Southern

The Southern Football League can legitimately lay claim to being South Australia’s longest continually operating country football competition. Formed in 1886 with McLaren Vale, Willunga, Aldinga and Sellicks Hill as the original clubs. Details are very scarce and only through the exhaustive research of Southern football historian Ken Donne are there any records available at all of the origins of the association.

Willunga seemed to be the dominant team in the early years of competition winning most of the premierships. Both Willunga and McLaren Vale left the association in 1913 to seek stronger and more varied competition. The Southern association was renamed the Alexandra Football Association in 1913.

The association was retitled the Southern Football Association when football resumed after WWI. Willunga were also back in the competition and celebrated their return by winning the 1919 premiership. Willunga won the grand final against Noarlunga at Aldinga by 26 points. Willunga were a few players short for the grand final and included legendary Sturt and Willunga champion, Hendrick ‘Taffy’ Waye. ‘Taffy’ who was now aged 42 had just returned from the war, when ‘Taffy’ came on to the ground he was given a generous round of applause by the Noarlunga players.

Sixteen year old Graham Cornes playing for Reynella in the 1964 Southern B grade competition polled 15 votes in the B grades best & fairest medal to lose on a countback to R DeCaux of McLaren Flat. In 1963 the Southern league introduced a district boundary to stop teams from playing outside players. Players who lived south west of a line along Anzac Highway to Cross Road and then on to Goodwood Road traveling south would be deemed eligible to play in the Southern Football League.

The 1994 Southern Football League’s best and fairest awards were thrown into disarray when Football House was broken into. The leagues safe was forced open and the contents, including medal votes, were destroyed by fire. In place of the medal voting the league presented performance awards which were chosen by the SFL A grade coaches.

Tragedy struck in the first quarter of the final minor round game of 1982 between Reynella and McLaren Vale. Reynella player Mick Dwyer collapsed and died after playing with a flu virus which had developed fluid around his heart. Trainers and then ambulance officers worked furiously to revive Mick but he failed to respond. McLaren Vale were leading by one point at the time and sportingly allowed Reynella to kick a token goal as they had been the better team during the year. The players then all too upset to continue unanimously agreed to call the game off.