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The South West Football League is an Australian rules football league based in the south-west of Western Australia. The league is affiliated to Country Football WA, formerly known as the West Australian Country Football League.

History

The idea of creating a larger league was discussed early in 1951. The idea that three clubs from the Collie Football Association and the three clubs from the Bunbury Football association would invigorate public interest in the South West region on the state. Talks continued into 1952 and it was finally agreed to trial a competition with all the two associations clubs for a two-year period. The associations administrations would remain separate. Sensing opportunity, Donnybrook left their local competition to become the seventh club.

In 1953 the Bunbury-Collie League was founded with seven teams. South Bunbury, Bunbury Railways, Bunbury Pastimes, Mines Rovers, Collie Railways, Centrals and Donnybrook. The public response was evident, interest was up, attendances to games were up and the general standard of play improved greatly.

The trial was deemed so successful that it kicked off a series of consolidations of smaller leagues within the state of Western Australia.

• 1954 Eastern and Western Districts Busselton commenced from Busselton FA.
• 1955 Eastern and Western Districts Busselton amalgamated to become Busselton
• 1956 Harvey Brunswick admitted, Bunbury Pastimes becomes Carey Park
• 1957, the league changed names to the South West National Football League.
• 1959 Boyanup-Capel-Dardanup joins
• 1961 Collie Railways and centrals amalgamate to become Collie
• 1966 Augusta-Margaret River joins
• 1990 Harvey Brunswick become Harvey Brunswick Leschenault
• 1991 The league changes its name to the South West Football League
• 2000 Boyanup-Capel-Dardanup relocates to Eaton and changes name to Eaton Boomers.
• 2001 Collie and Mines Rovers amalgamated to become Collie Eagles
• 2009 Harvey Bulls commence, transferred from Peel Football League.
• 2022 Dunsborough Sharks women's, colts and reserves team commence playing
• 2023 Dunsborough Sharks league team commence playing

Expansion

In 1993 a proposed submission from the new Harvey Football Club was rejected because the SWFL believed 10 teams was a sufficient number. Harvey then put in a successful submission into the Peel Football League where they played their first season in 1994.

The start of the 2009 season saw the introduction of the Harvey Bulls, who made the move over from the expanding Peel Football League. This was different from their bid in 1993, as they had nowhere else to go. The SWFL were also looking for a tenth team (after the merger of Collie and Mines) to get rid of the dreaded bye and extended season. Harvey left the PFL because of the rumour of Perth teams entering the PFL for 2009 so therefore increasing travel commitments. This idea fell through but Harvey still joined the SWFL after an 8–1 vote by the SWFL clubs, with HBL the only club opposing the idea.

During January 2021, the Dunsborough Sharks, who field juniors teams in the South West put in an application to field a colts side ahead of the 2021 season. This was rejected. Post the 2021 season the Dunsborough Sharks put in an application for a Reserves, Colts and Women's team for the 2022 season. These applications were accepted with a 7–3 vote, allowing the Sharks to field a league team for the 2023 season.

Clubs

Current clubs

Club	Colours	Nickname	Home Ground	Former League	Est.	Years in SWFL	SWFL Premierships
							Total	Years
Augusta Margaret River		Hawks	Gloucester Park, Margaret River	–	1966	1966-	5	1994, 1995, 2011, 2021, 2022
Bunbury		Bulldogs	PC Payne Park, Bunbury	BFA	1892	1953-	10	1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1970, 1982, 1983, 2001, 2017, 2020
Busselton		Magpies	Sir Stuart Bovell Park, Busselton	–	1955	1955-	6	1964, 1967, 1978, 1996, 2012, 2015, 2023
Carey Park		Panthers	Kelly Park, Bunbury	BFA	1914	1953-	7	1963, 1973, 1986, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009
Collie		Eagles	Collie Recreation Ground, Collie	–	2002	2002-	2	2004, 2005
Dunsborough		Sharks	Dunsborough Playing Fields, Dunsborough	–	1980s	2022-	0	-
Donnybrook		Dons	VC Mitchell Park, Donnybrook	DFA	1897	1953-	5	1977, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2018
Eaton	(1959-2024) (2025-)	Boomers	Glen Huon Oval, Eaton	–	1959	1959-	2	2013, 2014
Harvey Bulls		Bulls	Harvey Recreation Ground, Harvey	PFNL	1994	2009-	0	-
Harvey Brunswick Leschenault		Lions	Brunswick Oval, Brunswick Junction	HBFA		1956	9	1960, 1974, 1975, 1990, 1991, 1992, 2007, 2010, 2019
South Bunbury		Tigers	Hands Oval, South Bunbury	BFA	1897	1953-	19	1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1966, 1968, 1971, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1993, 2002, 2016, 2024

Previous

Club	Colours	Nickname	Home Ground	Former League	Est.	Years in SWFL	SWFL Premierships		Fate
							Total	Years
Collie Centrals		Centrals	Collie Recreation Ground, Collie	CFA		1953-1961	0	-	Merged with Collie Railways to form Collie Saints in 1962
Collie Railways			Collie Recreation Ground, Collie	CFA		1953-1961	0	-	Merged with Collie Centrals to form Collie Saints in 1962
Collie Saints		Saints	Collie Recreation Ground, Collie	–	1962	1962-2001	2	1972, 1987	Merged with Mines Rovers to form Collie Eagles in 2002
East Busselton				BFA		1954	0	-	Merged with West Busselton to form Busselton in 1955
Mines Rovers		Rovers	Collie Recreation Ground, Collie	CFA		1953-2001	4	1965, 1969, 1979, 1997	Merged with Collie Saints to form Collie Eagles in 2002
West Busselton				BFA		1954	0	-	Merged with East Busselton to form Busselton in 1955

Grand Finals (2009–2024)

Notable players

• Syd Jackson
• Adam Hunter
• Phil Matson
• Leon Baker
• Michael Warren
• David Hollins
• Phil Kelly
• Michael Christian
• Ben Stratton
• Peter Miller
• Lewis Jetta
• Neville Jetta
• Kyle Reimers
• Anthony Morabito
• Paul Barnard
• Aaron Black
• Kristin Thornton
• Connor Blakely
• Troy Ugle
• Ethan Hughes
• Ben Howlett
• Sydney Stack
• Harley Bennell
• Jye Amiss

References

1. "Country Football Affiliated Leagues". West Australian Football Commission. Archived from the original on 8 June 2009. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
2. "Football". Blackwood Times. 10 August 1951.
3. "Bunbury Discussion". Blackwood Times. 1952 – via Trove.
4. "About the league". South West Football League. Retrieved 12 May 2009.

• Australian rules football competitions in Western Australia
• 1957 establishments in Australia
• South West Football League