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Bellarine Football Netball League

Formerly	Bellarine & District Football League (1971–1985) Bellarine Football League (1986–2010)
Sport	Australian rules football Netball
Founded	1971; 53 years ago (1971)
No. of teams	10
Country	Australia
Headquarters	Highton, Victoria, Australia
Confederation	AFL Barwon
Sponsor(s)	Dow Chemical Company
Related competitions	Geelong FNL Geelong & District FNL Polwarth FL
Official website	aflbarwon.com.au/bfnl

The Bellarine Football Netball League (BFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition based in the Bellarine Peninsula region of Victoria, Australia. Established in 1971 as the Bellarine & District Football League, the competition was formed out of the ashes of the Polwarth Football League, which had six of its former teams join.

The competition was renamed the Bellarine Football League in 1986, and finally the Bellarine Football Netball League in 2011 when the local netball competition was administratively aligned with the football competition for the first time. Prior to 2011, netball clubs competed in a competition overseen by the Bellarine District Netball Association.

The BFNL forms the second tier of football in the Geelong area, along with the Geelong Football Netball League (GFNL) and the Geelong & District Football League.

In March 2024, following extensive consultation AFL Barwon detailed a plan for expanding the BFNL to 12 teams from 2025 with a path for a team to accept an invitation for promotion to the GFNL, replacing a club that would then be relegated from the GNFL.

Clubs

Current clubs

Club	Colours	Moniker	Home venue	Est.	Former league	Years in BFNL	BFNL premierships
							Football		Netball
							Total	Most recent	Total	Most recent
Anglesea		Roos	Ellimatta Reserve, Anglesea	1963	GDFL	1973-	3	1999	1	2012
Barwon Heads		Seagulls	Howard Harmer Reserve, Barwon Heads	1922	GDFL	1971-	6	2022	0	—
Drysdale		Hawks	Drysdale Recreational Reserve, Drysdale	1879	GDFL	1971-	5	2010	0	—
Geelong Amateur		Ammos, Pegasus	Queens Park, Highton	1926	GDFL	1995-	5	2016	3	2022
Modewarre		Warriors	Mt Moriac Recreation Reserve, Mount Moriac	1879	GDFL	1996-	1	2018	3	2018
Newcomb		Power	Grinter Reserve, Moolap	1975	—	1976-	6	2007	0	—
Ocean Grove		Grubbers	Shell Road Reserve, Ocean Grove	1964	PFL	1971-	8	2003	2	2024
Portarlington		Demons	Portarlington Recreation Reserve, Portarlington	1874	PFL	1971-	2	1992	0	—
Queenscliff		Coutas	Queenscliff Recreation Reserve, Queenscliff	1884	PFL	1971-	4	2013	0	—
Torquay		Tigers	Spring Creek Reserve,Torquay	1952	PFL	1971-	10	2024	3	2019

Future clubs

Club	Colours	Moniker	Home Ground	Entry Date
Surf Coast		Suns	Banyul-Warri Fields Sporting Precinct, Torquay	2026

Former clubs

Club	Colours	Moniker	Home venue	Est.	Former league	Years in BFNL	BFNL premierships		Fate
							Total	Most recent
Leopold		Lions	Leopold Memorial Park, Leopold	1955	PFL	1971-1991	2	1990	Moved to Geelong FNL in 1992
St Leonards		Saints	St Leonards Lake Reserve, St Leonards	1985	—	1985-1991	0	—	Moved to Geelong & District FNL in 1992
Winchelsea		Blues	Eastern Reserve, Winchelsea	1876	PFL	1971-1982	0	—	Moved to Colac & District FL in 1983

Premiers

Senior football

A Grade netball

Individual awards

Senior football

Les Ash Medal

The Les Ash Medal, named after the late longtime Bellarine football administrator, is presented to the league's best and fairest player at the conclusion of the home-and-away season. It was first named after Ash in 1989; previously it was known simply as the best and fairest medal. Two players have won the award on four occasions – Modewarre's Josh Finch, whose honours spanned seven seasons throughout the 2010s, and Torquay's James Darke, whose period of success overlapped with Finch to claim the award across nine seasons. Both Finch and Darke are also members of a group of five players who have won the award in consecutive seasons.

Leading Goalkicker Award

The Leading Goalkicker Award is presented to the player who has kicked the most goals at the conclusion of the home-and-away season. Barwon Heads' Stephen "Chooka" Piec, described as "a poster boy for the Bellarine in its formative years", holds the record for the most titles (four). The magical century-mark of goals has been reached 14 times throughout the regular season. Dominant Torquay forward Wayne Tyquin's three-year run of 349 cumulative goals from 1997 to 1999 capped off a five-year consecutive period where the league had at least one centurion. Overlap between the Leading Goalkicker Award and the Les Ash Medal is rare; only two players (Torquay's Mark Browne in 1986 and Geelong Amateur's Mitch Day in 2015) have collected both honours in the same season.

A Grade netball

Best & Fairest Award

Hot Shot Award

Bibliography

• Cat Country – History of Football In The Geelong Region – John Stoward – ISBN 9780957751583

Notes

1. ^ Only 12 games were played due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Drysdale's Ben Fennell polled 22 votes to lead the count, but was ruled ineligible due to a reprimand he received for an incident in the Hawks' round 17 match against Torquay.

References

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2. King, Tom (28 March 2024). "Non-mandatory promotion adopted by AFL Barwon". Krock Football. Geelong Broadcasters Pty Limited. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
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5. "Queenscliff ends premiership drought". Geelong Advertiser. 19 September 2011. Archived from the original on 25 September 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
6. "Barwon Heads defeat Torquay to win Bellarine Football League grand final". Bellarine Times. 14 September 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
7. ^ Voogt, Luke (9 June 2020). "Geelong footy season cancelled". Geelong Independent. Archived from the original on 11 September 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
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11. van Oorschot, Vinnie (7 September 2024). "Tigers go back to back after thrashing Roos in Grand Final". Surf Coast Times. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
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28. Auciello, Michael (2 September 2010). "Modewarre star wins thrilling BFL vote count". Geelong Advertiser. p. 36.
29. Wade, Nick (8 September 2011). "Chaplin-Burch eyes premiership medal". Geelong Advertiser. p. 51.
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51. Forrest, Matthew (5 September 2023). "Les Ash Medal predictions and best chances revealed". Geelong Advertiser. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
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53. ^ "BFLN Best and Fairest" (PDF). AFL Barwon. 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
54. Wade, Nick (8 September 2011). "Drysdale shooter wins award". Geelong Advertiser. p. 51.
55. Reynolds, Ryan (6 September 2012). "O'Connor nets the B&F". Geelong Advertiser. p. 35.
56. ^ Oates, Alex (5 September 2013). "Midcourt marvel's zest for best". Geelong Advertiser. Archived from the original on 25 March 2020.
57. Reynolds, Ryan (5 September 2014). "Salter lands best and fairest". Geelong Advertiser. p. 53.
58. Reynolds, Ryan (10 September 2015). "Gunning's glory in a thriller". Geelong Advertiser. p. 35.
59. Young, Lachie (25 August 2016). "Comeback kid wins award". Geelong Advertiser. p. 34.
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61. "BFNL A Grade Best and Fairest". AFL Barwon. 29 August 2018. Archived from the original on 20 September 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
62. Young, Lachie (5 September 2019). "BFL Netball 2019: Geelong Amateur stalwart Ashlea Salter claims best-and-fairest in emphatic fashion". Geelong Advertiser. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
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71. ^ "Ruby Watson | Public Profile". PlayHQ. 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.

External links

• Official website
• Bellarine Football League at AustralianFootball.com
• Leopold Lions (information about former teams)
• Football Geelong (information on home grounds and colours)
• Geelong & District Football League (information on Winchelsea FC)

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• Bellarine Football Netball League
• Australian rules football competitions in Victoria (state)
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