History of the SWDFNL and now defunct leagues

[Tandy]

This is where people will be able to view and post any information they have on the league and clubs.

1970, 3 local leagues merged to created the Portland Port Fairy Football League (Renamed South West District Football League in 1983) Prior to this the leagues in the area consisted of:

Portland DFL	Port Fairy FL	Glenelg FL
Tyrendarra Darras	Penshurst Bombers	Cavendish Bloods
Winnap Magpies?	Hawkesdale Cats	Sandford Villagers
Branxholme Ramblers	Macarthur Demons	Pigeon Ponds
Heathmere Magpies	Yambuk Blues	Harrow
Dartmoor Swans	Bessibelle Tigers	Wando Vale
Merino-Digby	Port Fairy Seagulls	Bahgallah
Wallacedale Wanderers		Dergholm
Westerns Roos

The Inagural 1970 Portland Port Fairy FL

Tyrendarra, Winnap, Branxholme, Heathmere, Dartmoor, Merino-Digby, Wallacedale, Westerns, Macarthur, Yambuk, Bessibelle. Cavendish, Sandford & Pigeon Ponds.

Of the clubs that didnt make the merger:

Penshurst: Moved to the Mininera & District FL in 1970
Hawkesdale: Moved to the Mininera & District Fl in 1970
Port Fairy: I dont know if this is the same team as the one currently in the hampden league unless they moved from hampden league to port fairy league after their 1958 Hampden league premiership and returned for the 1970 season.
Harrow: Merged with Douglas-Miga lake to form Douglas Harrow Miga Lake, and play in the then West Wimmera Football League in 1970.
Wando Vale:( not confirmed)
Bahgallah: Folded after 1969 season.
Dergholm: Folded after 1969 season. There is a book somewhere called Dergholm Football Club: 1875-1969

Timeline of events from the 1970 season:
1970: Macarthur won inagaural league premiership
1975: Winnap folded
1980: Yambuk move to the Warrnambool & District FL for the 1981 season. (On the back of a 3 peat 76,77,78 i dont believe they played the 1980 season, conflicting timeline. so last season in league 79 and had to spend 1980 with nowhere to play?)
1982: Balmoral Bombers enter the league.
1983: Branxholme and Wallacedale merge to form Branxholme-Wallacedale Saints.
1983: League name changed to South West District FL
1991: Merino-Digby fold. Last season played was 1990.
1995: Coleraine maroons enter the league from the Western Border FL
1996: Bessibelle Tigers went into recess for the season
1996: Balmoral leave at the end of the season and merge with Harrow to form Harrow-Balmoral in the Horsham & District FL
1997: Bessibelle return
1997: Macarthur merge with Hawkesdale to form Hawkesdale-Macarthur Eagles in the Mininera & District FL for the 1998 season.
1999: Bessibelle fold. Last year in comp was the 1998 season.
2012: Heywood Lions enter the league from the Western Border FL
2013: Sandford merge with Casterton to form the Casterton Sandford Cats and move to the Western Border FL for the 2014 season.
2014: Dartmoor Swans change name to Dartmoor Giants
2024: The Greater South West junior FL (Established in 2019) amalgamated into the SWDFNL.

More to come. Im just reading and finding different things out as i go. Please let me know if i have something incorrect as im sure i do. I previously had mentioned Winnap were the magpies but being in the same league as Heathmere pre 1975 i dont know if thats correct now) I will also do a short summary of each club mentioned on this page in the form of a hyperlink when i figure out how to do it and have some time.

 

[BigChippa52]

keen to learn more about former teams, would be good for my folio which is more random leagues and not just the Limestone Coast anymore

 

[Tandy]

Tyrendarra 'Darras'


Premierships: 1971, 1972, 1975, 1986, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2016

Former leagues:
Fitzroy Junior Football Association (FJFA) 1926–1939
Heywood and District Football League (HDFL) 1940–1954
Portland District Football League (PDFL) 1955–1969
South West District Football Netball League (SWDFNL) 1970–

Dartmoor Giants (formerly Swans)


Premierships:
South West District Football League - 1979-80, 1982, 2011, 2014, 2017

Former Leagues:
Heywood and District Football League (HDFL) 1926–1933, 1940–1947
Fitzroy Junior Football Association (FJFA) 1934–1939
Portland District Football League (PDFL) 1959–1969
South West District Football Netball League (SWDFNL) 1970–2024

Branxholme Wallacedale FC

Premierships: 1983
Leagues: South West District Football Netball League (SWDFNL) 1983–2024
Ground:


For more info on Branxholme Ramblers and Wallacedale Wanderers pre merger see below

 

[Tandy]

Former Teams In The Area

Bessibelle Tigers


Former Leagues:

Eumeralla Football Association (EFA) 1922–1926
Heywood and District Football League (HDFL) 1951–1953
Port Fairy Football League (PFFL) 1927–1940, 1954–1969
South West District Football Netball League (SWDFNL) 1970–1998

Former player Anthony Bourke played over 600 games for the Tigers. He was a ruckman/ key position player who used to wear a bicycle helmet. When the club went into recess for a year he was stuck on 594 games . He came back when the club came out of recess and played another year or two and got to the 600. Bourke started when he was 14 and nearly all those games were in the seniors.

Pigeon Ponds

Former Leagues:
Coleraine and District Football Association (CDFA) 1936–1938
Central Glenelg Football League (CGFL) 1939–1959
Glenelg Football League (GFL) 1960–1969
South West District Football Netball League (SWDFNL) 1970–1983

 

[Tandy]

Former Leagues in the South West

Eumeralla Football Association (EFA) 1922–1926
Former teams
Yambuk - 1922-1923, 1925-1926
Bessiebelle - 1922-1926
Macarthur - 1922-1925
Hawkesdale - 1925-1926
Tower Hill - 1925-1926

The town of Macarthur was formerly known as Eumeralla as the Eumeralla river runs through the town.

Coleraine and District Football Association (CDFA)1922-1939
Former Teams:
Cavendish (VIC) 1936-1939
Pigeon Ponds (VIC) 1936-1938

Looking into this as it says the league existed for over 10 yrs with no teams.

Central Glenelg Football League (CGFL)1927-1959
Former Teams:
Balmoral (VIC) 1927-1959
Douglas (VIC) 1927-1947
Harrow (VIC) 1928-1959
Pigeon Ponds (VIC) 1939-1959
Miga Lake (VIC) 1946-194
Douglas Miga Lake (VIC) 1948-1955
Sandford (VIC) 1954-1955
Cavendish (VIC) 1955-1959

Glenelg Football League (GFL)1960-1969
Former Teams:
Sandford (VIC) 1960-1969
Cavendish (VIC) 1960-1969
Balmoral (VIC) 1960-1962
Harrow (VIC) 1960-1969
Pigeon Ponds (VIC) 1960-1969
Merino Digby (VIC) 1960-1962

Port Fairy Football League (PFFL) 1927-1969
Former Teams:
Yambuk (VIC) 1927-1969
Bessiebelle (VIC) 1927-1940, 1954-1969
Hawkesdale (VIC) 1927-1928, 1946-1969
Tower Hill (VIC) 1927-1932, 1936-1956
Macarthur (VIC) 1930-1932, 1939-1940, 1946-1969
Koroit (VIC) 1936-1940, 1946-1957
Caramut (VIC) 1950-1964
Penshurst (VIC) 1955-1969

**Looking into whether Port Fairy were ever in this league as mentioned elsewhere. They won the 1958 Hampden League flag so if they were in this league it was sometime between 1959-1969

Portland District Football League (PDFL) 1910-1969
Former teams:
Tyrendarra (VIC) 1955-1969
Westerns (VIC) 1955-1969
Heathmere (VIC) 1955-1969
Branxholme (VIC) 1955-1969
Wallacedale (VIC) 1955-1969
Winnap (VIC) 1955-1969
Dartmoor (VIC) 1959-1969
Merino Digby (VIC) 1963-1969

Fitzroy Junior Football Association (FJFA)1926-1939
Former Teams:
Tyrendarra (VIC) 1926-1939
Heathmere (VIC) 1927-1935
Dartmoor (VIC) 1934-1939
Winnap (VIC) 1934-1939

Heywood and District Football League (HDFL)1925-1954, Also referred to as the Heywood District Association
Former Teams:
Heywood (VIC) 1925-1931
Dartmoor (VIC) 1926-1933, 1940-1947
Winnap (VIC) 1926-1933, 1940-1954
Tyrendarra (VIC) 1940-1954
Heathmere (VIC) 1946-1954
Westerns (VIC) 1949-1954
Bessiebelle (VIC) 1951-1953
West Portland? 1928- (Article below mentions Ramblers playing them in 21 May 1928

Myamyn Rovers? 1928- ( Article below mentions rovers playing Dartmoor 26 Jun 1928

Glenelg Football Association (GCA)
Not alot known about this league I misplaced the couple of articles I had. But it could have been 1850s to early 1920s. They used to get a special carriage service along the railway lines. I'd assume the Portland to Hamilton line. And must have been one to Casterton back in the day.
Former Teams:

Portland 'Ports'
Myamyn Rovers
Branxholme Ramblers
Casterton 'Rainbows'




i had about 2 hrs of info in here and i accidentally deleted it.. bugger

 

[Tandy]

Old Interleague guernsey I still have from 15ish years ago

 

[BigChippa52]

Former Leagues in the South West

Eumeralla Football Association (EFA) 1922–1926
Former teams
Yambuk - 1922-1923, 1925-1926
Bessiebelle - 1922-1926
Macarthur - 1922-1925
Hawkesdale - 1925-1926
Tower Hill - 1925-1926

The town of Macarthur was formerly known as Eumeralla as the Eumeralla river runs through the town.

all these teams have either merged or folded, sad to see

 

[Tandy]

all these teams have either merged or folded, sad to see

Yeah it is a shame. Plenty of clubs and leagues in an area that is now with so few leagues. Would be good to do some hypothetical reshuffling of clubs and leagues

 

[BigChippa52]

Former Leagues in the South West

Eumeralla Football Association (EFA) 1922–1926
Former teams
Yambuk - 1922-1923, 1925-1926
Bessiebelle - 1922-1926
Macarthur - 1922-1925
Hawkesdale - 1925-1926
Tower Hill - 1925-1926

The town of Macarthur was formerly known as Eumeralla as the Eumeralla river runs through the town.

Coleraine and District Football Association (CDFA)1922-1939
Former Teams:
Cavendish (VIC) 1936-1939
Pigeon Ponds (VIC) 1936-1938

Looking into this as it says the league existed for over 10 yrs with no teams.

Central Glenelg Football League (CGFL)1927-1959
Former Teams:
Balmoral (VIC) 1927-1959
Douglas (VIC) 1927-1947
Harrow (VIC) 1928-1959
Pigeon Ponds (VIC) 1939-1959
Miga Lake (VIC) 1946-194
Douglas Miga Lake (VIC) 1948-1955
Sandford (VIC) 1954-1955
Cavendish (VIC) 1955-1959

Glenelg Football League (GFL)1960-1969
Former Teams:
Sandford (VIC) 1960-1969
Cavendish (VIC) 1960-1969
Balmoral (VIC) 1960-1962
Harrow (VIC) 1960-1969
Pigeon Ponds (VIC) 1960-1969
Merino Digby (VIC) 1960-1962

Port Fairy Football League (PFFL) 1927-1969
Former Teams:
Yambuk (VIC) 1927-1969
Bessiebelle (VIC) 1927-1940, 1954-1969
Hawkesdale (VIC) 1927-1928, 1946-1969
Tower Hill (VIC) 1927-1932, 1936-1956
Macarthur (VIC) 1930-1932, 1939-1940, 1946-1969
Koroit (VIC) 1936-1940, 1946-1957
Caramut (VIC) 1950-1964
Penshurst (VIC) 1955-1969

**Looking into whether Port Fairy were ever in this league as mentioned elsewhere. They won the 1958 Hampden League flag so if they were in this league it was sometime between 1959-1969

Portland District Football League (PDFL) 1910-1969
Former teams:
Tyrendarra (VIC) 1955-1969
Westerns (VIC) 1955-1969
Heathmere (VIC) 1955-1969
Branxholme (VIC) 1955-1969
Wallacedale (VIC) 1955-1969
Winnap (VIC) 1955-1969
Dartmoor (VIC) 1959-1969
Merino Digby (VIC) 1963-1969

Fitzroy Junior Football Association (FJFA)1926-1939
Former Teams:
Tyrendarra (VIC) 1926-1939
Heathmere (VIC) 1927-1935
Dartmoor (VIC) 1934-1939
Winnap (VIC) 1934-1939

Heywood and District Football League (HDFL)1925-1954, Also referred to as the Heywood District Association
Former Teams:
Heywood (VIC) 1925-1931
Dartmoor (VIC) 1926-1933, 1940-1947
Winnap (VIC) 1926-1933, 1940-1954
Tyrendarra (VIC) 1940-1954
Heathmere (VIC) 1946-1954
Westerns (VIC) 1949-1954
Bessiebelle (VIC) 1951-1953
West Portland? 1928- (Article below mentions Ramblers playing them in 21 May 1928

Myamyn Rovers? 1928- ( Article below mentions rovers playing Dartmoor 26 Jun 1928

Glenelg Football Association (GCA)
Not alot known about this league I misplaced the couple of articles I had. But it could have been 1850s to early 1920s. They used to get a special carriage service along the railway lines. I'd assume the Portland to Hamilton line. And must have been one to Casterton back in the day.
Former Teams:

Portland 'Ports'
Myamyn Rovers
Branxholme Ramblers
Casterton 'Rainbows'




i had about 2 hrs of info in here and i accidentally deleted it.. bugger

Could West Portland be westerns since they are in portland

 

[BigChippa52]

I wonder what clubs may still exist or have merged if they didn't move to stronger leagues for instance Yambuk

 

[old time scoop]

West Portland was a junior club in the old Portland Junior Football Association and played in the U14 and U16 competitions. Its home ground was Alexandra Park, which it shared with the Gorae-Portland Cricket Club for many years until Westerns moved into Portland from its old home base at Cashmore and made its head quarters at Alexandra Park. The two foorball clubs (West Portland and Westerns) were separate entities run by different committees and played in different competitions.

 

[old time scoop]

Westerns become the Roos when it changed jumpers from the old Maroon with a gold yoke to the old North Melbourne strip in the mid-1980s when I was club President. The move to Alexandra Park followed after a few seasons.

 

[BigChippa52]

no links but they are a west portland side. since cashmore are a small town west of portland

 

[old time scoop]

AS I said, they were two completely different clubs and not connected at all. The Portland Junior Football Association consisted of North Portland, West Portland, South Portland, Centrals, Heywood Green and Heywood Gold. The had two competitions, the U14s and the U16s. None of these clubs were involved with any Western Border or SWDFL clubs.

 

[BigChippa52]

AS I said, they were two completely different clubs and not connected at all. The Portland Junior Football Association consisted of North Portland, West Portland, South Portland, Centrals, Heywood Green and Heywood Gold. The had two competitions, the U14s and the U16s. None of these clubs were involved with any Western Border or SWDFL clubs.

yeh I know but westerns is a modern west portland side because they are located in portlands west, how long did these teams last would love to know more probably explains the portland juinor Club logo and the magpie on tyrendarras juinor jersey

 

[old time scoop]

No, Westerns is not a modern west Portland club. It was formed way back in 1949 and competed in the Heywood and District Football League (1949-54); the Portland District Football League (1955-69); and the Portland-Port Fairy District Football League (1970-82) before the league changed its name to the South West District Football League in 1983. They played their games at Cashmore before moving into Portland to a new headquarters at Alexandra Park in the 1990s.
I hope this clears this issue up.

 

[BigChippa52]

No, Westerns is not a modern west Portland club. It was formed way back in 1949 and competed in the Heywood and District Football League (1949-54); the Portland District Football League (1955-69); and the Portland-Port Fairy District Football League (1970-82) before the league changed its name to the South West District Football League in 1983. They played their games at Cashmore before moving into Portland to a new headquarters at Alexandra Park in the 1990s.
I hope this clears this issue up.

I know they have no links Im just saying they are located west of Portland so they are essentially a second Portland side, That's what I mean they are kinda west Portland because of their location

 

[RudyCt]

No, Westerns is not a modern west Portland club. It was formed way back in 1949 and competed in the Heywood and District Football League (1949-54); the Portland District Football League (1955-69); and the Portland-Port Fairy District Football League (1970-82) before the league changed its name to the South West District Football League in 1983. They played their games at Cashmore before moving into Portland to a new headquarters at Alexandra Park in the 1990s.
I hope this clears this issue up.

How well supported are they compared to the Portland side in the Hampden League? You'd imagine not as well, although with the long distances to travel, do some locals stay at home and watch Westerns when the Portland Tigers are playing (say) in Camperdown? That's close enough to a 4 hour round trip!

 

[BigChippa52]

both teams are struggling at the moment as well being close or at the bottom of the ladder getting 1 or 2 wins a season

 

[Munners]

Thanks for sharing the info, I've been able to visit some of the grounds. Love minor leagues and I find the SWDFL very interesting, would be good to watch a game this year and make a video.

 

[Munners]

Just went for a trip to visit quite a few of the clubs, hope you enjoy!

 

[BigChippa52]

I am looking at doing a folio on designs of Dartmoor through the years and what could be the future, I've seen their last swans kit blue base (unsure what the back looks like) would love to know more on other kits heard they wore the old south melb V

I am keen to know more about the red kit, older kit, juniors, or just a training, did the juniors have different kits, I'll do a timeline then get experimental with a white-red version of the diamond swan kit, reversals and etc and I'll remake my diamond giant kit which I think they should use, It represents both eras, doing research to improve my designs and will switch to a new software this idea my be the test for it

 

[BigChippa52]

that swan kit is one of the best designs in local footy up there with mt burr for sure

 

[BigChippa52]

this helps still keen to know more though

 

[Munners]

Judging by the comments on my Facebook post here, Dartmoor wore the South Melbourne V until the 90s possibly early 2000s. Weird that they would change to a Diamond Swan. I think that red jumper was probably just a trainer but cheers for sharing that video! BigChippa52