Southern Football Netball League
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| Formerly | South East Suburban Football League |
|---|---|
| Sport | Australian rules football |
| Founded | 1963 |
| Level on pyramid | 3 |
| Relegation to | Division 2 Division 3 |
| Official website | sfl.com.au |
The Southern Football Netball League is an Australian rules football league, based in the south and south eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, for both seniors and juniors.
The South East Suburban Football 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).
By the time the Federal FL folded in 1981 the SESFL had twenty clubs, with the influx of the additional club the league had a sixteen team A grade and 12 team B grade competitions.
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.
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, but the revival of Carrum Patterson Lakes in 2013 after almost 20 years in recess kept the league at 31 clubs.
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." In 2015 in acknowledging the netball part of the competition, the league changed its name to Southern Football Netball League. In 2016 Port Melbourne Colts transferred in from Western Region Football League and Lyndhurst field a senior side for the first time. Southern Dragons went into recess during the 2015 season.
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