. Maritime Academy becomes conference member.
1973 - Framingham State and New Haven become conference members.
1979 - Western Connecticut State becomes conference member.
1981 - Western New England College becomes conference member.
1981 - New Haven leaves conference, moves to Division II.
1981 - Boston State suspends football program following '81 season.
1982 - Westfield State becomes conference member.
1985 - Fitchburg State and Worcester State become conference members.
1985 - Western Connecticut leaves conference to pursue independent schedule.
1987 - UMass Lowell becomes conference member in 1987, initiating a split into two six-team divisions with divisional winners meeting in championship playoff game.
1988 - UMass Boston and UMass Dartmouth become conference members.
1988 - Western New England leaves conference following '88 season.
1992 - Plymouth State and UMass Lowell join the Freedom Football Conference; Curry and Nichols join the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference.
1992 - The conference now numbers nine colleges that play a round robin schedule.
1997 - Five new members begin conference play in 1998: Curry, Nichols, MIT, Salve Regina and WNEC. The 14-team conference will have two 7-team divisions.
1999 - Bridgewater State (10-0) receives first automatic qualification to NCAA playoffs.
2000 - The first Championship game in the 14-team Conference is scheduled. Wal*Mart agrees to sponsor the game. The Divisions are renamed with the Red being the Bogan Division and the Blue becoming the Boyd Division named after the NEFC's first two commissioners. Bridgewater State defeats Salve Regina 27-24 for the championship. UMass Boston drops football.
2001 - The Bogan Division plays with only six teams while the Boyd continues with seven. Endicott College begins a football program and is admitted into the Boyd Division beginning with the 2003 season.
2004 - A Most Valuable Player Award is established for the NEFC Championship Game and is named the William Mottola Award in honor of the long-time conference commissioner.
2005 - Plymouth State University and the United States Coast Guard Academy are admitted as members for play beginning in the 2006 season. Plymouth will enter the Boyd Division and Coast Guard Academy will compete in the Bogan Division. The Conference decides that the Championship Game will be played at the campus of the Bogan Division winner in even numbered years and at field of the Boyd Division champion in odd numbered years.
2007- Curry College becomes the first NEFC team to win an NCAA Division III Championship Tournament game, defeating Hartwick College 42-21.
2008 - The NEFC qualifies two teams for the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament for the first time. Conference champion Plymouth Sate University receives the automatic bid, and Curry College receives an at-large bid.
2010 - Maine Maritime Academy sets a new NCAA Division III season rushing record with 5189 yards in 11 games. The Mariners miss the all-Division mark set by the University of Oklahoma in 1971 by eight yards.
2011 - Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference institution presidents decide to form a MASCAC football league. Bridgewater State University, Fitchburg State University, Framingham State University, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Westfield State University, and Worcester State University, along with Plymouth State University and UMass Dartmouth will leave the NEFC and begin play in a new conference in 2013.
Read more about this topic: New England Football Conference
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