There was no premiership awarded in 1925, when Central Broken Hill did not take to the field for the second half of the Grand Final against West Broken Hill, claiming that the field umpire was not giving them a fair go.[2]
History
It might seem curious that Australian rules football should develop as the dominant football code in a mining city in the far west of New South Wales, a state more known for the dominance of rugby league. Broken Hill was established as a mining town and many of the early settlers were from either the Victorian goldfields, or the copper mines of Moonta and Kadina in South Australia, both of which were areas being keen participants in the early development of Australian rules football. This link to states with an Australian rules football culture was further enhanced with the later flow of workers to and from the gold mining Kalgoorlie-Coolgardie axis in Western Australia.
Indeed, the city of Broken Hill to this day conducts itself in many ways as a city aligned to South Australia, using the same time zone (Australian Central Standard Time), being in the (08) Western/central area code, and its local television station, Central GTS/BKN, covers Broken Hill and parts of South Australia.
Football matches were first played in Broken Hill in 1885 and an informal competition was under way by 1888 between Broken Hill, Silverton, and Silver and Blues. The League was formed in 1890 as the Barrier Ranges Football Association (changing to its current name in 1928). Early years of the Association reflected the historical roots of its settlers and the two dominant clubs were known as the 'Victorians' and the 'South Australians'. Other early clubs were Broken Hill, North Broken Hill, South Broken Hill and Hotham.
In 1900 the League followed the trend of many other Leagues around the country at that time, and restructured along district lines. The four clubs that competed in the restructured competition are the same four clubs that make up the current competition, although South Broken Hill was then known as Alma.
The League itself was considered strong enough to compete with visiting teams from the SANFL, Victorian Football League (VFL) and West Australian Football League (WAFL), and was even invited to send delegates to the inaugural Australasian Football Conference in Melbourne, in November 1905.
The last decade of The Broken Hill Football league has seen the North Broken Hill Football Club show dominance over the rest of the competition, winning six out of the last ten premierships, in 2004, 07, 08, and then the rare achievement of three in a row in the 2011, 2012 & 2013 seasons. South and Central have fared the next best, with South winning in 2005 & 2009, and the Central side winning in 2006 & 2010. The West Football Club has struggled and has not won the Premiership since the 1990 season, the longest premiership drought in the clubs history.
2011 Ladder
Broken Hill FL
Wins
Byes
Losses
Draws
For
Against
%
Pts
Final
Team
G
B
Pts
Team
G
B
Pts
North
15
0
3
0
1874
1037
180.71%
60
Preliminary
South
12
13
85
West
5
11
41
South
10
0
7
1
1622
1300
124.77%
42
Grand
North
9
11
65
South
9
10
64
West
7
0
11
0
1366
1661
82.24%
28
Central
3
0
14
1
1128
1992
56.63%
14
2012 Ladder
Broken Hill FL
Wins
Byes
Losses
Draws
For
Against
%
Pts
Final
Team
G
B
Pts
Team
G
B
Pts
South
14
0
4
0
1662
1273
130.56%
56
Preliminary
North
16
16
112
West
11
10
76
North
11
0
7
0
1528
1221
125.14%
44
Grand
North
8
9
57
South
8
6
54
West
6
0
12
0
1240
1429
86.77%
24
Central
5
0
13
0
1152
1659
69.44%
20
2013 Ladder
Broken Hill FL
Wins
Byes
Losses
Draws
For
Against
%
Pts
Final
Team
G
B
Pts
Team
G
B
Pts
North
14
0
4
0
1762
1088
161.95%
56
Preliminary
South
18
9
117
West
9
7
61
South
13
0
5
0
1857
1186
156.58%
52
Grand
North
21
14
140
South
14
14
98
West
7
0
11
0
1170
1669
70.10%
28
Central
2
0
16
0
1056
1902
55.52%
8
2014 Ladder
Broken Hill FL
Wins
Byes
Losses
Draws
For
Against
%
Pts
Final
Team
G
B
Pts
Team
G
B
Pts
South
16
0
2
0
2278
798
285.46%
64
Preliminary
North
11
11
77
West
5
10
40
North
12
0
6
0
1345
1315
102.28%
48
Grand
South
13
14
92
North
7
7
49
West
6
0
12
0
1066
1834
58.12%
24
Central
2
0
16
0
958
1700
56.35%
8
2015 Ladder
Broken Hill FL
Wins
Byes
Losses
Draws
For
Against
%
Pts
Final
Team
G
B
Pts
Team
G
B
Pts
South
16
0
1
1
2327
534
435.77%
66
Preliminary
North
16
14
110
Central
1
7
13
North
13
0
4
1
1931
923
209.21%
54
Grand
South
13
9
87
North
6
4
40
Central
4
0
13
0
825
2078
39.70%
16
West
2
0
16
0
693
2241
30.92%
8
2016 Ladder
Broken Hill FL
Wins
Byes
Losses
Draws
For
Against
%
Pts
Final
Team
G
B
Pts
Team
G
B
Pts
South
17
0
1
0
2345
687
341.34%
68
Preliminary
North
18
11
119
West
7
6
48
North
10
0
8
0
1511
1332
113.44%
40
Grand
North
8
8
56
South
5
11
41
West
6
0
12
0
1011
1719
58.81%
24
Central
3
0
15
0
781
1910
40.89%
12
Women's competition
The women's competition started in 2012, making it the oldest rural competition in the state.