The Avenel Football Club is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

club that was established in 1881 with evidence of a match against Seymour and many more games against other local towns up until the late 1890s when it first competed in the North East Football Association in 1898. In the early 20th century it first competed in the Waranga - North East Football Association. Avenel is located on the

Hume Highway Hume Highway, inclusive of the sections now known as Hume Freeway and Hume Motorway, is one of Australia's major inter-city national highways, running for between Melbourne in the southwest and Sydney in the northeast. Upgrading of the route ...

in Central

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia, not far from

Seymour, Victoria Seymour () is a historic railway township located in the Southern end of the Goulburn Valley in the Shire of Mitchell, Victoria, Australia and is located north of Melbourne. At the , Seymour had a population of 6,569. The township services t ...

. The club is known as the 'Swans'. The Swans have won 16 senior premierships in their history. Between 1956 and 1976 Avenel merged with Longwood and were Avenel-Longwood Football Club. The club currently competes in the

Kyabram District Football League The Kyabram District Football League (KDL) is an Australian rules football league in Victoria. It is made up of 15 teams; the most recent additions include Dookie United in 2018 and Shepparton East in 2019. The KDL is made up of smaller country t ...

, where it has been one of the more successful clubs winning six premierships over the last thirty years, including back to back premierships in 1978 & 1979 and 1984 & 1985. The Kyabram and District Football League is a football league that covers an area similar to that of the Goulburn Valley and Picola & District Football Leagues, the league currently contains thirteen clubs. Avenel shares a fierce rivalry with neighbours Nagambie. With the two clubs' Under 18 football sides playing for the Tabilk Cup each year. The Cup is donated by the Tabilk Junior Football Club, where the junior footballers under the age of 16 from both Avenel and Nagambie play jointly for the one club. The Swans also share a rivalry, along with a piece of silverware with Violet Town; the Scott Kanters-Peter Ryan Cup, which the two clubs play for annually. The cup is awarded to the team that wins the game between the two sides each year. If the two clubs play each other twice during the home and away season, then the cup is contested when the team presently holding the cup hosts the other club. The Avenel Football club fields three football sides in the Senior, Reserve and Under 18 divisions of the Kyabram and District Football League. The Club wear a predominantly white jumper with a red "V", like that of the old South Melbourne Football Club in the VFL. The most notable footballer of recent times to have played for Avenel Football Club is former AFL footballer

Barry Hall Barry Hall (born 8 February 1977) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club, Sydney Swans and Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is considered to be one of the be ...

, who played 289 games with St Kilda,

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...

and

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a reser ...

, having previously played in the club's 1994 Under 18 premiership.

Premierships

Senior Premierships *1898 (North Eastern Football Association) *1900 (North Eastern Football Association) *1901 (North Eastern Football Association) *1903 (North Eastern Football Association) *1905 (North Eastern Football Association) *1906 (North Eastern Football Association) *1910 (Waranga-North East Football Association) *1921 (Waranga-North East Football Association) *1932 (Waranga-North East Football Association) *1933 (Waranga-North East Football Association) *1978 (Kyabram District Football League) *1979 (Kyabram District Football League) *1984 (Kyabram District Football League) *1985 (Kyabram District Football League) *1989 (Kyabram District Football League) *1994 (Kyabram District Football League) Reserve Premierships *1978 (Kyabram District Football League) *1979 (Kyabram District Football League) *1985 (Kyabram District Football League) *2002 (Kyabram District Football League) Under 18 Premierships *1979 (Kyabram District Football League) *1983 (Kyabram District Football League) *1984 (Kyabram District Football League) *1994 (Kyabram District Football League) *2000 (Kyabram District Football League) *2005 (Kyabram District Football League) *2006 (Kyabram District Football League)

KDFL Best & Fairest Winners

*1988 Rohan Aldous *1991 Peter Thorpe *2015 Don Stirling *2016 Kasey Duncan

KDFL Leading Goal Kickers

*1984 William Hannam (83) *1994 Darren Brock (77) *2019 Kasey Duncan (58)

Avenel Football Club song

"See the Swans fly up, up, to win the premiership flag,
Our boys who play this grand old game,
Are always striving for glory and fame,
To see the Swans fly up, up, up,
The other teams they don't fear,
They all try their best,
But they can't get near,
As the Swans fly up!"

References

{{Kyabram & District Football League Kyabram & District Football League clubs 1913 establishments in Australia Australian rules football clubs established in 1913