Western Border Football League

Sport	Australian rules football
Founded	1964 (1964)
President	Darren Philps[1]
No. of teams	6
Country	Australia
Most recent champion(s)	Millicent Football Club
Most titles	South Gambier Football Club (12 premierships)
Sponsor(s)	Bendigo Bank[2]
Related competitions	SANFL

The Western Border Football League is an Australian rules football competition based in the Lower South East region of South Australia, and south-western border region of Victoria. It is an affiliated member of the South Australian National Football League. The league used to be regarded as the premier country football league in South Australia, and a leading country Victorian league, however the number of clubs and standard has declined in recent years.

Brief history

In 1964, after almost a decade of discussions, the Western District Football League in Victoria and the South-East & Border Football League in South Australia merged to form the Western Border Football League. The founding 12 clubs were Casterton, Coleraine, East Gambier, Hamilton, Hamilton Imperials, Heywood, Millicent, North Gambier, Penola, Portland, South Gambier and West Gambier.^[3][4]

Hamilton and Millicent both had jumpers similar to Collingwood's, so an agreement was made that the team that finished lower on the ladder for 1964 had to change jumpers. Hamilton finished ninth, while Millicent finished 11th of 12, so Millicent was forced to change to the St Kilda strip.

Penola left and joined the Kowree-Naracoorte Football League in 1988; Coleraine left and joined the South West District Football League in 1995.

In 2011, the Heywood Football Club left the Western Border Football League due to the club struggling to compete with the larger town clubs in the league. Their first application to leave was rejected, so they were forced to go to higher levels at the VCFL to resolve issues between the League and the Heywood Football Netball Club.

In 2012, the Hamilton and Hamilton Imperials club merged upon recommendation from the VCFL and competed in the Hampden Football Netball League from 2013. Portland also transferred to the Hampden Football Netball League for 2013, leaving just 6 teams in the competition today. Casterton merged with neighbouring club Sandford (from the South West District Football League) in 2014. When the VFL had zoning from 1968 to 1986 the league was allocated to Collingwood.

Some famous players that have played in the Western Border Football League have been Billy Picken, Matthew Clarke, Nick Daffy, Nathan Lovett-Murray, Mal Michael, John Mossop, Wally Lovett.

Clubs

Current

Colours	Club	Nickname	Years in comp	Premiers won	Premiership Years
	Casterton-Sandford	Cats	1964–	2	1969,119901
	East Gambier	Bulldogs	1964–	9	1965, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1982, 1983, 1988, 2017
	Millicent	Saints	1964–	5	1984, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023
	North Gambier	Tigers	1964–	9	1964, 1979, 1987, 1989, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2019
	South Gambier	Demons	1964–	12	1974, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2015
	West Gambier	Roos	1964–	3	1971, 2010, 2011

Notes

¹ As the Casterton Football Club

Former

Colours	Club	Nickname	Years in comp	Premiers won	Premiership Years	Notes
	Coleraine	Maroons	1964–94	1	1967	Transferred in the South West District Football League in 1995
	Hamilton	Magpies	1964–2012	4	1968, 1970, 1981, 2004	Merged with the Imperials and moved to the Hampden Football League in 2013
	Hamilton Imperials	Bulldogs	1964–2012	6	1977, 1978, 1980, 1993, 1995, 2001	Merged with the Magpies and moved to the Hampden Football League in 2013
	Heywood	Lions	1964–2011	0		Transferred in the South West District Football League in 2012
	Penola	Blues	1964–87	0		transferred to the Kowree Naracoorte FL in 1988, now in the KNTFL
	Portland	Tigers	1964–2012	8	1966, 1985, 1986, 1991, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008	Transferred to the Hampden Football League in 2013

Timeline

League Awards

Notable WBFL Players

• John Gill, Barry Gill, Max Rooke, Alan Richardson, Russell Johnston, Don Whitten, Laurie Nash, Reg Burgess, David Robbie – Casterton Sandford
• Brian Gray, Les Kaine, John Vickery, Eric Moore, Barry McKenzie, Michael Horsburgh – Coleraine
• Gary Lazarus, Simon Feast, Stephen Jankowicz – East Gambier
• Phil Walsh, Alan Atkinson, Paul Cranage, Tony Russell, Shannon Watt, Adam Campbell, Marcus Picken, Liam Picken – Hamilton
• Ian Ridley, John McMillan, Michael Edmonds, Mark Orval, Josh Thurgood – Hamilton Imperials
• Denis Zeunert, Billy Picken, Wally Lovett, Justin Perkins, Nathan Lovett-Murray, Mal Michael, Courtney Johns, Justin Perkins – Heywood
• Bob Clifford, Brian Roberts, Neil Sutherland, Mason Redman, Richard Nixon Andrew Nitschke, Triple League medalist – Millicent
• Nick Daffy, Dwaine Kretschmer, Glen Keast, Lucas Herbert, Nathan Stark, Brad Close – North Gambier
• John Mossop, Michael Graham, Colin Graham – Penola
• Stuart Spencer, Clyde Laidlaw, Peter Hogan, Leo King, Wayne Blackwell, Ian Hampshire, Winis Imbi, Brodie Atkinson – Portland
• Max James, Doug Long, Robin McKinnon, Oscar Adams – South Gambier
• John Yeates, Mark Yeates, Jason Walscgott, Tim O'Brien, Matthew Clarke, Robin White – West Gambier

Bibliography

• Encyclopedia of South Australian country football clubs compiled by Peter Lines. ISBN 9780980447293
• South Australian country football digest by Peter Lines ISBN 9780987159199

References

External links

• Western Border FL on Facebook
• Fixtures and results on PlayHQ