Geelong & District Football Netball League
 | |
| Formerly | Multiple names
Geelong & District Football Association (1879–1918; 1939–1944) Geelong Junior Football Association (1922–1932) Geelong & District Football League (1919–1921; 1933–1938; 1945–2016) |
|---|---|
| Sport | Australian rules football Netball |
| Founded | 1879 |
| President | Neville Whitley |
| No. of teams | 12 |
| Country | Australia |
| Headquarters | Breakwater, Victoria, Australia |
| Confederation | AFL Barwon |
| Most recent champion(s) | Bannockburn (6th premiership) |
| Most titles | Geelong West (26 premierships) |
| Sponsor(s) | Morris |
| Related competitions | Geelong FNL Bellarine FNL |
| Official website | gdfnl.com.au |
The Geelong & District Football League (GDFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball league in Victoria, being the oldest surviving competition in the region. It is one of three leagues in the Geelong area, the others being the Geelong FNL and the Bellarine FNL.
There are 12 teams competing in the GDFL, which has also produced over 600 VFL/AFL players.[1]
History
The league was formed in 1879 as the Geelong and District Football Association (GDFA). In 1919 it changed name to the GDFL, before changing to the Geelong Junior Football Association in 1922. It reverted to the GDFL name in 1933, then back to the GDFA in 1939, and back to the GDFL in 1945.[1] From 1922 until 1927, the league operated and administrated the Geelong Association Football Club, which competed in the Victorian Football Association.[2]
From 1946 onwards, the GDFL maintained a divisional system, with clubs in the First Division competing for the Evelyn Hurst Trophy, the Second Division for the Woolworth Cup, and the Third Division for the Jarman Cup.
In 1973 the GDFL had a restructure that insisted in having the senior club also provide a reserve grade side. This meant that senior clubs had to align with a junior club to survive. The Evelyn Hurst Trophy, the Woolworth Cup and the Jarman Cup titles were dropped for the more standard 1st and 2nd divisions. 1st division would have twelve clubs while 2nd division started with 8 and eventually grew to 11 clubs.
The league took the form it is today when 12 clubs broke away in 1979 to form the Geelong Football League. The city and country clubs of the old GDFL were divided into the major league competition of the GFL and the minor league GDFL. Many of the teams in the lower league wanted a system of promotion and relegation, which saw the movement of a couple of clubs.
The GDFL were left with 11 clubs but over the next couple of years it grew to fourteen. It was enough for the league add another division of competition. From 1984 until 1995 the league had two divisions that operated on a promotion/demotion system. From 1996 onwards, the league has reverted to a single division competition.[3]
Today the GDFL is opposed to the promotion-relegation system, with the Geelong Football League, Geelong & District Football League and Bellarine Football League forming a three-league, three-division football structure in the Geelong area. From 2002, the GDFL included netball teams, introducing A Grade, B Grade & C Grade senior teams, as well as U/17's, U/15's & U/13's netball.[4]
In 2009, the GDFL introduced a fourth senior netball section, D Grade, in which East Geelong and Werribee Centrals have each won three of the last six premierships.[when?]
Clubs
Current clubs
| Club | Colours | Moniker | Location | Home venue | Est. | Former
league |
GDFNL seasons | GDFNL premierships | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First | Total | Total | Most recent | |||||||
| Anakie |  |
Roos | Anakie | Anakie Reserve | c. 1897 | EC | 1949 | 73 | 4 | 1994 |
| Bannockburn |  |
Tigers | Bannockburn | Victoria Park | 1878 | EC | 1953 | 58 | 6 | 2022 |
| Bell Post Hill |  |
Panthers | Bell Post Hill | Myers Reserve | 1976 | — | 1977 | 45 | 7 | 2017 |
| Belmont Lions | Lions | Belmont | Winter Reserve / Elite Training Centre Oval | 1965 | — | 1965 | 57 | 1 | 2007 | |
| Corio |  |
Devils | Corio | Shell Reserve | 1974 | — | 1974 | 48 | 1 | 1995 |
| East Geelong |  |
Eagles | East Geelong | Richmond Oval | 1879 | — | 1879+ | 134 | 24 | 2009 |
| Geelong West Giants |  |
Giants | Geelong West | West Oval | 2017 | — | 2017 | 5 | — | — |
| Inverleigh |  |
Hawks | Inverleigh | Inverleigh Recreation Reserve | 1970 | — | 1970 | 45 | 2 | 2023 |
| North Geelong |  |
Magpies | North Geelong | Osborne Park | 1876 | — | 1879+ | 137 | 21 | 2013 |
| Thomson |  |
Tigers | Thomson | Thomson Recreation Reserve | 1953 | — | 1957 | 61 | 10 | 2018 |
| Werribee Centrals |  |
Centurions | Werribee | Galvin Park Reserve | 1969 | WSFL | 1984 | 38 | 7 | 2004 |
| Winchelsea |  |
Blues | Winchelsea | Eastern Reserve | 1876 | WBFA | 1921 | 22 | — | — |
| + denotes that the club was a founding member of the GDFA ^ denotes that the club's most recent senior premiership was in the second division | ||||||||||
Recent premierships
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References
- ^ a b Fanning, Noel (9 April 2008). "Geelong and District Football League boasts a long list of superstars". The Geelong Advertiser. www.geelongadvertiser.com.au. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
- ^ J.W. (3 December 1921). "Football – turning the tables". The Australasian. Vol. CXI, no. 2905. Melbourne, VIC.
- ^ Geelong & District Football League at Footypedia
- ^ McLure, Daryl (24 May 2008). "Kick to kick". Geelong Advertiser. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
External links
- Official Twitter
- SportsTG website
- GDFL on AFL Barwon
- GDFL Netball