Western Border Football League

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.

Western Border Football League

Sport	Australian rules football
Founded	1964
President	Darren Philps[1]
Motto	Slammin Sam
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
Official website	http://www.wbfl.com.au/

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 the Collingwood, 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.

Current

Jumper	Club	Nickname	Years in comp	WBFL Premierships	Premiership Years
	Casterton - Sandford	Cats	1964-	2	1969, 1990
	East Gambier	Bulldogs	1964-	9	1965, 1972-3, 1975-6, 1982-3, 1988, 2017
	Millicent	Saints	1964-	2	1984, 2018
	North Gambier	Tigers	1964-	9	1964, 1979, 1987, 1989, 2012-13-14, 2016, 2019
	South Gambier	Demons	1964-	12	1974, 1992, 1994, 1996-97-98-99-2000, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2015
	West Gambier	Roos	1964-	3	1971, 2010, 2011

Previous

Jumper	Club	Nickname	Years in comp	WBFL Premierships	Premiership Years	Comment
	Coleraine	Maroons	1964 - 1994	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 - 1987	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

Win/loss record

Club	Active	Won	Lost	Drawn	Percentage wins	Flags
Casterton	1964-2018	443	613	9	41.60	2
Coleraine	1964-1994	222	394	3	35.86	1
East Gambier	1964-2018	694	419	11	61.74	9
Hamilton	1964-2012	507	460	4	52.21	6
Hamilton Imperials	1964-2012	530	454	6	53.54	6
Heywood	1964-2011	229	694	5	24.68	0
Millicent	1964-2018	463	594	4	43.64	2
North Gambier	1964-2018	711	411	9	62.86	8
Penola	1964-1987	170	309	3	35.27	0
Portland	1964-2012	637	365	8	63.07	8
South Gambier	1964-2018	736	381	5	65.60	12
West Gambier	1964-2018	402	648	7	38.03	3

2013 Ladder

Western Border FL	Wins	Byes	Losses	Draws	For	Against	%	Pts		Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
North Gambier	14	0	1	0	1643	845	194.44%	56		1st Semi	West Gambier	20	12	132	Casterton	10	10	70
South Gambier	13	0	2	0	1411	983	143.54%	52		2nd Semi	North Gambier	20	15	135	South Gambier	7	6	48
West Gambier	7	0	8	0	1134	1228	92.35%	28		Preliminary	West Gambier	11	13	79	South Gambier	10	13	73
Casterton	5	0	10	0	1015	1328	76.43%	20		Grand	North Gambier	18	12	120	West Gambier	10	15	75
East Gambier	4	0	11	0	968	1300	74.46%	16
Millicent	2	0	13	0	904	1391	64.99%	8

2014 Ladder

Western Border FL	Wins	Byes	Losses	Draws	For	Against	%	Pts		Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
South Gambier	13	0	3	1	1929	1035	186.38%	54		1st Semi	West Gambier	18	15	123	Casterton Sandford	12	11	83
North Gambier	13	0	3	1	1800	1053	170.94%	54		2nd Semi	North Gambier	12	15	87	South Gambier	11	12	78
West Gambier	8	0	9	0	1364	1391	98.06%	32		Preliminary	West Gambier	12	7	79	South Gambier	10	16	76
Casterton Sandford	8	0	9	0	1297	1411	91.92%	32		Grand	North Gambier	17	13	115	West Gambier	12	14	86
East Gambier	7	0	10	0	1154	1541	74.89%	28
Millicent	1	0	16	0	767	1880	40.80%	4

2015 Ladder

Western Border FL	Wins	Byes	Losses	Draws	For	Against	%	Pts		Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
North Gambier	16	0	1	0	2057	837	245.76%	64		1st Semi	East Gambier	12	12	84	West Gambier	8	10	58
South Gambier	15	0	2	0	1908	861	221.60%	60		2nd Semi	South Gambier	15	12	102	North Gambier	11	13	79
West Gambier	10	0	7	0	1338	1354	98.82%	40		Preliminary	North Gambier	28	12	180	East Gambier	5	5	35
East Gambier	7	0	10	0	1222	1253	97.53%	28		Grand	South Gambier	14	12	96	North Gambier	12	10	82
Casterton Sandford	3	0	14	0	954	1844	51.74%	12
Millicent	0	0	17	0	696	2026	34.35%	0

2016 Ladder

Western Border FL	Wins	Byes	Losses	Draws	For	Against	%	Pts		Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
South Gambier	14	0	2	0	1660	755	219.87%	56		1st Semi	East Gambier	11	10	76	Casterton Sandford	7	7	49
North Gambier	14	0	2	0	1595	830	192.17%	56		2nd Semi	South Gambier	9	5	59	North Gambier	6	5	41
Casterton Sandford	7	0	9	0	1163	1119	103.93%	28		Preliminary	North Gambier	17	5	107	East Gambier	6	9	45
East Gambier	7	0	9	0	1086	1302	83.41%	28		Grand	North Gambier	8	16	64	South Gambier	8	4	52
West Gambier	3	0	13	0	916	1534	59.71%	12
Millicent	3	0	13	0	843	1723	48.93%	12

2017 Ladder

Western Border FL	Wins	Byes	Losses	Draws	For	Against	%	Pts		Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
North Gambier	13	0	3	0	1598	905	176.57%	52		1st Semi	Casterton Sandford	9	15	69	Millicent	7	5	47
East Gambier	11	0	4	1	1413	965	146.42%	46		2nd Semi	North Gambier	17	17	119	East Gambier	12	15	87
Casterton Sandford	9	0	6	1	1203	993	121.15%	38		Preliminary	East Gambier	15	10	100	Casterton Sandford	7	7	49
Millicent	7	0	9	0	1024	1163	88.05%	28		Grand	East Gambier	10	13	73	North Gambier	4	12	36
South Gambier	4	0	12	0	799	1320	60.53%	16
West Gambier	3	0	13	0	727	1418	51.27%	12

2018 Ladder

Western Border FL	Wins	Byes	Losses	Draws	For	Against	%	Pts		Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
Casterton Sandford	12	0	3	1	1348	770	175.06%	50		1st Semi	East Gambier	11	6	72	West Gambier	9	1	55
Millicent	12	0	3	1	1293	932	138.73%	50		2nd Semi	Millicent	14	11	95	Casterton Sandford	10	7	67
West Gambier	9	0	7	0	1117	1018	109.72%	36		Preliminary	East Gambier	9	5	59	Casterton Sandford	5	10	40
East Gambier	9	0	7	0	1102	1124	98.04%	36		Grand	Millicent	11	10	76	East Gambier	11	6	72
North Gambier	3	0	13	0	915	1363	67.13%	12
South Gambier	2	0	14	0	894	1462	61.15%	8

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, 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 — Millicent
• Nick Daffy, Dwaine Kretschmer, Glen Keast, Lucas Herbert 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, Nathan Stark - South Gambier
• John Yeates, Mark Yeates, Jason Walscgott, Tim O'Brien, Matthew Clarke, Joshua Krueger West Gambier

References

1. "WBFL Executive". WBFL. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
2. "Official League Sponsors". WBFL. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
3. Western Border Football League history at fullpointsfooty.net
4. Western Border FL at the Footypedia

External links

• Official Western Border Football League Website
• Full Points Footy -Western Border Football League

Books

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