The competition formed in 1893 as the Ballarat Football Association and was renamed Ballarat Football League in 1908 and was briefly known as the Ballarat-Wimmera Football League between 1934 and 1936.[1]
History
In 1880, a Ballarat and Western Districts Football Association was formed, but it appears no teams were entered or a draw was made up.[2]
The Ballarat Football Association (BFA) was established in 1893[3] with three member clubs: Ballarat, South Ballarat, and Ballarat Imperial.[1][4][5] The latter was the dominant club in the BFA, winning the first premiership in 1893 and eleven premierships between 1893 and 1906. In 1908, the BFA changed its name to the Ballarat Football League (BFL) and Golden Point Football Club joined the competition.[5]Maryborough and Ararat joined in 1924, followed by Daylesford and Bacchus Marsh several years later.[4]
The BFL briefly amalglamated with the four clubs of Wimmera Football League from 1934 to 1936, when it was known as the Ballarat-Wimmera Football League.[1][4]
The league was restructured into six teams in 1938 when it merged with the Ballarat District Football League, with several club mergers taking place[6]. Ballarat Imperials FC then merged with the East Ballarat FC and played as Ballarat Imperials, finishing runner up to Sebastopol.[7] Ballarat FC and North Ballarat FC also merged in 1938, to represent the "Lake Ward" of the new football competition.[8]
Ballarat Imperials went into recess just prior to the start of the 1939 Ballarat District Football League season[9].
The Henderson Medal is the league's seasonal best and fairest award. It was established in 1954 in honour of W. L. Henderson, who served as President from 1943 to 1959.[5]
The BFL is now known as the Ballarat Football Netball League (BNFL), and consists of eleven football netball clubs and nine junior football netball clubs.[10] In 2023, the Herald Sun dubbed North Ballarat Football Club "country footy’s most dominant club over the last several decades"; the club had played in the Victorian Football League and the Bendigo Football Netball League before rejoining the BNFL in 2006.[11]
The league features 11 senior clubs. The BFL is a strong league for grass roots football with 9 junior clubs consisting of 63 teams from U/10 through to U/16.5 (Ballarat, Bacchus Marsh, Darley, East Ballarat, Lake Wendouree, Mount Clear, North Ballarat, Redan and Sebastopol).
The Ballarat Football League season normally commences in early April with the regular season matches finishing in August. Upon Daylesford's withdrawal from the competition at the end of the 2005 season competing clubs played the opposition clubs twice in the regular season, once at home, once away. This reverted upon North City's admission to the competition in 2008. The finals series is conducted in September with the Grand Final to decide the premiers for season having been historically held at the Ballarat City and Eastern Ovals. The match attracts crowds of 5000 to 9000 people, with notable attendances of 14602 at the Ballarat City Oval and 8,800 at the Eastern Oval for the 1949 and 1977 Grand Finals respectively.
In 2017, the BFL announced that from 2017 the Grand Final would be played at Mars Stadium with other finals series games remaining at the Eastern and City Ovals.
Governance
The management of the BFNL is overseen by an independent board of directors. The current chairman is Adrian Bettio.
The daily operation are managed by the general manager, Shane Anwyl along with two staff members.
The Ballarat FL's initial best and fairest award in senior football was the George McKenzie[71] Memorial Medal, first awarded in 1933, which ran from 1933 to 1937. George McKenzie was captain of Ballarat Imperials when they won six consecutive premierships between 1891 and 1896 and were runners up in 1897 and 1898.[72]
In 1938, the award was called the Angus Gold Cup, then the award was not awarded between 1939 and 1945, due to World War Two. The Ballarat FL Gold Medal ran from 1946 to 1953 and match day votes were allocated by the Ballarat Courier newspaper football journalists. The Henderson Medal is the league's current and seasonal best and fairest award and the medal was first named in honour of W. L. "Bill" Henderson in 1954,[73] who served as President from 1943 to 1959.[5] Henderson was a VCFL delegate for 30 years and is a life member of the VCFL and the Ballarat FNL.
In 2010, the Ballarat FNL awarded retrospective best and fairest medals to the following footballers, who originally polled the same number of votes as the winner, but finished second in the award, on the countback system - 1952: Stan Wallis, 1965: Tom Simpson and Lindsay Tucker. It appears that the 1933 runner up, W.T. "Webber" Jackson, of the Ballarat Football Club was not awarded a retrospective best and fairest medal in 2010.
The BFA leading goal kicking award was initially donated by the former publican of the Union Hotel, Ballarat between 1893 and 1903, Mr. Con Burrow[86]
The BFNL leading goal kicking award was named the Tony Lockett Award in 1988, after the former North Ballarat player, who went onto kick 1360 goals in the AFL between 1983 and 2002, with St.Kilda and the Sydney Swans.
Seniors
BFL Senior Football - Leading & Century Goalkickers
Colin Campbell Watson was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League.
The Riddell District Football Netball League (RDFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball league in Victoria, Australia. The RDFNL covers towns in the Macedon Ranges and an area from Melton and Rockbank in the south to Kyneton and Lancefield in the north.
The Wangaratta Magpies Football Club, officially known as the Wangaratta Magpies Football & Netball Club, is an Australian rules football club, which first played in the Ovens and Murray Football League in 1893 and is based in Wangaratta, Victoria at the Wangaratta Showgrounds and play on the Norm Minns Oval.
Louis William Schmidt was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) in 1907 then in the Victorian Football League (VFL) from 1908 to 1911, and again in 1921. He played for the St Kilda Football Club between 1912 and 1914, and again from 1918 until 1920.
The Rochester Football Netball Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football and netball club, formed at a meeting held on 8 June 1874 at Tidy's Restdown Hotel. The club was formed with the purpose of soon "playing and beating Echuca". An intense rivalry that has endured ever since regardless of which competition each was playing in.
William Charles Clymo was the captain of the Ballarat Fire Brigade for almost forty years, and was also an excellent sportsman, being an Australian rules footballer who played for St Kilda. He later coached Geelong to a premiership in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
The Wimmera Football League is a major Australian rules country league based in Western Victoria, with clubs located in towns in the Wimmera region: the regional centres along the Western Highway from Ararat to Nhill as well as Minyip-Murtoa and Warracknabeal.
The Maryborough Castlemaine District Football Netball League is an Australian rules football league based in central Victoria. This is a minor league with clubs coming from towns near the regional centres of Maryborough, and Castlemaine.
Arthur Charles Wood was an Australian rules footballer who played for and coached South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Leslie Clarence "Bro" Dayman was an Australian Rules footballer who played for Port Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and Footscray in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Geoffrey Maxwell Wheeler was an Australian rules footballer who played with Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He played only one VFL game, against Melbourne.
Colin Niven was an Australian rules footballer who played for Fitzroy and Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
The Maryborough Football & Netball Club, nicknamed the Magpies, is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the town of Maryborough, Victoria.
The Euroa Football Netball Club, nicknamed the Magpies, is an Australian rules football and netball club sited in the town of Euroa, in the north-east of Victoria.
The Sunbury Football Netball Club, nicknamed Lions, is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the Victorian town of Sunbury. The football team currently competes in the Ballarat Football League.
Edward Gordon Brewis was an Australian rules footballer who played with the Carlton Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL), and with the Prahran Football Club and the Preston Football Club in the Victorian Football Association (VFA).
The South Ballarat Football Club was an Australian rules football club which formerly competed in the Ballarat Football League.
The Ballarat Imperial Football Club was an Australian rules football club which formerly competed in the Ballarat Football League. The club was one of the most successful teams in the league, winning 17 premierships before it was dissolved in 1955.
William George Wells was an Australian rules footballer who played with North Melbourne and St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He was injured during the war and told he was expected to spend the remainder of his life in a wheelchair, but made a successful comeback. After leaving the VFL he played for various clubs, including three stints with Williamstown in the Victorian Football Association (VFA). He also coached in the Wimmera Football League and Ballarat Football League.
The Euroa District Football Association was formed in May, 1903 and was active up until 1949.
↑ "1903 - Ballarat Football". The Ararat Advertiser and Chronicle for the Stawell and Wimmera Districts (Vic). 15 September 1903. p.3. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
