The Gippsland League (formerly known as the West Gippsland Latrobe Football 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 oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

and

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

league in the

Gippsland Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers ...

region of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seyche ...

, Australia. It is considered the only AFL Victoria major league in Gippsland. Australian rules football: West Gippsland Latrobe Football League becomes Gippsland League as Wonthaggi concedes move,

Wikinews Wikinews is a free-content news wiki and a project of the Wikimedia Foundation that works through collaborative journalism. Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales has distinguished Wikinews from Wikipedia by saying, "On Wikinews, each story is to b ...

, 10 December 2009

History

The original Gippsland Football Association was formed in 1889, at a meeting of club delegates from the following clubs - Hazelwood, Morwell, Rosedale, Thorpedale, Traralgon and Yarrum. The Gippsland Football Netball League (GFNL) has roots dating back to the Central Gippsland Football League (CGFL) which was founded in 1909 with many former CGFL clubs now part of the GFNL. The CGFL morphed into the Latrobe Valley Football League in 1954. The promoters of the LVFL wanted to have a league that consisted of towns along the

Orbost railway line The Gippsland line (also known as the Orbost railway line) is a railway line serving the Latrobe Valley and Gippsland regions of Victoria, Australia. It runs east from the state capital Melbourne through the cities of Moe, Morwell, Traralgon, ...

, from

Warragul Warragul is a town in Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne. Warragul lies between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Mount Baw Baw Plateau of the Great Dividing Range to the north. As of the , the town had a population of 19,85 ...

to Sale. "The background of the move, as reported on several occasions in this journal, is (1) to remove unbalances in the present population strengths of the towns at present fielding teams in the Central Gippsland Football League; (2) to link up with towns with the same community of interest; (3) to uplift the standard of football, by bringing the strongest clubs into competition; (4) to strengthen clubs financially through expected enhanced gates." Three clubs from south

towns,

Leongatha Leongatha is a town in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges, South Gippsland Shire, Victoria, Australia, located south-east of Melbourne. At the , Leongatha had a population of 5,869. Canadian dairy company Saputo which trades in Australi ...

, Korumburra and Mirboo North, were therefore barred from joining the new league and went on to form the South Gippsland FL. The Central Gippsland Football League actually folded, when seven clubs joined the new La Trobe Valley Football League and due to their geographical location these three remaining clubs chose not to join the La Trobe Valley Football League. These three club's then joined the South Gippsland Football League in 1954, with Leongatha entering two senior teams - Green & Gold! The LVFL changed its name, in 1995, to the Gippsland Latrobe FL. At the end of 2001, The West Gippsland FL and the Gippsland Latrobe FL had an administrative merger. This created a two-division competition and a name change to the West Gippsland Latrobe FL. From 2002 until 2004, the league comprised a premier division, consisting mainly of the former Gippsland-Latrobe clubs, and a western division, comprising most of the former WGFL clubs. After the 2004 season, the western division was dissolved, with

, Drouin and Garfield joining the premier league. The remaining clubs from the western division moved to other competitions, such as the

Alberton Football League The Alberton Football Netball League was an Australian rules football league covering the South Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. History 1946: Reformation of Alberton Football Association (League) The Alberton Football Association was ...

Ellinbank & District Football League The Ellinbank and District Football League is an Australian rules football and Netball League, based in the West Gippsland region of Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australi ...

and the

Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League The Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League (abbreviated "MPNFL") is an Australian rules football competition, governed by the AFL South East. The MPNFL contains teams near the south eastern region of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. At the ...

. In 2009, Garfield left the GFL for the Ellinbank & District Football League, whilst Wonthaggi and Bairnsdale joined the GFL in 2010 and 2011 respectively. The

Latrobe Valley The Latrobe Valley is an inland geographical district and urban area of the Gippsland region in the state of Victoria, Australia. The traditional owners are the Brayakaulung of the Gunai nation. The district lies east of Melbourne and nestl ...

area does not have a team participating in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

. Traralgon competed in the VFL during 1996-97, winning just four matches across those two years, before returning to the regional competition. The region does have a representative team in the TAC Cup Under-18 competition,

Gippsland Power The Gippsland Power is an Australian rules football team in the NAB League, the top statewide under-18 competition in Victoria, Australia. Honours *Premierships (1): 2005 *Runners-up (3): 1999, 2010, 2012 *Wooden Spoons (1): 2003 * Morrish Me ...

. The Central & Southern Gippsland Competition league was founded in 2019.

Clubs

As of 2019, the Gippsland League consists of the following teams:GL 2019 Fixture
/ref>

Former clubs

Players

VFL/AFL Players

A number of players from the Gippsland league have gone on to play and have success at the AFL level.

Premiers and Best & Fairest Winners

Records and Statistics

Finishing positions of current clubs since 1954 Recent finishing positions Significant records

2022 Ladder

FINALS

References

External links

SportsTG site
* Gippsland FNL - Football Best & Fairest Lists
West Gippsland Latrobe Football League
(Archived, 30 Aug 2003)

on Country Footy Scores {{Authority control Australian rules football competitions in Victoria (Australia) Netball leagues in Victoria (Australia) Articles containing video clips