Alberton Football Netball League

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Alberton Football Netball League
Alberton logo.jpg
Formerly Alberton Football Association
Sport Australian rules football
Inaugural season 1946
No. of teams 12
Country Australia
Most recent champion(s) Dalyston Football Club (1)
Most titles Fish Creek Football Club (17)
Official website Alberton Football League Official Website

The Alberton Football Netball League is an Australian rules football league covering the South Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia.

History

The Alberton Football League was formed in 1946, replacing the earlier Alberton Football Association, and comprised eight clubs—Carrajung, Devon, Foster, Ramblers, Toora, Welshpool, Woodside and Yarram.[1] The name of the league is taken from the small town of Alberton, near Yarram.

The Ramblers Football Club survived just three years in the league before disbanding and Won Wron were accepted into the league for the 1949 season.[2] Four years later, Carrajung followed suit which enabled Fish Creek to join the Alberton League in 1953.[3]

In the early years, Woodside dominated the competition as the club won six consecutive premiership from 1947 to 1952.[4] Fish Creek then produced the most outstanding era of success in the Alberton League as it claimed 11 premierships from 15 successive Grand Final appearances between 1953 and 1967.[5][6] The recruitment of former VFL Collingwood player, Maurice 'Mocca' Dunstan helped the club attain a standard of professionalism that was second to none for a sustained period.

Much focus throughout the late 1950s and 1960s centred around the future of football in the region, with many suggesting that the South Gippsland Football League and the Alberton Football League merge to generate a more powerful football league across South Gippsland for better growth in the sport. However, the AFL continued to function through many debates and became progressively stronger by the 1970s.

In 1969, the Meeniyan-Dumbalk United and Stony Creek Football Clubs joined the Alberton League after the SGFL eventually disbanded[7] as Welshpool won a treble of premierships from 1969 to 1971. Welshpool also became the first club in the AFL to produced an undefeated season with its flag in 1970.[8]

By the late 1970s, Yarram were looking to join the Latrobe Valley Football League but remained with the AFL and by the end of the 1981 season the league was reduced to nine clubs when Won Wron and Woodside merged to form the Won Wron-Woodside Football Club.[9]

The inclusion of Tarwin in 1988[10] returned the number of clubs to ten but by 1995, Welshpool had amalgamated with Devon.[11]

In 1996, Dalyston, Wonthaggi Rovers, Inverloch, Korumburra and Bena joined the Alberton FL,[12] after the Bass Valley Wonthaggi FL had been disbanded as part of a restructuring of local football by the Victorian Country Football League. The "final five" system was first utilised with the inclusion of the new clubs.

Devon-Welshpool and Won Wron-Woodside created the Allies when they merged in 1997[13] and then Bena and Korumburra joined forces to become Korumburra-Bena in 2001.[14]

In 2005 the Phillip Island and Kilcunda-Bass football clubs moved from the defunct West Gippsland Football League to the Alberton Football League, the Wonthaggi Rovers amalgamated with Wonthaggi Blues, who were leaving the West Gippsland Latrobe Football League, to form the Wonthaggi Power and the final six was introduced.[15]

The 2008 season saw a large contingent from the Devon-Welshpool-Won Wron-Woodside Football Club leave to create a new club, the Woodside and District Wildcats, in the North Gippsland Football League.[16] 2008 also saw controversy as Yarram boycotted a match against Wonthaggi Power.[17] The clubs met in both that year's grand final and the previous year's, with Yarram premiers in 2007 and Wonthaggi in 2008.[18]

The 2010 season saw Wonthaggi Power ejected from the Alberton Football League and submitted into the higher level Gippsland Football League. With their departure the Alberton Football League shrunk to a thirteen team league with rounds consisting of six matches with one team per round having a bye. The 2010 Alberton Football League fixture was designed so that each of the thirteen teams all received two byes each during the Season. The fixture also increased from eighteen home and away rounds in 2009 to twenty in 2010, with the exclusion of the mid year break that has occurred in seasons preceding the 2010 season.

Alberton Football League matches are officiated by umpires from the South Gippsland Umpires Association.

Present Clubs


Club Jumper Club Nickname Years in League Number of Premierships Premiership Years
CollingwoodDesign.svg
Dalyston Football Club Magpies 1996- 1 2015
35px
Devon-Welshpool-Won Wron-Woodside Allies 1997-2013, 2015 3 1998, 1999, 2003
35px
Fish Creek Football Club Kangaroos 1953- 17 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1985, 1991, 1992, 2000, 2001, 2002
RichmondDesign.svg
Foster Football Club Tigers 1946- 8 1946, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1989, 1993, 2010
AFL West Coast Eagles Icon.png
Inverloch-Kongwak Football Club Sea Eagles 1996- 0 N/A
DevonportBluesDesign.PNG
Kilcunda-Bass Football Club Panthers 2005- 3 2011, 2012, 2013
AFL GWS Icon.jpg
Korumburra-Bena Football Club Bulldogs 2001-2014

Giants 2015-

2001- 0 N/A
MelbourneDesign.jpg
Meeniyan-Dumbalk United Football Club Demons 1969- 5 1975, 1976, 1981, 1988, 1990
35px
Phillip Island Football Club Bulldogs 2005- 1 2014
Traralgondesign.png
Stony Creek Football Club Lions 1969- 2 1983, 2009
35px
Tarwin Football Club Sharks 1988- 1 2004
35px
Toora & District Football Club Magpies 1946- 1 1973

Former Clubs


Club Jumper Club Nickname Debut Final Year Number of Premierships Premiership Years Reason For Exiting The League
Bena Football Club Beanmen/Bulls 1996 2000 0 N/A Merged with the Korumburra Football Club prior to the 2001 Alberton League season to form the Korumburra-Bena Football Club.
Carrajung Football Club Blacks 1946 1952 0 N/A Disbanded at the conclusion of the 1952 Alberton League season.
Devon Football Club Bombers 1946 1994 2 1968, 1987 Merged with the Welshpool Football Club prior to the 1995 Alberton League season to form the Devon-Welshpool Football Club.
Devon-Welshpool Football Club Bombers/Bulldogs 1995 1996 2 1995, 1996 Merged with the Won Wron-Woodside Football Club prior to the 1997 Alberton League season to form the East Coast Allies Football Club, which was renamed the Devon-Welshpool-Won Wron-Woodside Football Club prior to the 1998 Alberton League season.
Korumburra Football Club Bullants 1996 2000 1 1997 Merged with the Bena Football Club prior to the 2001 Alberton League season to form the Korumburra-Bena Football Club.
All blue jumper Ramblers Football Club Ramblers 1946 1948 0 N/A Disbanded at the conclusion of the 1948 Alberton League season.
Welshpool Football Jumper.gif
Welshpool Football Club Bulldogs 1946 1994 6 1953, 1962, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1979 Merged with the Devon Football Club prior to the 1995 Alberton League season to form the Devon-Welshpool Football Club.
Wonthaggi Football Club Rovers 1996 2004 0 N/A Merged with the Wonthaggi Blues Football Club prior to the 2005 season to form the Wonthaggi Power Football Club.
Wonthaggi Power Football Club Power 2005 2009 3 2005, 2006, 2008 Ordered to leave by the Victorian Country Football League for being considered to dominant to compete in the Alberton Football League.
Woodside & District Football Club Wildcats 1946 2007 8 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1957, 1974 A former merger of the DWWWW Football Club. Left at the conclusion of the 2007 season to form a new club called the Woodside & District Wildcats in the North Gippsland Football League.
Won Wron Football Club Hawks 1949 1981 0 N/A Merged with the Woodside Football Club prior to the 1982 Alberton League season to form the Won Wron-Woodside Football Club.
Won Wron-Woodside Football Club Blues 1982 1994 1 1994 Merged with the Devon-Welshpool Football Club prior to the 1997 Alberton League season to form the Devon-Welshpool-Won Wron-Woodside Football Club.
Yarram Football Club Demons 1946 2013 5 1954, 1972, 1977, 1986, 2007 Left by choice to the North Gippsland League before the start of the 2014 Alberton League season.

Finals Series