Gippsland League

The original Gippsland Football Association was formed in 1889,[2] at a meeting of club delegates from the following clubs - Hazelwood, Morwell, Rosedale, Thorpedale, Traralgon and Yarrum.[3]

The Gippsland Football Netball League (GFNL) has roots dating back to the Central Gippsland Football League (CGFL) which was founded in 1909[4][5] with many former CGFL clubs now part of the GFNL.

The CGFL morphed into the Latrobe Valley Football League in 1954. The promoters of the LVFL wanted to have a league that consisted of towns along the Orbost railway line, from Warragul to Sale. "The background of the move, as reported on several occasions in this journal, is (1) to remove unbalances in the present population strengths of the towns at present fielding teams in the Central Gippsland Football League; (2) to link up with towns with the same community of interest; (3) to uplift the standard of football, by bringing the strongest clubs into competition; (4) to strengthen clubs financially through expected enhanced gates."[6]

Three clubs from south Gippsland towns, Leongatha, Korumburra and Mirboo North, were therefore barred from joining the new league and went on to form the South Gippsland FL. The Central Gippsland Football League actually folded, when seven clubs joined the new La Trobe Valley Football League[7] and due to their geographical location these three remaining clubs chose not to join the La Trobe Valley Football League.[8] These three club's then joined the South Gippsland Football League in 1954, with Leongatha entering two senior teams - Green & Gold!

The LVFL changed its name, in 1995, to the Gippsland Latrobe FL.

At the end of 2001, The West Gippsland FL and the Gippsland Latrobe FL had an administrative merger. This created a two-division competition and a name change to the West Gippsland Latrobe FL.

From 2002 until 2004, the league comprised a premier division, consisting mainly of the former Gippsland-Latrobe clubs, and a western division, comprising most of the former WGFL clubs.

After the 2004 season, the western division was dissolved, with Warragul, Drouin and Garfield joining the premier league. The remaining clubs from the western division moved to other competitions, such as the Alberton Football League, Ellinbank & District Football League and the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League.

In 2009, Garfield left the GFL for the Ellinbank & District Football League, whilst Wonthaggi[9] and Bairnsdale[10] joined the GFL in 2010 and 2011 respectively.

The Latrobe Valley area does not have a team participating in the Victorian Football League. Traralgon competed in the VFL during 1996-97, winning just four matches across those two years, before returning to the regional competition.[11] The region does have a representative team in the TAC Cup Under-18 competition, Gippsland Power.

The Central & Southern Gippsland Competition league was founded in 2019.

As of 2019, the Gippsland League consists of the following teams:[12]

Club	Colours	Moniker	Formed	First Year	Home venue	Premierships		Premiership Years
						Total	Most recent
Bairnsdale		Redlegs	c. 1900	2011	Bairnsdale City Oval	24	2010	1902, 1903, 1908, 1912, 1913, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1947, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1956, 1958, 1959 (BDFL), 1981, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010 (EGFL)
Drouin		Hawks	1890	1960	Drouin Recreation Reserve	8	1992	1941, 1946, 1949, 1958, 1967, 1978, 1991, 1992 (WGFL)
Leongatha		Parrots	1894	1969	Leongatha Recreation Reserve	26	2018	1894 (KDFA), 1905 (WFA), 1923, 1924, 1931, 1932, (SGFA), 1934, 1935, 1950, 1951 (CGFA), 1954, 1955, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964 (SGFL), 1970, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1989 (LVFL), 1995, 1997 (GLFL), 2001 (WGFL), 2017, 2018, 2022 (GFL)
Maffra		Eagles	1901	1960	Maffra Recreation Reserve	22	2019	1904, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1910, 1914, 1920, 1921, 1926, 1935, 1938, 1946, 1948 (GFL), 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2019
Moe		Lions	1909	1954	Ted Summerton Reserve	5	1967	1927 (EDFA), 1944, 1945 (GWFL), 1956, 1967 (LVFL)
Morwell		Tigers	1905	1954	Morwell Recreation Reserve	14	2014	1907, 1922 (MMFA), 1950, 1952, 1953 (CGFL), 1961, 1966, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1993 (LVFL), 1996 (GLFL), 2013, 2014 (GFL)
Sale		Magpies	1901	1954	Sale Recreation Reserve	20	2012	1901, 1905, 1911, 1924, 1927, 1931, 1934, 1937, 1949, 1950, 1953 (GFL), 1954, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1986 (LVFL), 2008, 2012 (GFL)
Traralgon		Maroons	1883	1954	Traralgon Recreation Reserve	25	2015	1919, 1923, 1925 (GFL), 1945, 1946, 1949 (CGFL), 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1978, 1980, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994 (LVFL), 1998, 1999, 2000 (GLFL), 2005, 2011, 2015
Warragul		Gulls	1879	1954	Western Park Reserve	13	2003	1900, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1907, 1922, 1927, 1932, 1938 (CGFL), 1974, 1976, 1984 (LVFL), 2003 (WGFL)
Wonthaggi		Power	2005 (merger)	2010	Wonthaggi Recreation Reserve	3	2008	2005, 2006, 2008 (AFL)
Note: AFL (Alberton FL), BVWDFL (Bass Valley Wonthaggi & District Football League), CGFL (Central Gippsland FL), EDFA (Erica DFA), EGFL (East Gippsland FL), GWFL (Gippsland Wartime FL), KDFA (Korumburra & District FA), LVFL (Latrobe Valley FL), MMFA (Morwell Mirboo FA), SGFL (South Gippsland FL), WFA (Woorayl Football Association), WGFL (West Gippsland FL), GLFL (Gippsland Latrobe FL)

Finishing positions of current clubs since 1954[16]

Recent finishing positions[16]

Significant records

FINALS

	Qualifying Final at Morwell					Second Semi-Final at Moe					Preliminary final					Grand Final at Moe
						1	Leongatha	10.4 (64)								Leongatha		10.10 (70)
							Wonthaggi	9.6 (60)								Sale		6.12 (48)
	2	Wonthaggi	12.7 (79)								Wonthaggi		5.7 (37)
	3	Sale	9.9 (63)			First Semi-Final at Traralgon					Sale		8.13 (61)
						Sale		8.12 (60)
	4	Traralgon	13.6 (84)			Traralgon		8.9 (57)
	5	Morwell	9.12 (66)

Wikinews has news related to:

Gippsland League

• SportsTG site
• Gippsland FNL - Football Best & Fairest Lists
• West Gippsland Latrobe Football League (Archived, 30 Aug 2003)
• Gippsland League on Country Footy Scores