Adelaide Plains Football League

The Adelaide Plains Football League (APFL) is an Australian rules football competition based in the Adelaide Plains region immediately north of Adelaide, South Australia. It is an affiliated member of the South Australian National Football League.

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Quick Facts Sport, Founded ...

Adelaide Plains Football League
Current season, competition or edition: 2023

Sport	Australian rules football
Founded	1909
Official website	apfl.com.au

History

Summarize

Perspective

Grace Plains was possibly the first club formed in the District in 1904. Football was certainly played in the other towns of Mallala, Dublin and Two Wells at that time with those clubs all officially forming in 1908. When Virginia was formed in 1909, moves were being made to form an association from a group of clubs that had played an unofficial competition in 1908.

A meeting held in Dublin on 4 May 1909, resulted in the formation of the Adelaide Plains Football Association. Delegates were present from Mallala, Virginia, Two Wells, Windsor, Lower Light and Dublin. Officers elected were, patron Mr Coombe, president Mr George Cheney and secretary Mr Andrew Driscoll. At a second meeting the colours were chosen as double blue.

Dublin had a comfortable victory over Two Wells in the first match of the new association 9.14 (68) to 0.2 (2). Dublin had gone to a lot of trouble to ensure their facilities were adequate for their opening match of the season. In the preceding months they had built dressing rooms, a pavilion and had even erected new goal posts.

Mr Ron Murrell of Two Wells presented the Murrell Medal to the best and fairest footballer in Adelaide Plains football. This medal was the forerunner to the presenting of a Mail Medal. Jack Wallace of Long Plains was a dominant player in the early 1920s, winning two Murrell Medals and being runner up for a further two. Mallala provided the winner in 1921 with Walter Dunstan.

Wasleys Football Club created a record in 1927 when they became the first Adelaide Plains club to complete a season without losing a match. Hamley Bridge applied to join the association in 1930 but their application was rejected because of the poor condition of the roads over which visiting teams would have to travel to arrive at Hamley Bridge.

When the program of matches was drawn up for the 1935 season it was decided to begin on May 25th to allow farmers the chance to finish their seeding. It was also planned to take a week off when the South Australia vs Victoria state match was set down to be played at Adelaide Oval.

During the 1947 season, Balaklava and Long Plains played each other on four occasions. Their first meeting was early in the minor round at Balaklava, the scores were Balaklava 4.9 (33) drawing with Long Plains 5.3 (33). Their return match in June resulted in a narrow six point win to Balaklava 8.3 (51) to 5.15 (45). The next encounter was in the first semi final with the scores tied again Balaklava 5.2 (32) Long Plains 4.8 (32) and then the replayed semi final resulted in another draw 7.7 (49) each. Long Plains possessed more powerful staying qualities and eventually won the first semi final 10.11 (71) to 4.5 (29). Long Plains made it to the grand final but obviously ran out of steam losing to Wasleys by 8 points.

From the early 1960s, a Central Districts football carnival was held and sponsored by Caltex Oil, The leagues taking part were Adelaide Plains, North Eastern, North Western and Gawler and Districts. Mid North replaced North Western when that association closed after the 1963 season. The carnival was renamed the Mid North carnival in 1975, Adelaide Plains dropped out of the format in 1998.

Adelaide Plains introduced a new import rule in 1998 where a boundary was placed around the competition with only those living within the limits able to play as locals. Depending on the size of their population base and where the finished the previous season, each club was assigned a designated allowance of 'outside' players.

During a history of just over 100 years, the Adelaide Plains association has stood tall, outlasting many nearby associations. The Wooroora, Wakefield, North Western, Lower North and Gilbert associations have all fallen by the wayside with their member clubs or their incarnations filtering through to become the Adelaide Plains of today.

(From South Australian Country Football Digest - Peter Lines)

Current clubs

More information Club, Colours ...

Club	Colours	Nickname	Home Ground	Former League	Est.	Years in APFL	APFL Senior Premierships
Club	Colours	Nickname	Home Ground	Former League	Est.	Years in APFL	Total	Years^[1]
Angle Vale		Owls	Angle Vale Oval, Angle Vale	AdFL	1998	2016–	0	-
Balaklava		Peckers	Balaklava Oval, Balaklava	WFA	1903	1940–2019; 2021–^[2]	13	1951, 1957, 1958, 1977, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2011
Hamley Bridge		Bombers	Hamley Bridge Sports and Community Centre, Hamley Bridge	GDFL	1907	1936–63, 1984–	9	1938, 1939, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1988, 1989, 2004, 2014
Hummocks Watchman		Eagles	Port Wakefield Oval, Port Wakefield and Lochiel Oval, Lochiel	–	1995	1995–2019; 2021–^[2]	6	2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2019
Mallala		Magpies	Mallala Oval, Mallala	–	1908	1904–	27	1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1953, 1955, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1990, 1997, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2020
Two Wells		Roosters	Two Wells Oval, Two Wells	GDFL	c.1911	1909–27, 1932–38, 1987–	8	1987, 2012, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
United		Tigers	Long Plains Recreation Ground, Long Plains	–	1964	1964–	3	1982, 1995, 2002
Virginia		Rams	Virginia Sports Oval, Virginia	NMFL	1907	1909–13, 1919, 1995–	4	1909, 1910, 1998, 2015

Former clubs

More information Club, Colours ...

Club	Colours	Nickname	Home Ground	Former League	Est.	Years in APFL	APFL Senior Premierships		Fate
Club	Colours	Nickname	Home Ground	Former League	Est.	Years in APFL	Total	Years^[1]	Fate
Avon				WFA		1946-1947	0	-
Bute		Roosters	Bute Oval, Bute	YPFL	1892	2020^[2]	0	-	Returned to Yorke Peninsula FL in 2021
Dublin			Dublin Oval, Dublin	–	1909	1909-1920, 1927-1949, 1954-1963	5	1911, 1928, 1931, 1932, 1933	Merged with Long Plains to form United in 1964
Grace Plains					1904	1915-1935	2	1926, 1930	Folded
Hummocks United		Bulldogs	Lochiel Oval, Lochiel	–	1964	1964-1984	11	1964, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1981	Merged with Watchman Auburn to form Hummocks Watchman in 1985
Hummocks Watchman			Lochiel Oval, Lochiel	–	1985	1985-1994	0	-	Merged with Port Wakefield to form Hummocks Watchman Eagles in 1995
Korunye				–		1919-1920, 1933	0	-	Folded
Long Plains			Long Plains Recreation Ground, Long Plains	–	1910s	1920-1963	7	1940, 1945, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1954	Merged with Dublin to form United in 1964
Lower Light				–		1909-1915	0	-	Folded
Mundoora Wokurna		Hawks	Mundoora Oval, Mundoora	BFL	1966	1981-1983	0	-	Merged with Broughton to form Broughton-Mundoora in 1984
Owen			Owen Oval, Owen			1946-1973	0	-	Merged with Port Wakefield to form Port-Owen Hawks in 1974
Port-Owen Hawks		Hawks		–	1974	1974-1976	0	-	De-merged into Port Wakefield and Owen in 1977
Port Wakefield		Eagles	Port Wakefield Oval, Port Wakefield		1893	1964-1973, 1978-1995	2	1984, 1992	Merged with Owen to form Port-Owen Hawks in 1974. Merged with Hummocks Watchman to form Hummocks Watchman Eagles in 1995
RAAF Edinburgh				–	1957	1957–1960	0	-	Folded in 1961
Roseworthy College		Panthers	Roseworthy College Oval, Agricultural College, Roseworthy	GDFL	1897	1961-63, 1985-1996	0	-	Absorbed by Adelaide University in 1997
South Gawler		Lions	South Gawler Oval, Evanston	GDFL	1889	1961-1962	1	1961	Returned to Gawler & District FL in 1963
Two Wells Virginia		Roosters		NMFL	1959	1970-1973	0	-	Returned to Northern Metropolitan FL in 1974
United (original)				–	1921	1921-1927	1	1922	De-merged into Wild Horse Plains and Dublin
Wasleys	Dark with light monogram on right breast		Wasleys Oval, Wasleys	–	1901	1924-1963	7	1927, 1929, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1947	Merged with Roseworthy to form Rurals in 1964
Watchman			Hoyleton Oval, Hoyleton (previously Watchman Oval, Watchman)	NWFA	1921	1964-1974	2	1967, 1968	Merged with Auburn to form Watchman Auburn in 1975
Watchman Auburn		Wolves	Auburn Oval, Auburn	–	1975	1975-1984	0	-	Merged with Hummocks United form Hummocks Watchman in 1985
Wild Horse Plains					1910	1919-1920	0	-	Merged with Dublin to form United (original) in 1921
Windsor					1888	1909-1915	0	-	Folded

Premierships

More information Year, A Grade ...

Year	A Grade	Reserves	Senior Colts	Junior Colts
1958	Balaklava	Owen
1959	Mallala	Balaklava
1960	Hamley Bridge	Hamley Bridge
1961	Gawler South	Gawler South
1962	Mallala	Gawler South
1963	Mallala	Balaklava
1964	Hummocks United	Balaklava
1965	Hummocks United	Mallala
1966	Hummocks United	Mallala	United
1967	Watchman	Mallala	Owen
1968	Watchman	Balaklava	Mallala
1969	Hummocks United	Mallala	United
1970	Mallala	Two Wells-Virginia	Two Wells-Virginia	Two Wells-Virginia
1971	Hummocks United	Mallala	Balaklava	Mallala
1972	Hummocks United	Balaklava	Two Wells-Virginia	Balaklava
1973	Hummocks United	Mallala	Mallala	Two Wells-Virginia
1974	Mallala	Hummocks United	Mallala	Balaklava
1975	Hummocks United	Balaklava	Watchman-Auburn	Mallala
1976	Hummocks United	Pt Owen Hawks	Watchman-Auburn	Balaklava
1977	Balaklava	Hummocks	Balaklava	Balaklava
1978	Mallala	Watchman-Auburn	Balaklava	Balaklava
1979	Mallala	Balaklava	Mallala	Balaklava
1980	Hummocks United	Balaklava	Balaklava	United
1981	Hummocks United	Balaklava	Balaklava	Balaklava
1982	United	Balaklava	Balaklava	Balaklava
1983	Balaklava	Balaklava	Mallala	Balaklava
1984	Port Wakefield	Balaklava	Balaklava	United
1985	Balaklava	Hamley Bridge	United	United
1986	Balaklava	Balaklava	United	Balaklava
1987	Two Wells	Hamley Bridge	Two Wells	United
1988	Hamley Bridge	United	Two Wells	Hummocks-Watchman
1989	Hamley Bridge	Mallala	Two Wells	Hummocks-Watchman
1990	Mallala	Two Wells	Two Wells	Hummocks-Watchman
1991	Balaklava	Mallala	Balaklava	Mallala
1992	Port Wakefield	Two Wells	Hummocks-Watchman	United
1993	Mallala	Mallala	Hamley Bridge	Balaklava
1994	Balaklava	Two Wells	Mallala	Two Wells
1995	United	Mallala	HW Eagles	HW Eagles
1996	Balaklava	Virginia	HW Eagles	Mallala
1997	Mallala	Mallala	Balaklava	Virginia
1998	Virginia	Balaklava	Virginia	Virginia
1999	Balaklava	United	HW Eagles	Two Wells
2000	Balaklava	Hamley Bridge	Virginia	Mallala
2001	HW Eagles	HW Eagles	Two Wells	Hamley Bridge
2002	United	Two Wells	Two Wells	Two Wells
2003	HW Eagles	Virginia	Mallala	Two Wells
2004	Hamley Bridge	Virginia	Two Wells	Two Wells
2005	HW Eagles	United	Two Wells	United
2006	HW Eagles	Virginia	Mallala	Balaklava
2007	Mallala	United	United	Balaklava
2008	HW Eagles	Hamley Bridge	Two Wells	Balaklava
2009	Mallala	Two Wells	Balaklava	Two Wells
2010	Mallala	Mallala	Balaklava	Two Wells
2011	Balaklava	Balaklava	Two Wells	Mallala
2012	Two Wells	Virginia	Two Wells	Balaklava
2013	Mallala	United	Two Wells	Mallala
2014	Hamley Bridge	Two Wells	Mallala	Balaklava
2015	Virginia	Virginia	Mallala	Balaklava
2016	Mallala	Virginia	Mallala	Two Wells
2017	Two Wells	Virginia	Angle Vale	Two Wells
2018	Two Wells	Mallala	Two Wells	Virginia
2019	HW Eagles	Two Wells	Two Wells	Angle Vale
2020	Mallala	Two Wells	Mallala	Two Wells
2021	Two Wells	Mallala	Virginia	Angle Vale
2022	Two Wells	Balaklava	Angle Vale	Angle Vale
2023	Two Wells	Balaklava	Angle Vale	Angle Vale
2024	Two Wells	Mallala	Two Wells	Angle Vale

Mail Medallists

Summarize

Perspective

More information Year, Winner (EJ Meier Shield) ...

Year	Winner (EJ Meier Shield)	Club	Reserves	Club	Senior Colts	Club	Junior Colts	Club
1964	G Forrest	Hummocks United	Ron Tucker	Mallala
1965	B Curnow	Mallala	Ron Tucker	Mallala
1966	T Barr	Watchman	A Partridge	Watchman	G Eglinton	Port Wakefeild
1967	B Stewart	Balaklava	J Peterson	Hummocks United	G Angus	Mallala
1968	M Daley Trevor Coleman	Mallala Balaklava	C Hill	Hummocks United	G Angus	Mallala
1969	A Laintoll	United	J Griffiths	Mallala	P Leedham	Owen
1970	A Laintoll	United	K Reinke	Balaklava	S Stoyanhoff	Two Wells/Virginia
1971	P Forrest	Hummocks	L Reed	Two Wells/Virginia	P Dwyer	Balaklava
1972	R Olsen	Balaklava	R Marshman	Owen	A Taylor	Hummocks
1973	Lindsay Walker	United	G Forrest	Hummocks United	H Chenoweth	Hummocks
1974	A Laintoll	Mallala	G Taylor	Hummocks United	D Moulds	Hummocks
1975	J Barr	Watchman/Auburn	K Cunningham	Balaklava	D Bussenschutt	Owen
1976	John King	Balaklava	E Boxer	Owen	G Roberts	Watchman/Auburn	D Huxtable	Balaklava
1977	John King Richard Wilson David Moulds	Balaklava Hummocks Hummocks	A Linke	Balaklava	P Michael	Balaklava	S Michael	Balaklava
1978	D Moulds	Hummocks	E Seaman	Hummocks	David Wilson	Mallala	Bevan McArdle	United
1979	T O'Hara	Port Wakefield	B Daniel	United	A Sandercock	Watchman/Auburn	Ian Michael	Balaklava
1980	T O'Hara	Port Wakefield	M Bastian	Mallala	L Willcock	United	S Leak	United
1981	G Wilson	Balaklava	N Jenkin D Veitch	United Watchman/Auburn	Michael Wilson	Mallala	P Veitch	Watchman/Auburn
1982	T O'Hara	Port Wakefield	R Nottle	Balaklava	D Drable	Mundoora/Wokurna	Todd Thorne	Mallala
1983	T O'Hara	Port Wakefield	M Bastian	Mallala	M Dunstan	Mallala	T Brown	Port Wakefield
1984	Shane Garner	Port Wakefield	L Raynor	United	R Maxwell	Watchman/Auburn	P Fahey	Balaklava
1985	Troy Wittwer	Port Wakefield	P Veitch	Hummocks/Watchman	T Brown	Port Wakefield	Paul Maxwell	Watchman/Auburn
1986	P Nowlan	Balaklava	L Gehan	Balaklava	S Brooks	Port Wakefield	T Pain	Balaklava
1987	John Ellis Geoff Davies Stuart Jolly	United Two Wells Two Wells	Darcy Rex	Hamley Bridge	Garry Farr	Two Wells	Daniel Healy	Hamley Bridge
1988	Greg Tucker	Mallala	Andy Seccafien	Two Wells	Michael Pillar	Port Wakefield	Ricky Lamond	Balaklava
1989	Michael Wilson	Mallala	Adrian McArdle	United	R Hill	Port Wakefield	P Bigg	Hummocks/Watchman
1990	Anthony Williams	Hummocks/Watchman	Darcy Rex	Hamley Bridge	Jock Brechin	Two Wells	Adam Baker	Hamley Bridge
1991	Andrew Michael	Balaklava	Malcolm Partridge	Two Wells	Michael Davey	Balaklava	Phong Tran	Mallala
1992	Shane Garner	Port Wakefield	Paul Congdon	Mallala	Scott Carslake	Hummocks/Watchman	Adam O'Hara	Balaklava
1993	Ian Langdon	Balaklava	Lou Surace	Hamley Bridge	Adam Baker	Hamley Bridge	Jon Bennett	United
1994	Todd Thorne	Mallala	Trevor Seccafien Derek Schulz	Two Wells United	Tony Freebairn	Mallala	Travis Philips	Two Wells
1995	Troy Wittwer	United	Andrew Wilson	Hummocks/Watchman	Adam O'Hara	Balaklava	Travis Nichol	HW Eagles
1996	Todd Thorne	Mallala	Mark Hicks	Virginia	Greg Chapman	Mallala	Raymond Kathriner	Balaklava
1997	Ryan Kennedy	Mallala	Shane Collins	Two Wells	David Ireland	Hamley Bridge	Rhys Savage	Hamley Bridge
1998	Leighton Wilksch	HW Eagles	Brenton Davies	Virginia	Graham Rigney	Virginia	Corey Mathewson	Mallala
1999	Joel Wilson Dale Williams	HW Eagles Balaklava	Gavin Page	Balaklava	Keanen Catford	HW Eagles	Jarrod Andrews	Two Wells
2000	Ivan Silvy	Two Wells	Jason Rogers	Mallala	Matthew Koch	Hamley Bridge	Emmanuel Tsimiklis	Virginia
2001	Blake Norton	Virginia	Chad Taylor	HW Eagles	Chad McKeon	Virginia	Brad Reid	HW Eagles
2002	Nathan Schubert	United	Scott Davey	Balaklava	Ian McMillan	Mallala	Leroy Vernon	Mallala
2003	Kym Hermann Gary Wehr	Hamley Bridge Balaklava	Scott Davey	Balaklava	Ian McMillan	Mallala	Tallan Leighton	Two Wells
2004	Todd Thorne Luke Slattery	Mallala Hamley Bridge	John Mason	United	Alex Rademacher Daniel Grguravic	Hamley Bridge Two Wells	Brett Tucker	Mallala
2005	Craig Young	Hamley Bridge	Sean Williams	HW Eagles	James Struck	Two Wells	Brodie Brown Jono Wildbore	United Mallala
2006	Hayden Walker	Balaklava	Brad Wakefield	HW Eagles	Mickey Brown	United	Ryan Hooper	Two Wells
2007	Josh Hollitt	Mallala	Gavin Page	Balaklava	Khan Leighton	Two Wells	Shane McGuiness	HW Eagles
2008	Matthew Young	Virginia	Sean Nicholas	Two Wells	Aaron Williams	Balaklava	Lewis Bannear	Virginia
2009	Liam Whitwell	Mallala	Adam Humzy	Two Wells	Nicholas Jericho	HW Eagles	Jake Birchmore	Mallala
2010	Hayden Walker	Balaklava	Nathan Applebee	Two Wells	Luke Tassell	Two Wells	Jack Henneker	Two Wells
2011	Liam Whitwell	Mallala	Grant Willmer	Balaklava	Chad Ruiz	Balaklava	Daniel Coombe	United
2012	Joel Montgomerie	Mallala	Cameron Felstead	Virginia	Tate Michael Corey Stronach	Balaklava Virginia	Daniel Coombe	United
2013	Heath Pym Craig Taylor	United Hamley Bridge	Christopher Campbell	Virginia	Joshua Appleby	HW Eagles	Dylan Irrgang	HW Eagles
2014	Toby Stribling	Hamley Bridge	Brett Start	Mallala	Tait Nottle	HW Eagles	WIll Dixon	Balaklava
2015	Ned Seccafien	Two Wells	Matthew Sincock	Two Wells	Noah Barnett	Two Wells	Luke Barnett	Two Wells
2016	Nigel Osborn	Mallala	Brett Start	Mallala	Austin Kearns	Mallala	Connor Darwin	Hamley Bridge
2017	Jordan Clements	Mallala	Shane Braham	HW Eagles	Jesse Stevenson	Virginia	Jack McArdle	United
2018	Jordan Clements	Mallala	Daniel Griffiths	Mallala	Hayden Bubner Caleb Jones	Hamley Bridge Virginia	Bailey Arthur	Balaklava
2019	Tyrell Hocking	Two Wells	Stuart Lamond	Balaklava	Callum Hall	Angle Vale	Jordan Campbell	Angle Vale
2020	Henry Trenorden	Bute	James Rundle	United	Bailey Arthur	Mallala	Finn McArdle	United
2021	Luke Barnett	Two Wells	Michael Lane	Angle Vale	Charlie Baker	Mallala	Shaquan Davey	Angle Vale
2022	Lachlan Michael	Balaklava	Matthew Camplin	Two Wells	Jack May	Mallala	Hamish Wildbore	Mallala
2023	Ethan Kwaterski	Hummocks/Watchman	Matthew Camplin	Two Wells	Connor Cleary	Virginia	Cooper Tamas	Angle Vale
2024	Jakob Thomson	Two Wells	Braiden Tippett	Mallala	Jack Pessano	Angle Vale	Connor Willmer Logan Treverton	Balaklava United