Ovens & King Football League

The Ovens & King Football League is a minor country Australian rules football league based in Northeastern Victoria in the vicinity of Wangaratta and more recently Benalla.

The Ovens & King Football League was formed on the 13th of June 1903, after a handful of men met at The Bulls Head Hotel in Wangaratta to consider forming a football competition. One week later, the first matches of the Ovens & King Football Association were played. The competition changed its name to the Ovens and King Football League after the 1928 season.

Today, more than 100 years later, teams from Benalla, Bright, Greta, Glenrowan, King Valley, Milawa, Moyhu, North Wangaratta, Tarrawingee and Whorouly participate in seniors, reserves and five netball grades.

Located in the rich Ovens Valley and King Valley of northeast Victoria, the league has produced a number of elite football who have gone on to play in the AFL, including the cousins Nigel (Brisbane Lions) and Matthew Lappin (St Kilda/Carlton), ruckman Mark Porter (Kangaroos/Carlton) and most recently Michael Newton (Melbourne), Barry Hall St Kilda/Sydney/Western Bulldogs and Brendan Fevola Carlton and Brisbane Lions.

Community support is strong in the Ovens and King districts with crowds attending games usually greater than most neighbouring competitions. The local football is an important social outlet for many local communities and finals matches draw especially strong crowd numbers.

In 2010, the league added Tatong, Swanpool, Goorambat and Bonnie Doon, who had previously played in the now-defunct Benalla & District Football League. After four years of heavy losses, Swanpool and Tatong were thrown out of the competition by AFL County Victoria, ending nearly 100 years of tradition. A two-way merge proposed by the clubs was rejected, as was a transfer to the Picola District FL.

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