Gippsland League


The Gippsland League, formerly known as the West Gippsland Latrobe Football League, is an Australian rules football and netball league in the Gippsland region of Victoria. It is considered the only AFL Victoria major league in Gippsland.
WWW gl.vcfl.com.au

History

The original Gippsland Football Association was formed in 1889, after a meeting of club delegates from the towns of Hazelwood, Morwell, Rosedale, Thorpdale, Traralgon, and Yarram. The association was open to any clubs from the Gippsland area and would be responsible for arranging matches between clubs and dealing with club disputes.
The Gippsland Football Netball League has roots dating back to the Central Gippsland Football League 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, from Warragul to Sale. "The background of the move, as reported on several occasions in this journal, is to remove unbalances in the present population strengths of the towns at present fielding teams in the Central Gippsland Football League; to link up with towns with the same community of interest; to uplift the standard of football, by bringing the strongest clubs into competition; to strengthen clubs financially through expected enhanced gates."
Three clubs from south Gippsland towns, Leongatha, 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 clubs 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 Warragul, Drouin and Garfield joining the premier league. The remaining clubs from the western division moved to other competitions, such as the Alberton Football League, Ellinbank & District Football League and the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League.
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 area does not have a team participating in the Victorian Football League. 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.

Former clubs

Western Division

The Western Division began when the West Gippsland Football League merged with the Gippsland-La Trobe Football League following the 2001 season. It ran separately from the Premier Division, with no promotion or relegation between the two competitions. The division was wound up following the 2004 season, with Garfield, Drouin and Warragul joining the Premier Division and the other clubs moving to various local leagues.

Football Premierships

The following is a list of all the Gippsland FL premiership winning teams from 1921 to 1953 and of the La Trobe FL from 1954 to present day.
The Reserves competition commenced in 1954, the Thirds competition in 1957 and the Fourths in 2000.
YearSeniorsReservesUnder 18'sUnder 16's
Gippsland FL-
1921Maffra*-
1922Rosedale-
1923Traralgon-
1924Sale-
1925Traralgon-
1926Maffra-
1927Sale-
1928Bairnsdale-
1929Bairnsdale-
1930Bairnsdale-
1931Sale-
1932Yallourn-
1933Yallourn-
1934Sale-
1935Maffra-
1936Yarram-
1937Sale-
1938Maffra-
1939Yarram-
1940GFL in recess. WWII
1941GFL in recess. WWII-
1942GFL in recess. WWII-
1943GFL in recess. WWII-
1944GFL in recess. WWII-
1945GFL in recess. WWII-
1946Maffra Blacks-
1947Bairnsdale-
1948Maffra-
1949Sale-
1950Sale-
1951Bairnsdale-
1952Bairnsdale-
1953Sale-
La Trobe Valley FL-
1954SaleTraralgon-
1955SaleWarragul-
1956MoeSale-
1957SaleSaleTraralgon &
Sale
1958TrafalgarSaleMorwell
1959SaleMoeMoe
1960TraralgonMorwellSt Pat's
1961MorwellMorwellSt Pat's A
1962TrafalgarTraralgonSt Pat's A
1963TraralgonTraralgonSt Pat's A
1964TraralgonTraralgonSt Pat's A
1965TraralgonTraralgonSt Pat's A
1966MorwellBairnsdaleSale
1967MoeMoeSt Pat's A
1968TraralgonMoeSale
1969TraralgonSaleSt Pat's A
1970LeongathaSaleSt Pat's A
1971SaleSaleSt Pat's A
1972TraralgonSaleSt Pat's A
1973SaleMorwellTraralgon
1974WarragulWarragulSt Pat's A
1975SaleTraralgonSt Pat's A
1976WarragulTraralgonSale
1977LeongathaTraralgonSale
1978TraralgonTraralgonLeongatha
1979LeongathaLeongathaWarragul
1980TraralgonTraralgonTraralgon
1981BairnsdaleTraralgonWarragul
1982LeongathaTraralgonWarragul
1983MorwellBairnsdaleMaffra
1984WarragulWarragulSale
1985MorwellTraralgonWarragul
1986SaleTraralgonBairnsdale
1987TraralgonTraralgonBairnsdale
1988MorwellTraralgonTraralgon
1989LeongathaTraralgonTraralgon
1990TraralgonMaffraSale
1991TraralgonMaffraMoe
1992TraralgonTraralgonTraralgon
1993MorwellTraralgonSale
1994TraralgonMorwellSale
1995LeongathaTraralgonBairnsdale
1996MorwellWarragulTraralgon
1997LeongathaLeongathaSale
1998TraralgonSaleSale
1999TraralgonTraralgonSale
2000TraralgonLeongathaTraralgonLeongatha
2001LeongathaMaffraSaleTraralgon
2002MaffraMaffraLeongathaTraralgon
2003MaffraMaffraTraralgonSale
2004MaffraMaffraMaffraSale
2005TraralgonTraralgonSaleSale
2006MaffraSaleTraralgonWarragul
2007MaffraTraralgonTrarlagonMaffra
2008SaleTraralgonTraralgonTraralgon
2009MaffraMoeMaffraTraralgon
2010MaffraTraralgonLeongathaTraralgon
2011TraralgonMaffraTraralgonSale
2012SaleLeongathaBairnsdaleTraralgon
2013MorwellWonthaggiBairnsdaleSale
2014MorwellTraralgonTraralgonMoe
2015TraralgonMaffraTraralgonTraralgon
2016MaffraTraralgonBairnsdaleMoe
2017LeongathaMorwellTraralgonMoe
2018LeongathaLeongathaTraralgonBairnsdale
2019
MaffraMaffraLeongathaTraralgon
2022
LeongathaLeongathaWarragulMaffra
2023
LeongathaLeongathaMaffraMaffra
2024
TraralgonLeongathaWarragulTraralgon
2025
LeongathaLeongathaMaffraMaffra

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

YearSenior PremierSenior B&F WinnerSeason Summary
2025LeongathaBenjamin Harding 2025 season
2024TraralgonRiley Baldi 2024 season
2023LeongathaShannen Lange 2023 Season
2022LeongathaTom Marriott 2022 Season
2019MaffraJack Lipman 2019 Season
2018LeongathaTom Marriott 2018 Season
2017LeongathaJames Blaser, Kane Martin & Jack Blair 2017 Season
2016MaffraBrad Scalzo 2016 Season
2015TraralgonBob McCallum 2015 Season
2014MorwellAdam Bailey 2014 Season
2013MorwellKelvin Porter 2013 Season
2012SaleLuke Collins 2012 Season
2011TraralgonAndrew Soumilas 2011 Season
2010MaffraGary Jones 2010 Season
2009MaffraAdrian Cox & Michael Geary 2009 Season
2008SaleNick Hider 2008 Season
2007MaffraNick Hider 2007 Season
2006MaffraDesi Barr 2006 Season
2005TraralgonAndrew Soumilas 2005 Season

Records and statistics

Finishing positions of current clubs since 1954
ClubPremiershipsRunners Up3rd4th5th
Traralgon21181063
Leongatha139763
Sale1079112
Maffra95762
Morwell981037
Warragul335143
Moe281073
Bairnsdale12321
Wonthaggi05231
Drouin02012

Recent finishing positions
Club2025202420232022201920182017201620152014201320122011
Bairnsdale8th7th7th9th8th7th9th10th8th5th6th8th8th
Drouin10th9th10th10th5th8th10th4th7th10th9th7th2nd
Leongatha1st1st3rd1st2nd1st1st2nd2nd7th7th3rd8th
Maffra7th10th8th6th1st2nd2nd1st3rd4th3rd2nd3rd
Moe3rd3rd2nd7th3rd5th4th8th9th8th10th10th7th
Morwell4th6th6th5th9th9th5th9th6th1st1st5th9th
Sale9th5th5th3rd4th4th6th6th5th3rd2nd1st4th
Traralgon2nd2nd4th4th7th3rd3rd3rd1st6th5th4th1st
Warragul5th8th9th8th10th6th7th5th10th9th8th9th10th
Wonthaggi6th4th1st2nd6th10th8th7th4th2nd4th6th6th

Significant records
RecordDetail
Highest score:45.22 Traralgon vs. Churchill
Lowest score:0.2 Stratford vs. Traralgon; Bairnsdale vs. Traralgon
Most goals in a match: Adrian Campbell
Most goals in a season:136 Shane Loveless
Record quarter score
1st quarter13.4 Maffra vs. Newborough
Warragul vs. Newborough
Maffra vs. Churchill
2nd quarter14.3 Leongatha vs. Heyfield
3rd quarter15.5 Traralgon vs. Newborough
4th quarter16.7 Leongatha vs. Moe

2023 Ladder

'''Finals'''