Alberton Football Netball League

1946: Founding Alberton League clubs

The Alberton Football League was reformed in 1946, replacing the former Alberton Football Association, with eight teams comprising the league such as Carrajung, Devon (formed 1883 also known as West Alberton), Foster (formed 1890), Ramblers, Toora (formed 1891), Welshpool, Woodside and Yarram (formed 1887).^[1] The name of the league is taken from the small town of Alberton, near Yarram.

The Ramblers Football Club, after a promising inaugural season in the league where it recorded six wins to just miss the finals, decided to disband from the league and Won Wron Football Club were accepted into the league for the 1949 season.^[2] Four years later, the Carrajung Football Club followed suit which enabled Fish Creek to join the Alberton League in 1953.^[3] Carrajung produced many substandard efforts during their seven years of existence in the Alberton League and many matches would result in percentage gaining contests for opposing teams. The club finished last in 1947, 1948, 1950, 1951 and 1952. The very last game Carrajung played in the Albeton League during the 1952 season resulted in Toora forward, Frank Salmon, kicking a record 34 goals 17 behinds out of the teams 35.18 score. Salmon’s (and his teammates’ efforts) helped him claim the League goalkicking award by overtaking Woodside great Charles Williamson.

1947–1952: Early dominance by Woodside

Woodside dominated the competition during the early stages as the club won six consecutive premiership from 1947 to 1952.^[4] It is the only club to have achieved such a feat in the league's history.

1953-1967: Golden era of red and white

Fish Creek produced the most outstanding era of success in the Alberton League as it claimed 11 premierships from 15 successive Grand Final appearances between 1953 and 1967.^[5][6] The recruitment of former VFL Collingwood player, Maurice 'Mocca' Dunstan helped the club attain a standard of professionalism that was second to none for a sustained period.

Much focus throughout the late 1950s and 1960s centred around the future of football in the region, with many suggesting that the South Gippsland Football League and the Alberton Football League merge to generate a more powerful football league across South Gippsland for better growth in the sport. However, the AFL continued to function through many debates and became progressively stronger by the 1970s.

1970's: Meeniyan-Dumbalk United and Stony Creek join the fray

In 1969, the Meeniyan-Dumbalk United and Stony Creek Football Clubs joined the Alberton League after the SGFL eventually disbanded^[7] as Welshpool won a treble of premierships from 1969 to 1971. Welshpool also became the first club in the AFL to produce an undefeated season with its flag in 1970.^[8]

By the late 1970s, Yarram were looking to join the Latrobe Valley Football League but remained with the AFL and by the end of the 1981 season the league was reduced to nine clubs when Won Wron and Woodside merged to form the Won Wron-Woodside Football Club.^[9]

The inclusion of Tarwin in 1988^[10] returned the number of clubs to ten but by 1995, Welshpool had amalgamated with Devon.^[11]

1996-2016: League expands as Bass Valley-Wonthaggi League disbands

In 1996, Dalyston, Wonthaggi Rovers, Inverloch, Korumburra and Bena joined the Alberton FL,^[12] after the Bass Valley Wonthaggi FL had been disbanded as part of a restructuring of local football by the Victorian Country Football League. The "final five" system was first utilised with the inclusion of the new clubs.

Devon-Welshpool and Won Wron-Woodside created the Allies when they merged in 1997^[13] and then Bena and Korumburra joined forces to become Korumburra-Bena in 2001.^[14]

In 2005 the Phillip Island and Kilcunda-Bass football clubs moved from the defunct West Gippsland Football League to the Alberton Football League, the Wonthaggi Rovers amalgamated with Wonthaggi Blues, who were leaving the West Gippsland Latrobe Football League, to form the Wonthaggi Power and the final six was introduced.^[15]

The 2008 season saw a large contingent from the Devon-Welshpool-Won Wron-Woodside Football Club leave to create a new club, the Woodside and District Wildcats, in the North Gippsland Football League.^[16] 2008 also saw controversy as Yarram boycotted a match against Wonthaggi Power.^[17] The clubs met in both that year's grand final and the previous year's, with Yarram premiers in 2007 and Wonthaggi in 2008.^[18]

The 2010 season saw Wonthaggi Power ejected from the Alberton Football League and submitted into the higher level Gippsland Football League. With their departure the Alberton Football League shrunk to a thirteen team league with rounds consisting of six matches with one team per round having a bye.

Devon-Welshpool-Won Wron-Woodside decided to go into recess for the 2014 season while Yarram departed the Alberton League to join the North Gippsland League to reduce the number of teams competing in the AFNL to eleven. DWWWW returned to the competition in 2015 to push the number of teams back to twelve.

A Senior Leagues Review that commenced at the beginning of 2015, conducted by AFL Gippsland to address issues of competitive imbalance and club sustainability, brought major change to structure of the Alberton Football Netball League when the final decision was completed. In 2017, the Alberton League reduced to sevon clubs after losing Dalyston, Korumburra-Bena, Inverloch-Kongwak, Kilcunda-Bass and Phillip Island to the newly formed West Gippsland Football Netball League. Prior to the 2018 season, DWWWW went into recess again due to lack of players in the district. It is hoped Woodside and Yarram will transfer back to the league to strengthen the competition.

Alberton Football League matches are officiated by umpires from the South Gippsland Umpires Association.