The Darley Football Netball Club, nicknamed the ''Devils'', 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 ...

and

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

club based in the Victorian town of

Bacchus Marsh Bacchus Marsh (Wathawurrung: ''Pullerbopulloke'') is an urban centre and suburban locality in Victoria, Australia located approximately north west of the state capital Melbourne and west of Melton, Victoria, Melton at a near equidistance to th ...

. The football squad competes in the

Ballarat Football League The Ballarat Football League (BFL) is an Australian rules football competition that operates in the Ballarat region of Victoria, Australia. The competition formed in 1893 as the Ballarat Football Association and was renamed Ballarat Football ...

. In 2017 Darley defeated Bacchus Marsh convincingly in both the first and seconds Grand Finals.

History

Darley Football Club was formed in 1919 when it was known as the

Magpies Magpies are birds of the Corvidae family. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent creatures, and is one ...

, playing in the Melton and Bacchus Marsh District Football League where the club was successful winning nine premierships between 1934 and 1957. The club then progressed into the newly formed Bacchus Marsh Football League, and was successful with premierships in 1959 and a golden era of four consecutive premierships from 1969–1972. Darley moved into the

Central Highlands Football League The Central Highlands Football League is an Australian Rules Football League in the Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, B ...

and again found success in 1984 before moving into the

Riddell District Football League The Riddell District Football Netball League (RDFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball league in Victoria, Australia. The RDFNL covers towns in the Macedon Ranges and an area from Rockbank in the south to Broadford in the north. T ...

in 1986. Ruckman and local club legend Peter Keep won four consecutive league

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

awards while in the CHFL. The committee of management at the time saw this as a positive move of the club wanting to test itself and its players at a higher standard. Upon entering the Riddell League, Darley was forced to change its club emblem from the Magpies as another club in the league (

Wallan Football Club The Wallan Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies, is an Australian rules football club located 45 km north of Melbourne in the town of Wallan and is affiliated with the Riddell District Football League. The club was founded in 1904 and wear ...

) was already known by the same name. Consequently, the club voted to change its emblem to that of a

Tasmanian devil The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii'') (palawa kani: purinina) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. Until recently, it was only found on the island state of Tasmania, but it has been reintroduced to New South Wales in ...

which remains to this day. During the time spent in the Riddell League, the club participated in finals football in every year except 1996, and then only missing out by percentage. Success was again attained with premierships in both 1989 and 1995, with Mick Hewat successful in winning the Bowen Medal as the league best and fairest in 1988, and Lex Miller winning the same award in 1989. With the depth of football standard in the RDFL on the decline, together with considerable opposition from former second division clubs on the formation of one division, the club voted to make the move to the highly rated Ballarat Football League with Sunbury, Melton and Melton South clubs for the commencement of the 1997 playing season. Darley centreman, Shayne Ward, won the BFL's Henderson Medal for league best and fairest in 1999. The club has also produced many fine players who have gone to play at higher levels. These include Collingwood

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the " best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...

list

Marcus Whelan Marcus Joseph Whelan (27 June 1914 – 31 August 1973) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Family The son of John Whelan and Ellen Margaret Whelan, née Parker, he was born in ...

Wayne Closter Wayne Closter (born 26 February 1945) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Closter played as both a wingman and centreman during his 191-game career, missing out on joining th ...

a 200-game player with

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition, and are the 2022 ...

, and more recently

Heath Scotland Heath Scotland (born 21 July 1980) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. He played for Collingwood and Carlton, appearing in two AFL Grand Finals during his time with Collingwood. He was awarded the Best ...

who played for both

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The club w ...

(53 games) and

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Mel ...

(215 games) before retiring in 2014. The annual general meeting held on 24 November 2009 was an historic occasion. A motion was passed that the club name be changed to the Darley Football Netball Club Inc. Several senior list players have also had experience at AFL reserves and VFA/VFL senior level.

Premierships

**2015, 2017 *

**1989, 1995 *

**1983, 1984 *

Bacchus Marsh Football League In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...

**1959, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 *

Melton & Bacchus Marsh Football League Melton may refer to: Places * Melton, Victoria, a satellite city outside Melbourne, Australia ** Electoral district of Melton, the Victorian Legislative Assembly electorate based on Melton ** Melton, Victoria (suburb), a suburb of Melton **Melton ...

**1923, 1926, 1934, 1938, 1939, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1955, 1957

VFL/AFL players

- *

Billy Libbis William Edward Libbis (2 July 1903 – 15 August 1986) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood and Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Family William Edward Libbis was born in Port Melbourne, Victoria on 2 ...

- and *

- *

Marshall Younger Marshall Younger (born 21 June 1939) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving ...

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...

* Jack Skinner -

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

Zak Butters Zak Butters (born 8 September 2000) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited by Port Adelaide with the 12th draft pick in the 2018 AFL d ...

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

Brett Bewley Brett Bewley (born 14 April 1995) is an Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was the 59th overall draft pick in the 2018 AFL draft from Williamstown in the Victorian ...

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

Bibliography

*''History of Football in the Ballarat District'' by John Stoward -

References

External links

Official website
{{Ballarat Football League Ballarat Football League clubs Bacchus Marsh Sports clubs established in 1919 Australian rules football clubs established in 1919 1919 establishments in Australia Netball teams in Victoria (Australia) Australian rules football clubs in Victoria (Australia)