The Alberton Football Netball League (AFNL) was an Australian rules football and netball competition based in the South Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. The post-war competition was re-established in 1946 as the Alberton Football Association, with Carrajung, Devon, Foster, Ramblers, Toora, Welshpool, Woodside and Yarram comprising the competition.
The league's final completed season was held in 2019. Its 2020 season was cancelled because of restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2020, the Mid Gippsland Football Netball League voted to admit Alberton's six remaining clubs — Fish Creek, Foster, Meeniyan Dumbalk United, Stony Creek, Tarwin and Toora — from the 2021 season. The Alberton Football Netball League was subsequently wound up at the end of 2020.
History
Re-establishment and early years
The Alberton Football Association was re-established in 1946 following the Second World War, with eight clubs comprising the competition: Carrajung, Devon, Foster, Ramblers, Toora, Welshpool, Woodside and Yarram. Foster won the first post-war premiership, defeating Woodside in the 1946 grand final.
The association became known as the Alberton Football League in 1948. Woodside dominated the early years of the competition, winning six consecutive senior premierships from 1947 to 1952. Ramblers left the competition following the 1948 season and Won Wron joined in 1949.
Carrajung departed following the 1952 season and Fish Creek joined the league in 1953. Fish Creek reached the grand final in each of its first 15 seasons in the competition, from 1953 to 1967, winning 11 premierships during that period: 1955, 1956, 1958–1961 and 1963–1967. The run of 15 consecutive grand final appearances remains one of the most sustained periods of success in Gippsland football.
Expansion and consolidation
The composition of football in South Gippsland changed significantly in 1969. Following the demise of the South Gippsland Football League, Meeniyan Dumbalk United and Stony Creek joined Alberton. Welshpool won three consecutive senior premierships from 1969 to 1971, including an undefeated premiership season in 1970.
Toora won its sole Alberton senior premiership in 1973, defeating Meeniyan Dumbalk United by one point. Woodside added another premiership in 1974, while Meeniyan Dumbalk United won consecutive flags in 1975 and 1976.
The number of separate clubs in the league began to contract through mergers during the following decades. Won Wron and Woodside amalgamated ahead of the 1982 season to form Won Wron-Woodside. The combined club won the 1994 senior premiership.
Tarwin joined the Alberton league in 1988, returning the competition to ten clubs. Welshpool and Devon, both long-standing members of the league, amalgamated to form Devon-Welshpool ahead of the 1995 season. The newly formed club won the premiership in its first season, defeating Won Wron-Woodside by six points in the 1995 grand final.
League expansion and club mergers
The league underwent major expansion in 1996 following a restructuring of football in the region by the Victorian Country Football League. Five clubs from the former Bass Valley-Wonthaggi Football League—Dalyston, Inverloch-Kongwak, Korumburra, Bena and Wonthaggi Rovers—joined Alberton, increasing the competition to 14 clubs. A final-five system was introduced following the expansion.
Devon-Welshpool and Won Wron-Woodside amalgamated in 1997, initially competing as the East Coast Allies before becoming known as Devon-Welshpool-Won Wron-Woodside (DWWWW). The combined club won senior premierships in 1998, 1999 and 2003. Korumburra and Bena later merged to form Korumburra-Bena in 2001.
The league expanded further in 2005 when Phillip Island and Kilcunda-Bass joined the competition. The same year, Wonthaggi Rovers merged with Wonthaggi Blues to form Wonthaggi Power, which also competed in Alberton.
Wonthaggi Power and the DWWWW split
Wonthaggi Power immediately became one of the competition's strongest clubs, reaching the senior grand final in each of its five seasons in Alberton. The club won premierships in 2005, 2006 and 2008, while its relative size compared with many of the smaller Alberton communities led to concerns about competitive balance within the league.
The Victorian Country Football League ultimately determined that Wonthaggi should move to a stronger competition. Tensions surrounding Wonthaggi's continued participation culminated in Yarram forfeiting all grades of football and netball against the club in May 2008. Wonthaggi nevertheless completed the 2008 senior season undefeated and defeated Yarram in the grand final.
The 2009 season was confirmed as Wonthaggi's final year in Alberton. The club again finished on top of the ladder and advanced to a fifth consecutive grand final, where it faced Stony Creek. Stony Creek defeated Wonthaggi 14.10 (94) to 11.14 (80), securing its first senior premiership since 1983. Wonthaggi transferred to the Gippsland League for the 2010 season.
During the same period, tensions also developed within DWWWW. Following disagreement over the club's future direction and home-ground arrangements, a group associated largely with the former Won Wron-Woodside component established the Woodside & District Football Club. Woodside entered the North Gippsland Football Netball League in 2008, while DWWWW remained in Alberton.
DWWWW struggled for playing numbers and on-field success following the split. The club entered recess for the 2014 season before returning to competition in 2015. It competed for a further three seasons before again entering recess ahead of the 2018 season.
Contraction and regional restructuring
The departure of Wonthaggi was followed by further changes to the league's membership. In 2013, Yarram sought permission to leave Alberton and join the North Gippsland Football League. North Gippsland clubs were initially split over the application, with concerns including the reintroduction of a bye and competition for junior players. Yarram's appeal was subsequently upheld and the club entered North Gippsland for the 2014 season, ending 68 seasons of continuous participation in Alberton.
AFL Gippsland commenced a review of senior football and netball competition structures in 2015, citing issues including competitive balance and club sustainability. The review resulted in the establishment of the West Gippsland Football Netball Competition for the 2017 season. Five Alberton clubs — Dalyston, Inverloch-Kongwak, Kilcunda-Bass, Korumburra-Bena and Phillip Island — left to become inaugural members of the new competition. Their departure reduced Alberton from 12 clubs in 2016 to seven in 2017.
When DWWWW entered recess ahead of 2018, only six active clubs remained: Fish Creek, Foster, Meeniyan Dumbalk United, Stony Creek, Tarwin and Toora.
Final years and dissolution
A further AFL Gippsland review in 2018 recommended that the six remaining Alberton clubs join the Mid Gippsland competition as part of a new 15-club structure. Mid Gippsland successfully appealed against the proposal, leaving the six Alberton clubs to consider other options.
In 2019, all six clubs applied to join the Ellinbank and District Football Netball League for the following season, but their applications were unsuccessful. At the same time, AFL Victoria commissioned further work on the future structure of football and netball in Gippsland. By this stage the long-term viability of a standalone six-club Alberton competition was considered increasingly uncertain.
The final completed Alberton season was held in 2019. Foster and Stony Creek contested the senior grand final at Tarwin Lower on 31 August, with Foster winning by seven points to claim its ninth Alberton senior premiership.
The planned 2020 season was cancelled because of restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. During the recess, AFL Gippsland's Gippsland 2025 Strategy recommended a merger between Alberton and Mid Gippsland. Rather than merge the two competitions, the Mid Gippsland Football Netball League voted on 24 August 2020 to admit all six remaining Alberton clubs from the 2021 season.
The Alberton Football Netball League held its final annual general meeting on 25 November 2020, at which members passed a special resolution to wind up the league. Fish Creek, Foster, Meeniyan Dumbalk United, Stony Creek, Tarwin and Toora subsequently became members of the Mid Gippsland Football Netball League from the 2021 season.
During its history the Alberton Football League has produced a number of players who would go on to play in the VFL/AFL competition.
Jarryd Blair
Jarryd Blair played junior football at Wonthaggi Power and in 2006 he was a part of the senior premiership team. He was selected as pick 27 in the 2009 AFL rookie draft and made his AFL debut in round 14, 2010 against West Coast at Etihad Stadium. His debut AFL season saw him play in Collingwood's 2010 premiership team. Blair played 157 games for Collingwood before being delisted in 2018. In 2020, Wonthaggi Power announced that Blair had been appointed as senior coach for the 2021 season in the Gippsland League.
Brent Macaffer
Brent Macaffer was selected as pick 26 in the 2007 AFL rookie draft. He would play in Collingwood's 2010 premiership team. In 2016, Macaffer announced his retirement from AFL football. Macaffer would return to his original club, Kilcunda Bass to coach the club for the 2017 season. On 13 February 2019, Macaffer was awarded a life member of the Collingwood Football Club.
Nathan Vardy
Nathan Vardy played his junior football for DWWWW. He was selected at pick 42 by Geelong in the 2009 national draft. At the conclusion of the 2016 season Vardy was traded to the West Coast Eagles. In 2017, with Nic Naitanui and Scott Lycett injured, Vardy had to take charge as West Coast's number one ruckman and played almost every game. He played a critical role in West Coast's 2018 premiership team. Vardy is one of four current former Alberton players listed by AFL clubs.
Current AFL listed player *Games played correct as at 5 October 2020 † List may not be complete
Awards
The following major individual awards and accolades are presented each season:
Peter Moore Medal — to the fairest and best player in the league, voted by the umpires
Leading goal kicker award — for the player who scores the most goals during the home & away season
Bill Pollock Medal — the best player on the ground in the grand final
Rising star award — a monthly award for promising up-and-coming players
Team of the year — a squad of 21 players deemed the best in their positions
Most disciplined club award — for the club who receives the most discipline points, voted by the umpires
Season structure
Pre-season
The Alberton Football League like most country leagues does not have a formal Pre-season competition.
As part of their Pre-season preparation clubs will often schedule between one and two practice matches with clubs from other leagues prior to the season beginning. These matches could take on different structures and were primarily conducted on a non-official basis with limited match officials and scores not being recorded.
Premiership season
The Alberton home-and-away season at present lasts for 15 rounds, starting in mid April and ending in early August. As of the 2017 season, each team plays 15 matches. Teams receive four premiership points for a win and two premiership points for a draw. Ladder finishing positions are based on the number of premiership points won, and "percentage" (calculated as the ratio of points scored to points conceded throughout the season) is used as a tie-breaker when teams finish with equal premiership points.
Finals series
Since its inception until 1995 the Alberton finals consisted of a 'final-four' system.
With the inclusion of a number of clubs from the defunct Bass Valley Wonthaggi football league in 1996 the finals series was expanded to a 'final-five' system.
The finals series was expanded again in 2005 with the inclusion of Kilcunda Bass and Phillip Island to become a 'final-six' system.
Since 2017 the finals series has since returned to a 'final-four' system, after a number of clubs left resulting in a smaller competition.
The top four teams at the end of the Alberton home & away season compete in a four-week finals series throughout August, culminating in a grand final to determine the premiers. The grand final is played on the afternoon of the last Saturday in August.
The winning team receives a silver premiership cup and a premiership flag – a new one of each is manufactured each year. The flag has been presented since the league began and is traditionally unfurled at the team's first home game of the following season. Additionally, each player in the grand final-winning team receives a premiership medallion.
2019 Finals series
Qualifying – Week 2 / Elimination – Week 1
Preliminary – Week 3
Grand Final – Week 4
1
Foster
12.8 (80)
1
Foster
8.7 (55)
2
Stony Creek
8.5 (53)
2
Stony Creek
7.6 (48)
2
Stony Creek
12.10 (82)
3
Fish Creek
7.5 (47)
3
Fish Creek
23.10 (148)
4
Toora & District
4.5 (29)
Grand final venues
For most of its history the Alberton football league grand final was hosted at the Yarram recreation reserve. With the expansion of the league in 1996 the grand final was relocated to the Foster Showgrounds to maintain a central location with respect to the rest of the league.
With Foster football club making the grand final in 2010 and 2011 the grand final was subsequently relocated to Inverloch recreation reserve to avoid a home-ground advantage. The grand final venue would then cycle back to Foster in 2012. The grand final since cycled between a few different venues until Tarwin Lower recreation reserve hosted the last Alberton grand final in 2019.
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