General Information | |
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Founded | 1967 in the Adelaide Hills |
Current clubs | Birdwood Blackwood Bridgewater-Callington Echunga Gumeracha Hahndorf Kangarilla Kersbrook Macclesfield Meadows Milang Mount Barker Mount Lofty Nairne Bremer United Onkaparinga Valley Torrens Valley Uraidla Districts |
The Hills Football League (HFL) is an Australian rules football league, situated in the Adelaide Hills region of South Australia, to the south east of the state capital Adelaide.
The League has over 3000 players belonging to 20 member Clubs. [1] The League's Clubs are divided into two playing Divisions:
Both divisions have their own programs for the season. There is a promotion and relegation system that received criticism in 2014 following the ultimately unsuccessful decision to relegate Echunga in the same season that they won the Central Division premiership. [2] It is the second biggest league in South Australia after the South Australian Amateur Football League.
In 2009 the Uraidla Districts Football Club became the first team in HFL history to secure all senior premierships (A,B&C) in a single season a feat that was followed by Hahndorf in 2016.
The Hills FL was formed in 1967 as a result of the merger of the original Hills Central FL and the Torrens Valley FL. For a number of years, the competition consisted of three divisions, firstly known as the Central Zone, the Northern Zone and the Southern Zone. This later changed to Zone 1, 2 and 3 with two years also providing a Zone 4. Eventually in 1979 the two divisions that exist today was established. The one year that was an exception was 1983 when competition was played in one division. [3]
Heathfield-Aldgate United hold the record for the most premierships won in succession from 1971 to 1977.
The HFL consists of:
Jumper | Club | Nickname | Years in comp | HFL Premierships |
---|---|---|---|---|
Blackwood [4] | Woods | 1987– | Div 1:1988, 1991, 2017 | |
Echunga | Demons | 1967– | Div 1:2014 Div 2:1995-96, 2000, 2011, 2013 Div 3:1972 Southern B:1968 | |
Hahndorf [5] | Magpies | 1967– | Div 1:1984–85, 1992–93, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2015–16, 2018–21 | |
Lobethal [6] | Tigers | 1967– | Div 1:1981, 199 –99, 2002, 2022 | |
Mount Barker [7] | Barkeroos | 1967– | Div 1:1969–70, 1982–83, 2000, 2003–04, 2012 | |
Mount Lofty District [8] | Mountain Devils | 1986– | Div 1:1986, 1990, 2006–08 Div 2:2014 | |
Nairne Bremer United | Rams | 1978–1991, 1998– | Div 1: 2023 Div 2: 1985, 1989, 2017 | |
Onkaparinga Valley [9] | Bulldogs | 1967– | Div 1:1978, 1994 | |
Uraidla Districts | Demons | 1997– | Div 1:2005, 2009–11, 2013 |
Colours | Club | Nickname | Years in comp | HFL Premierships |
---|---|---|---|---|
Birdwood | Roosters | 1967- | Div 2:1973, 1975-76-77, 1992, 1994 | |
Gumeracha | Magpies | 1967- | Div 2:1970, 1982, 1984, 2019, 2022, 2023 | |
Kangarilla | Double Blues | 1967–1978, 2006- | Div 2:2006 Div 3:1970, 1973–74, 1978 | |
Kersbrook | Blues/Brookers | 1971- | Div 2:1972, 1974, 1986, 1993, 1997, 2008–09, 2012, 2015, 2021 | |
Macclesfield | Blood and Tars | 1967–1983, 1987- | Div 2:1980 Div 3:1969 Div 4:1972-1973 | |
Meadows | Bulldogs | 1967-1982, 2001- | Div 2:2001-2004 Div 3:1967 | |
Torrens Valley | Mountain Lions | 1997- * | Div 2:2005, 2007, 2010 |
Colours | Club | Nickname | Years in comp | HFL Premierships |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bridgewater-Callington [13] | Raiders | 2013-2022, 2024- | Div 2: 1981, 2016 | |
Milang | Panthers | 1986-2005, 2010-2017, 2021- | - |
Colours | Club | Nickname | Years in comp | HFL Premierships |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ashton | 1972-81 (merged with Lenswood Rangers) | - | ||
Barossa District | Bulldogs | 1987-90 (moved to Barossa, Light & Gawler FA) | Div 2:1987-88, 1990 | |
Bremer | 1967-78 (merged with Nairne) | Div 3B:1974, 1978 | ||
Bridgewater | Raiders | 1967-2012 (merged with Callington United Eagles) | Div 2:1981 | |
Callington United Eagles [14] | Eagles | 1995-2012 (merged with Bridgewater) | - | |
Eastern Rangers | Saints | 1983-96 (merged with Uraidla) | Div 1:1987 | |
Heathfield Aldgate United | 1967-78 (merged with Stirling) | Div 1:1967-68, 1971-72-73-74-75-76-77 | ||
Ironbank-Cherry Gardens | Thunderers | 1986-2022 | Div 2:1998-99, 2018, 2020 | |
Ironbank Cherry Gardens Bridgewater | Raiders/Thunderers | 2023 | - | |
Langhorne Creek | Tigers | 1967-77 (moved to Great Southern Football League) | Div 3:1975-76-77 | |
Lenswood Rangers | 1967-82 (merged with Ashton) | Div 2:1978-79 | ||
Littlehampton | 1967-72 | Southern:1968 | ||
Mount Torrens | Bombers | 1967-75 (merged with Sedan Cambrai) 1986-1996 (merged with Pleasant Valley) | Div 2:1991 | |
Mount Torrens-Cambrai | 1976-85 | - | ||
Mylor | 1967-72 | Southern B:1967, 1970 | ||
Nairne | 1967-78 (merged with Bremer) | - | ||
Palmer | 1967-70, 1972–73 | Div 4B:1972 | ||
Pleasant Valley | Roos | 1967-88 (merged with Mount Torrens) | Northern:1967-68-69, 1971 | |
Sedan Cambrai | Magpies | 1967-75 (merged with Mount Torrens) 2010-15 (moved to Riverland Independent FL) [15] | - | |
Stirling | Eagles | 1967-78 (merged with Heathfield-Aldgate United) | - | |
Uraidla | Redlegs | 1967-96 (merged with Eastern Rangers) | Div 1:1979-80, 1989, 1996 | |
Williamstown | Rovers | 1967-73 | - | |
The following were drafted to AFL club lists having previously participated in the Hills Football League. [16]
The Division of Mayo is an Australian electoral division located to the east and south of Adelaide, South Australia. Created in the state redistribution of 3 September 1984, the division is named after Helen Mayo, a social activist and the first woman elected to an Australian University Council. The 9,315 km2 rural seat covers an area from the Barossa Valley in the north to Cape Jervis in the south. Taking in the Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island regions, its largest population centre is Mount Barker. Its other population centres are Aldgate, Bridgewater, Littlehampton, McLaren Vale, Nairne, Stirling, Strathalbyn and Victor Harbor, and its smaller localities include American River, Ashbourne, Balhannah, Brukunga, Carrickalinga, Charleston, Cherry Gardens, Clarendon, Crafers, Cudlee Creek, Currency Creek, Delamere, Echunga, Forreston, Goolwa, Gumeracha, Hahndorf, Houghton, Inglewood, Kersbrook, Kingscote, Langhorne Creek, Lobethal, Macclesfield, McLaren Flat, Meadows, Middleton, Milang, Mount Compass, Mount Pleasant, Mount Torrens, Mylor, Myponga, Normanville, Norton Summit, Oakbank, Penneshaw, Piccadilly, Port Elliot, Second Valley, Springton, Summertown, Uraidla, Willunga, Woodchester, Woodside, Yankalilla, and parts of Birdwood, Old Noarlunga and Upper Sturt.
Adelaide Hills Council is a local government area in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia. It is in the hills east of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It extends from the South Para Reservoir in the north, to the Mount Bold Reservoir in the south.
Birdwood, originally named Blumberg, is a town in the Adelaide Hills area of South Australia, around 44 km (27 mi) from Adelaide city centre. It is located in the local government areas of the Adelaide Hills Council and the Mid Murray Council.
The Adelaide Hills region is located in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges east of the city of Adelaide in the state of South Australia. The largest town in the area, Mount Barker is one of Australia's fastest-growing towns. Before British colonisation of South Australia, the area was inhabited by the Peramangk people.
The Mount Barker District Council is a local government area, centred on the Adelaide hills town of Mount Barker, just outside the Adelaide metropolitan area in South Australia.
Lobethal is a town in the Adelaide Hills area of South Australia. It is located in the Adelaide Hills Council local government area, and is nestled on the banks of a creek between the hills and up the sides of the valley. It was once the centre of the Adelaide Hills wool processing industry, which continued until around 1950. The mill buildings are now used by a number of cottage industry and handcraft businesses. At the 2016 census, Lobethal had a population of 2,135.
Nairne is a small township in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia. Nairne is about 7 kilometres (4 mi) from Mount Barker, South Australia, in the federal Division of Mayo and in the state electoral district of Kavel. At the 2016 census, Nairne had a population of 6,086.
Ashton is a town in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia. It was named by George Hunt in 1858 after his home Ashton in England. Ashton is from the old English word aesctun, which means "ash tree town".
Transitplus was a privately owned public transport company which operated bus services from the South Australian capital Adelaide, to the Adelaide Hills, mainly Mount Barker area. It is part of the Adelaide Metro network. It was a joint venture between TransAdelaide, which also operates the train system in Adelaide and Australian Transit Enterprises. Transitplus was based in Aldgate in the Adelaide Hills and had two depots located in Aldgate and Mount Barker.
Frank Andrew Halleday was an Australian politician. He was a member of the South Australian Legislative Council from 1938 to 1943.
Heinrich Albert Alfred von Doussa was an Australian businessman and politician. He was a member of the South Australian Legislative Council from 1901 to 1921, representing Southern District.
The Mount Lofty District Football Club is an Australian rules football team based in the eastern suburbs of Adelaide which was formed in late 1978 as a merger between the former Stirling Football Club and Heathfield-Aldgate United Football Club. Adopting the moniker of "Mountain Devils", Mount Lofty initially joined the South Australian Football Association (SAFA) competition in the 1979 season and participated in that league until the end of the 1985 season. In 1986, Mount Lofty joined the Hills Football League and currently continue to field teams in both Senior and Junior grades in that competition.
The Uraidla Districts Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in the eastern suburbs of Adelaide which was formed in 1997 as a merger between the former Uraidla Football Club and Eastern Rangers Football Club. The combined club joined the Hills Football League Central Division and currently continue to field teams in both Senior and Junior grades in Division 1 of that league.
The Bridgewater-Callington Raiders is an Australian rules football club based in the towns of Bridgewater and Callington in South Australia, playing in Division 1 of the Hills Football League.
The Onkaparinga Valley Football Club, nicknamed the Bulldogs, is an Australian rules football club that serves the South Australian towns of Balhannah, Woodside and Oakbank. The Bulldogs currently compete in Division 1 of the Hills Football League and play their home games in Balhannah.
The Alexandra and Eastern Hills Cricket Association (A&EHCA) is a cricket association in the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island regions of South Australia. It is an affiliated association of the South Australian Cricket Association. The A&EHCA runs senior men's cricket competitions across five grades and junior competitions at the under 16, under 14, under 12 and under 10 age groups.
The Mount Barker Football Club, nicknamed the Roos, is an Australian rules football club based in the Adelaide Hills town of Mount Barker, South Australia, that competes in the Hills Football League.