The Geelong Football Netball League is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

and

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

league in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, Australia. It is widely regarded as the highest-standard Australian rules football league in regional Victoria, with several former

AFL AFL may refer to: Education * Angel Foundation for Learning, a Canadian Roman Catholic charity * Ankara Science High School, a high school in Ankara, Turkey, natively referred to as ''Ankara Fen Liesi'' * Assessment for learning Military * ...

players now playing for a variety of clubs.

History

The league was formed in 1979 when twelve clubs broke away from the

Geelong & District Football League The Geelong & District Football Netball League (GDFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball league in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, being the oldest surviving competition in the region. It is one of three leagues in the Geelong area, t ...

. The city and country clubs of the old GDFL were divided into the major league competition of the GFL and the minor league of the GDFL. Many of the teams in the lower league wanted a system of

promotion and relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

, which was fought by the GFL until the early 1980s when the

Victorian Country Football League AFL Victoria Country is an Australian rules football governing body with jurisdiction over the state of Victoria outside metropolitan Melbourne on behalf of AFL Victoria. As well as administering and promoting the code in the regions, it often ar ...

held a hearing in Melbourne. As a result, a trial promotion–relegation system was put into place on a voluntary basis. Today, the GDFL is opposed to the promotion–relegation system, with a three-division, three-league competition of the Geelong FL, Bellarine FL and Geelong & District FL in place in the Geelong region. In March 2024, following extensive consultation, AFL Barwon detailed a plan that would expand the second-tier

Bellarine Football Netball League The Bellarine Football Netball League (BFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition based in the Bellarine Peninsula region of Victoria, Australia. Established in 1971 as the Bellarine & District Football League, the competition ...

to 12 teams from 2025 with a path for a team to accept an invitation for promotion to the GFNL, replacing a club that would then be relegated from the GFNL.

Clubs

Locations

Current clubs

Former clubs

Premiers

Senior football

A Grade netball

Individual awards

Senior football

Mathieson Medal

The Don Mathieson Medal is presented to the league's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

player at the conclusion of the home-and-away season. It is named after Don Mathieson , who founded the league in 1979. Two players have won the award on three occasions: John Williams for Barwon and St Mary's across four seasons in the late 1980s, and Newtown & Chilwell's Matthew McMahon in consecutive seasons in the late 2010s. The award has been shared on eight occasions, most notably during a four-way tie in 1995.

Leading Goalkicker Award

The Leading Goalkicker Award is presented to the player who has kicked the most goals at the conclusion of the home-and-away season.

A Grade netball

Best & Fairest Award

Hot Shot Award

Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{Aussie Rules in Victoria Australian rules football competitions in Victoria (state) Netball leagues in Victoria (state)