The Ballarat Football League (BFL) is an Australian rules football competition that operates in the Ballarat region of

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in ...

. 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.

Overview

The league features 11 senior clubs. North Ballarat City Football Club joined the league in 2008 season raising the number of teams to the present number. North Ballarat City previously played in the Bendigo Football League for the previous two seasons prior to joining. The BFL is also 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. Being the major Australian Rules competition in the region, the BFL receives substantial media coverage with match reports in Ballarat daily newspaper The Courier as well as match radio coverage on radio stations 979fm (BFL Game Of The Round) and Apple 98.5fm (BFL Game Day).

Current clubs

;Notes

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.

Former Clubs

* Army * Ararat * Ballarat Imperials * Beaufort * Daylesford * East Ballarat * Geelong West *

Golden Point The golden point, a sudden death overtime system, is used to resolve drawn football matches. The term is borrowed from soccer's now-defunct golden goal. Rugby league Australia The golden point is used to determine a winner (where applicable, see ...

* Learmonth-Waubra * Maddingley * Maryborough * Military Hospital * RAAF * Smeaton * Waubra ;Notes

Premiers

*1893 Ballarat Imperials *1894 Ballarat Imperials *1895 Ballarat Imperials *1896 Ballarat Imperials *1897 Ballarat *1898 Ballarat *1899 Ballarat Imperials *1900 Ballarat Imperials *1901 Ballarat Imperials *1902 Ballarat Imperials *1903 Ballarat Imperials *1904 South Ballarat *1905 Ballarat Imperials *1906 Ballarat Imperials *1907 South Ballarat *1908 Ballarat *1909 South Ballarat *1910 Golden Point *1911 South Ballarat *1912 South Ballarat *1913 South Ballarat *1914 Golden Point *1915–1918 ''League in recess'' *1919 Golden Point *1920 Golden Point *1921 Golden Point *1922 Ballarat Imperials *1923 Ballarat *1924 Maryborough *1925 Maryborough *1926 South Ballarat *1927 Maryborough *1928 Ballarat *1929 Ballarat Imperials *1930 Ballarat *1931 Maryborough *1932 Ballarat *1933 Ballarat *1934 Ballarat Imperials *1935 Ballarat Imperials *1936 Ballarat Imperials *1937 Ballarat Imperials *1938 South Ballarat *1939 Golden Point *1940 Ballarat *1941 ''League in recess'' *1942 Ballarat *1943 Ballarat *1944 Ballarat *1945 Golden Point *1946 Redan *1947 Golden Point *1948 Golden Point *1949 East Ballarat *1950 East Ballarat *1951 Ballarat *1952 Redan *1953 Golden Point *1954 Ballarat *1955 Ballarat *1956 Geelong West *1957 Geelong West *1958 Geelong West *1959 Geelong West *1960 Maryborough *1961 Daylesford *1962 Ballarat *1963 North Ballarat *1964 East Ballarat *1965 Maryborough *1966 Golden Point *1967 Golden Point *1968 Maryborough *1969 Beaufort *1970 North Ballarat *1971 Ballarat *1972 Maryborough *1973 North Ballarat *1974 Maryborough *1975 Redan *1976 Redan *1977 Redan *1978 North Ballarat *1979 North Ballarat *1980 Golden Point *1981 Golden Point *1982 North Ballarat *1983 North Ballarat *1984 North Ballarat *1985 North Ballarat *1986 North Ballarat *1987 Golden Point *1988 Ballarat *1989 East Ballarat *1990 East Ballarat *1991 North Ballarat *1992 North Ballarat *1993 East Ballarat *1994 North Ballarat *1995 North Ballarat *1996 North Ballarat *1997 Sunbury *1998 Sunbury *1999 Sunbury *2000 Melton *2001 Melton *2002 Redan *2003 Redan *2004 Sunbury *2005 Melton *2006 Redan *2007 Redan *2008 Ballarat *2009 Redan *2010 Lake Wendouree *2011 Redan *2012 Sunbury *2013 North Ballarat City *2014 North Ballarat City *2015 Darley *2016 Bacchus Marsh *2017 Darley *2018 East Point *2019 East Point *2020 ''League in recess due to COVID19 pandemic'' *2022 Melton Source

Henderson Medalists

Ladders

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

References

Bibliography

* ''History of Football in the Ballarat District'' by John Stoward -

External links

Official Ballarat Football League website
{{Aussie Rules in Victoria Ballarat Football League clubs Australian rules football competitions in Victoria (Australia)