Southern Football League (Victoria)

The Southern Football League is an Australian rules football league, based in the south and south eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, for both seniors and juniors.

History

The South East Suburban League had been formed in 1963 as a merger of the East Suburban FL and the Caulfield Oakleigh District FL, after a number of clubs moved to the Croydon Ferntree Gully FL (now Eastern Football League).

In a major project in 1991 the league underwent a major revamp of its administration and opted to employ a full-time administrator and staff to manage the league's affairs. The League's administration along with its member clubs undertook a far reaching corporate planning programme to map out future directions and objectives. The extra manpower allowed the elevation of League and club standards and the improved marketability of attracting the corporate sponsorship that modern football now required to keep the organization afloat. Much of this work was completed by early 1992 and it was decided that a new name would be required to flow on from the work already achieved. The Southern Football League was adopted to show that a new professionalism was running football in the southern suburbs.

The league in its current form was created in 1993, through the absorption of the Eastern Suburbs Churches Football Association by the Southern Football League. The newly merged league began in 1993 with around 50 clubs playing 5 divisions, though this had dropped to 28 clubs in 3 divisions by 2002 due to clubs folding, merging, or moving to other competitions.^[1]

Since that time, the league has grown slightly with the addition of the Southern Dragons in 2009, Endeavour Hills in 2011 and Hallam in 2012. The Dragons returned to the VAFA after the 2012 season,^[2] but the revival of Carrum Patterson Lakes in 2013 after almost 20 years in recess kept the league at 31 clubs.^[3]

The 2014 SFL third division seniors grand final was called off after a brawl broke out between players and supporters. The game in which Mount Waverley was taking on Carrum Patterson Lakes. A police spokeswoman said supporters started heckling one of the teams as it left the ground at half-time. A fight broke out and one person was treated in hospital. The game was called off when one of the teams refused to return to the field."^[4]

Premiers

Current Clubs

Division 1

Club	Nickname	Jumper	Website	Years in Comp	SFL Premierships
Bentleigh	Demons		Official Site		Div 2: 2013
Chelsea Heights	Demons		Official Site		Div 2: 2000 Div 3: 1995
Cheltenham	Rosellas		Official Site		Div 2: 1992-3, 1995
Clayton	Clays		Official Site		Div 1: 2001, 2006 Div 2: 2010
Dingley	Dingoes		Official Site	2007-	Div 2: 2008
East Brighton	Vampires		Official Site	1993-	Div 1: 1993, 2004, 2012, 2014 Div 2: 2002
East Malvern	Panthers		Official Site		Div 2: 2012 Div 3: 2001
Mordialloc	Bloodhounds		Official Site	1988–	Div 2: 1999, 2014
St Kilda City	Saints		Official Site		Div 1: 2002, 2007, 2009-10 Div 2: 1998, 2005 Div 3: 1994
St Pauls	Bulldogs		Official Site		Div 1: 2008, 2011, 2013

Division 2

Club	Nickname	Jumper	Club Website	Years in Comp	SFL Premierships
Caulfield	Bears		Official Site	1993-	Div 2: 1994
Doveton Eagles	Eagles		Official Site	1995-	Div 3: 2013 Div 4: 1995
Hampton	Hammers		Official Site		Div 3: 2002, 2010
Heatherton	Tunners		Official Site		Div 2: 2006, 2009 Div 3: 1998
Highett	Bulldogs		Official Site	1993- (known as Highett Districts until 1997)	Div 2: 2004, 2011 Div 3: 1996
Keysborough	Burras		Official Site	2015-	-
Murrumbeena	Lions		Official Site	1993-	Div 2: 2003 Div 3: 1993
Oakleigh District	Districts		Official Site	1993-	-
Skye	Bombers		Official Site	2006-	Div 3: 2009
Springvale Districts	Demons		Official Site	1993-	Div 2: 2007

Division 3

Club	Nickname	Jumper	Club website	Years in Comp	SFL Premierships
Ashwood	Magpies		Official Site		Div 2: 1996, 2001
Black Rock	Jets		Official Site		Div 3: 2004, 2007
Carrum Patterson Lakes	Lions[5]		Official Site	2013- Reformed, Carrum FC folded after the 1996 season in the MPNFL	-
Dandenong Demons	Redlegs[6]		Official site	1993- (known as Dandenong West until 2003, Dandenong Demons until 2009) (Not connected to former VFA club Dandenong)	-
Endeavour Hills	Falcons		Official site	2011-	-
Hallam	Hawks		Official site	2012-	-
Lyndale	Pumas		Official Site	1993-	Div 3: 2000 Div 4: 1997 Div 5: 1995
Moorabbin	Kangaroos		Official Site	1993-	Div 3: 2005, 2012 Div 5: 1993
Mount Waverley	Mountain Lions[7]		Official Site	1993-2002, 2005- (known as Mt Waverley Catholics until 1998)	Div 4: 1998
Sandown	Cobras		Official Site	2002- (known as Southern Cobras until 2004)
South Yarra	Lions		Official Site	1993-	Div 3: 2008 Div 4: 1993
Southern Dragons	Dragons			2009-2012, 2015-	Div 3: 2011

Previous Clubs

Folded/In Recess

Merged

Moved to Eastern Football League

Moved to Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League

• Carrum Downs Football Club

Moved to Northern Football League

• Lower Plenty Football Club

Moved to Victorian Amateur Football Association

Moved to Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League

• Boronia Park Football Club

References

• Official Southern Football League Site