Geelong & District
Football Netball League

Formerly	Multiple names Geelong & District Football Association (1879–1918; 1939–1944) Geelong Junior Football Association (1922–1932) Geelong & District Football League (1919–1921; 1933–1938; 1945–2016)
Sport	Australian rules football Netball
Founded	1879; 146 years ago (1879)
President	Neville Whitley
No. of teams	12
Country	Australia
Headquarters	Breakwater,Victoria, Australia
Confederation	AFL Barwon
Most recent champion	North Geelong (2025)
Most titles	Geelong West (26 premierships)
Sponsor	Morris
Related competitions	Geelong FNL Bellarine FNL
Official website	gdfnl.com.au

TheGeelong & District Football Netball League (GDFNL) is anAustralian rules football andnetball league inVictoria, being the oldest surviving competition in the region. It is one of three leagues in theGeelong area, the others being theGeelong FNL and theBellarine FNL.

There are 12 teams competing in the GDFL, which has also produced over 600VFL/AFL players.^[1]

The league was formed in 1879 as the Geelong and District Football Association (GDFA). In 1919 it changed name to the GDFL, before changing to the Geelong Junior Football Association in 1922. It reverted to the GDFL name in 1933, then back to the GDFA in 1939, and back to the GDFL in 1945.^[1] From 1922 until 1927, the league operated and administrated theGeelong Association Football Club, which competed in theVictorian Football Association.^[2]

From 1946 onwards, the GDFL maintained a divisional system, with clubs in the First Division competing for the Evelyn Hurst Trophy, the Second Division for the Woolworth Cup, and the Third Division for the Jarman Cup.

In 1973 the GDFL had a restructure that insisted in having the senior club also provide a reserve grade side. This meant that senior clubs had to align with a junior club to survive. The Evelyn Hurst Trophy, the Woolworth Cup and the Jarman Cup titles were dropped for the more standard 1st and 2nd divisions. 1st division would have twelve clubs while 2nd division started with 8 and eventually grew to 11 clubs.

The league took the form it is today when 12 clubs broke away in 1979 to form theGeelong Football League. The city and country clubs of the old GDFL were divided into the major league competition of the GFL and the minor league GDFL. Many of the teams in the lower league wanted a system ofpromotion and relegation, which saw the movement of a couple of clubs.

The GDFL were left with 11 clubs but over the next couple of years it grew to fourteen. It was enough for the league add another division of competition. From 1984 until 1995 the league had two divisions that operated on a promotion/demotion system. From 1996 onwards, the league has reverted to a single division competition.^[3]

Today the GDFL is opposed to the promotion-relegation system, with theGeelong Football League, Geelong & District Football League andBellarine Football League forming a three-league, three-division football structure in the Geelong area. From 2002, the GDFL included netball teams, introducing A Grade, B Grade & C Grade senior teams, as well as U/17's, U/15's & U/13's netball.^[4]

In 2009, the GDFL introduced a fourth senior netball section, D Grade, in which East Geelong and Werribee Centrals have each won three of the last six premierships.^[when?]

7km
4.3miles

Winchelsea

Werribee Centrals

Thomson

North Geelong

Inverleigh

Geelong West

East Geelong

Corio

Belmont Lions

Bell Post Hill

Bannockburn

Anakie

   

Club	Colours	Moniker	Home venue	Former league	Est.	Years in GDFNL	GDFNL premierships
							Total	Most recent
Anakie		Roos	Anakie Reserve,Anakie	EC	c. 1897	1949-	4	1994
Bannockburn		Tigers	Victoria Park,Bannockburn	EC	1878	1953-1958, 1970-	6	2022
Bell Post Hill		Panthers	Myers Reserve,Bell Post Hill	—	1976	1977-	7	2017
Belmont Lions		Lions	Winter Reserve,Belmont	—	1965	1965-	1	2007
Corio		Devils	Shell Reserve,Corio	—	1974	1974-	1	1995
East Geelong		Eagles	Richmond Oval,East Geelong	—	1879	1879-1978, 1981-	24	2009
Geelong West		Giants	West Oval,Geelong West	—	2017	2017-	0	—
Inverleigh		Hawks	Inverleigh Recreation Reserve,Inverleigh	—	1970	1954-1995, 2003	2	2023
North Geelong		Magpies	Osborne Park,North Geelong	—	1876	1890-1978, 1983-	22	2025
Thomson		Tigers	Thomson Recreation Reserve,Thomson	—	1953	1957-1978, 1982-1983, 1985-	11	2024
Werribee Centrals		Centurions	Galvin Park Reserve,Werribee	WSFL	1969	1984-	7	2004
Winchelsea		Blues	Eastern Reserve,Winchelsea	BFL	1876	1921-1922, 2002-	0	—

Club	Colours	Moniker	Home venue	Former League	Est.	Years in competition	GDFNL premierships		Fate
							Total	Most recent
Anglesea		Roos	Ellimatta Reserve,Anglesea	–	1963	1963-1972	0	-	Moved toBellarine FNL after 1972 season
Bacchus Marsh		Tigers	Maddingley Park,Maddingley	BFL	1881	1931-1932	0	-	Moved toBacchus Marsh & Melton FA in 1933
Barrabool				–		1919	0	-	Moved toLeigh District FA in 1920
Barwon		Bulldogs	Highton Recreation Reserve,Highton	–	1856	1913-1978	3	1967	Moved toGeelong FNL following 1978 season
Barwon Heads		Seagulls	Howard Harmer Reserve,Barwon Heads	FCDFA	1922	1947-1970	0	-	Moved toBellarine FNL after 1970 season
Barwon Rowing Club				GASFL		1923-1925	0	-	Folded
Bell Park		Dragons	Hamlyn Park,Bell Park	–	1958	1959-1978	2	1970	Moved toGeelong FNL following 1978 season
Belmont		Two Blues	McDonald Reserve,Belmont	GFA	1874	1928-1929, 1945-1989	0	-	Merged withBarwon in 1990 to formSouth Barwon
Belmont Amateurs				GFA		1939	0	-	Folded partway through 1939 season
Chilwell		Bombers		–	1874	1879-1933	0	-	Merged withNewtown in 1934 to formNewtown & Chilwell
Colac Rovers				CFL		1936-1938	0	-	Moved toColac & District FL in 1939
CYMS				–		1946-1950	0	-	Merged withYCW to formCYMS-YCW in 1951
CYMS-YCW				–	1951	1951	0	-	De-merged intoCYMS andYCW in 1952
Drysdale		Hawks	Drysdale Recreational Reserve,Drysdale	GSDFL	1879	1940-1970	4	1970	Moved toBellarine FNL after 1970 season
Ford					1926	1926, 1936-1938	0	-	Folded
Freshwater Creek		Sparrows		GFA		1939-1940, 1947-1961	2	1951	Folded
Geelong Amateur		Ammos, Pegasus	Queens Park,Highton	VAFA	1926	1983-1994	2	1983	Moved toBellarine FNL after 1994 season
Geelong Guild Scouts						1933-1934	0	-	Moved toGeelong FA in 1935
Geelong High School Ex-Students				GFA		1939	0	-	Folded due toWWII
Geelong West		Roosters	West Oval,Geelong West	–	1878	1879-1945	25	1945	Moved toBallarat FL following 1945 season
Geelong West SC		Cheetahs	West Oval,Geelong West	GFNL	1926	1939-1978, 1986-2016	5	1987	Merged withGeelong West-St Peter's in 2017 to formGeelong West
Geelong West YCW				–		1955-1958	0	-	Folded
Grovedale		Tigers	Burdoo Reserve,Grovedale	–	1947	1946-1978	2	1977	Moved toGeelong FNL following 1978 season
Herne Hill				–		1947-1951	0	-	Folded
International Harvester Club				–		1945	0	-	Folded
Lara		Cats	Lara Recreation Reserve,Lara	WDFL	1880	1907-1914, 1947-1988	4	1988	Moved toGeelong FNL following 1988 season
Leopold		Lions	Leopold Memorial Park,Leopold	–	1955	1955-1964	0	-	Moved toPolwarth FL after 1964 season
Lethbridge			Lethbridge Recreation Reserve,Lethbridge	EC	c.1890s	1953-1962	0	-	Folded
Little River			Little River Recreation Reserve,Little River	W&DFA		1953-1966	0	-	Folded
Marnock Vale				GFA		1939	0	-	Folded due toWWII
Meredith		Swans	Meredith Cricket & Recreation Reserve,Meredith	BBMFL	c.1890s	1976-1980	0	-	Folded
Military				Q&BDFA		1923-1924, 1926-1927	0	-	Returned toQueenscliff & Bellarine District FL in 1925, folded at an unknown date
Modewarre		Warriors	Mt Moriac Recreation Reserve,Mount Moriac	EC	1879	1951-1995	8	1994	Moved toBellarine FNL after 1995 season
Newtown		Two Blues	Elderslie Reserve,Newtown	–	1875	1879-1933	0	-	Merged withChilwell in 1934 to formNewtown & Chilwell
Newtown & Chilwell		Eagles	Elderslie Reserve,Newtown	–	1933	1934-1978	6	1978	Moved toGeelong FNL following 1978 season
Norlane				–		1957-1963	0	-	Folded
North Shore		Seagulls	Windsor Park,North Shore	GSDFL	1927	1940-1978	3	1977	Moved toGeelong FNL following 1978 season
Ocean Grove	(1964-67) (1968)	Grubbers, Swans	Shell Road Reserve,Ocean Grove	–	1964	1964-1968	0	-	Moved toPolwarth FL after 1968 season
Portarlington		Demons	Portarlington Recreation Reserve,Portarlington	GFA	1874	1945-1963	4	1959	Moved toPolwarth FL after 1963 season
Queenscliff		Barracoutas	Queenscliff Recreation Reserve,Queenscliff	GSDFL	1884	1945-1956	0	-	Moved toPolwarth FL after 1956 season
Sea Scouts				GFA		1946-1947	1	1946	Folded
St Albans		Supersaints	St Albans Reserve,Thomson	–	1880	1897-1978	6	1972	Moved toGeelong FNL following 1978 season
St. Augustines				GFA	c.1920s	1939-1940	0	-	Folded
St Joseph's		Joeys	Herne Hill Reserve,Herne Hill	–	1973	1973-1984	2	1984	Moved toGeelong FNL following 1978 season
St Leonards		Saints	St Leonards Lake Reserve,St Leonards	BFNL	1985	1991-1995	0	-	Folded
St Mary's		Saints	Kardinia Park West,South Geelong	–	1953	1953-1978	8	1975	Moved toGeelong FNL following 1978 season
St Peter's		Saints	Walker Oval,Herne Hill	–	c. 1950	1959-1978, 1980-1981	2	1981	Moved toGeelong FNL following 1981 season
Stonehaven		Tigers	Stonehaven Recreation Reserve,Fyansford	EC		1953–1969	0	-	Merged withInverleigh in 1970 to formLeigh Districts
Torquay		Tigers	Spring Creek Reserve,Torquay	–	1952	1952-1963	3	1962	Moved toPolwarth FL after 1963 season
Werribee				WBMDFA		1930, 1932-1936[5]	0	-	Moved toWerribee District FA afterWWII
Wyndhamvale		Falcons	Wyndham Vale South Reserve,Wyndham Vale	–	1979	1987-1988	0	-	Moved toWestern Region FL following 1988 season
YCW				–		1946-1950	1	1948	Merged withCYMS to formCYMS-YCW in 1951. Merged withSt Mary's in 1952 whenCYMS split from previous merger.

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