Tatiara Football League

The Tatiara Football League was an Australian rules football competition based around the Tatiara region of South Australia and the West Wimmera region of Victoria.

History

The Tatiara Football League was formed when the Bordertown and Mundulla clubs met in May 1911 with a view of forming a football association. Pine Hill, Wolseley and Keith were invited to join with only Wolseley accepting the offer.[1] The TFL remained a 3-club competition until 1921 when Keith and Serviceton first affiliated with the league. Kaniva joined for a short stint in 1924[2] and re-entered in 1927 alongside Lillimur.[3] They left following the 1929 season before fully committing to the TFL in 1932.

The Page playoff system was introduced for the first time in 1932 and would remain the finals format for the vast majority of the TFL's existence.[4] The 1930s saw a relatively changeable roster of clubs participating, with Lillimur, Serviceton, Wolseley, Federals and Goroke all playing sporadically through the decade. The competition entered recess following the 1940 season due to decreasing public support brought about by World War II.[5]

The TFL re-formed in 1946. Despite winning the most recent premiership in 1940, Goroke were excluded on grounds of distance from the rest of the clubs.[6] Lillimur and Serviceton merged to form Leeor prior to the 1950 season,[7] after which the TFL entered a long period of stability, with the only changes to the line-up of clubs being the admission of Tintinara from the Lakes District Association in 1954[8] and the demise of Wolseley after the 1963 season.

The league continued until 1993 when the TFL merged with the Kowree Naracoorte Football League to create the Kowree-Naracoorte-Tatiara Football League.[9]

Final Clubs in 1992

Club Jumper Nickname Home Ground Former League Est. Years in TFL TFL Senior Premierships Fate
Total Years
Bordertown Roosters Bordertown Football Oval, Bordertown – 1908 1911-1992 18 1919, 1920, 1922, 1923, 1926, 1939, 1949, 1957, 1967, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1990 Formed Kowree-Naracoorte-Tatiara FL in 1993
Kaniva Bulldogs Kaniva Recreation Reserve, Kaniva WWFL 1884 1924, 1927-1929, 1934-1992 13 1924, 1928, 1935, 1953, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1985 Formed Kowree-Naracoorte-Tatiara FL in 1993
Keith Magpies Keith Oval, Keith CFL 1908 1921-1992 8 1954, 1955, 1962, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982 A-grade side played in Cardwell FA between 1945-1948. Formed Kowree-Naracoorte-Tatiara FL in 1993
Leeor Bombers Serviceton Recreation Reserve, Serviceton – 1950 1950-1992 4 1950, 1952, 1966, 1974 Formed Kowree-Naracoorte-Tatiara FL in 1993
Mundulla Tigers Mundulla Showgrounds, Mundulla – 1905 1911-1992 20 1911, 1913, 1921, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1937, 1938, 1948, 1951, 1959, 1973, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1991 Formed Kowree-Naracoorte-Tatiara FL in 1993
Tintinara Blues Tintinara Oval, Tintinara LDFA 1912 1954-1992 1 1977 Merged with Border Downs to form Border Downs-Tintinara in River Murray FL in 1993

Former Clubs

Club Jumper Nickname Home Ground Former League Est. Years in TFL TFL Senior Premierships Fate
Total Years
Border Warriors Warriors Serviceton Recreation Reserve, Serviceton and Wolseley Oval, Wolseley – 1935 1935 0 - De-merged into Serviceton and Wolseley in 1936
Federals Sandsmere Recreation Reserve, Sandsmere and Miram Recreation Reserve, Miram WWFL 1910s 1934-1947 0 - Absorbed by Kaniva in 1948
Goroke Magpies Goroke Recreation Reserve, Goroke KFA 1890s 1940 1 1940 Moved to Central Wimmera FL in 1947
Lillimur Lillimur Recreation Reserve, Lillimur – 1927 1927-1929, 1934-1949 1 1947 Merged with Serviceton in 1950 to form Leeor
Serviceton Dark with light band Serviceton Recreation Reserve, Serviceton – 1889 1921, 1926-1934, 1936-1949 2 1933, 1936, 1946 Played merged with Wolseley as Border Warriors in 1935. Merged with Lillimur in 1950 to form Leeor
Wolseley Wolseley Oval, Wolseley – 1903 1911-1934, 1936-1963 2 1914, 1915 Played merged with Serviceton as Border Warriors in 1935. Folded after 1963 season

Senior Premiers

TFL Premiers

Source:[10]

References

  1. ^ Lines, Peter (2017). South Australian country football digest. Volume 2. ISBN 9780648069904.
  2. ^ "FOOTBALL". Register. 1924-05-13. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  3. ^ "SPORTING". Lawloit Times. 1927-05-03. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  4. ^ "THE PAGE SYSTEM OF FINALS". Border Chronicle. 1932-04-22. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  5. ^ "Tatiara football Association". Border Chronicle. 1941-05-02. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  6. ^ "Tatiara Football Association". Border Chronicle. 1946-04-18. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  7. ^ "SIX TEAMS TO CONTEST 1950 TATIARA FOOTBALL PREMIERSHIP". Border Chronicle. 1950-04-06. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  8. ^ "Football Is Under Way In Country". Chronicle. 1954-04-15. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
  9. ^ "Tatiara District Football Association / Tatiara Football Association / Tatiara Football League (SA/Vic)". www.footypedia.info. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
  10. ^ "TFL a Grade Premiers - Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara Football League".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.