The Goldfields Football League 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 ...

league based in the

Goldfields Goldfield or Goldfields may refer to: Places * Goldfield, Arizona, the former name of Youngberg, Arizona, a populated place in the United States * Goldfield, Colorado, a community in the United States * Goldfield, Iowa, a city in the United State ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. Founded in 1896 as Hannans District Football Association, the league enjoyed a seat and full voting rights on the

Australian National Football Council The Australian National Football Council (ANFC) was the national governing body for Australian rules football in Australia from 1906 until 1995. The council was a body of delegates representing each of the principal leagues which controlled the ...

until 1919. The first clubs to play Australian football were formed within the region, and the league helped popularise the sport in the region, helping to establish the sport and supplant

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

in popularity. The GFL was known as the Goldfields Football Association (GFA) from 1901–07 and 1920–25, and as the Goldfields National Football League (GNFL) from 1926–87. The league currently has two teams based in

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

, two teams based in

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

, and one in

Kambalda Kambalda is a small mining town about from the mining city of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, within the Goldfields. It is split into two townsites apart, Kambalda East and Kambalda West; and is located on the western edge of a giant salt ...

History

The league was formed during a meeting held in the Great Boulder Hotel,

, on 29 July 1896 as the Hannans District Football Association. The association at this point comprised four teams; Boulder City, based in

; Hannans, now known as Kalgoorlie City and based in Kalgoorlie; Victorians, also based in Kalgoorlie; and White Feather, based in Kanowna. Up until the end of the First World War the GFL was considered equal on ability with the WAFL, and a State Championship was contested 12 times between 1903 and 1924, with Goldfields sides winning twice, in 1903 and 1912. The league also had a seat and full voting rights on the

until 1919, but participated together with the WAFL as Western Australia in inter-state and inter-colonial matches. The 1904 Western Australian inter-state touring team included seven GFL players, and half of the 1908 Melbourne Carnival team were GFL players, including the captain Billy Trewhella.

Clubs

Current clubs

Former clubs

Former clubs include Victorians (1896–97), White Feather (1896–98; 1903–06), Bulong (1897), Rovers (1897), Britannia (1897), Cementers (1898), Kanowna (1899–1901), Paddington (1899), Coolgardie (1901–03; 1905–06), Trafalgar (1902–05), Horseshoe Warriors (1903–08), City (1903), Boulder Stars (1905–06) and Norseman (1971–72; 1974–82).

Premierships

List of premiers

The complete list of premiers teams is detailed below.

2012 ladder

2013 ladder

2014 ladder

2015 ladder

2016 ladder

2017 ladder

2018 ladder

2019 ladder

2020 (no season due to Covid-19 restrictions)

Notable players

* Hugh Gavin (Boulder City/Boulder Stars/Mines Rovers) – captained in 1904. *

George Krepp George Llewellyn Krepp (21 July 1912 – 16 August 1973) was an Australian rules footballer who was highly successful in the West Australian National Football League (WANFL) playing for the Swan Districts Football Club. Krepp played for Midla ...

(Boulder City) – won a Sandover Medal for Swan Districts in 1936. *

Gordon Maffina Gordon Louis Charles 'Sonny' Maffina (10 January 1926 – 10 September 1991) was an Australian rules footballer who played 114 games for Claremont in the West Australian National Football League (WANFL) from 1948 to 1958. Centreman Gordon Ma ...

(Boulder City) – won a Sandover Medal for Claremont in 1949 and a

Simpson Medal The Simpson Medal is an individual prize awarded for Australian rules football in Western Australia. The medal has been donated by Dr Fred Simpson and family since 1945. Simpson Medals are currently awarded to the following players: *The best pla ...

in 1951. *

Phil Matson Phillip Henry Matson (22 October 1884 – 13 June 1928) was a record-breaking swimmer, and both a highly successful player and coach of Australian rules football in the early 20th century, chiefly in Western Australia. Family The son of Georg ...

(Boulder City) – captained WA at the

1914 Sydney Carnival The 1914 Sydney Carnival was the third edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate competition. It was held between Wednesday 5 August and Saturday 15 August 1914. Victoria was the winning state, ...

. *

Stephen Michael Stephen Albert Michael (born 15 March 1956) is a former Australian rules footballer. More recently, Stephen is the patron of the Stephen Michael Foundation, supporting disengaged, at-risk and disadvantaged youth across Western Australia. Playin ...

(Boulder City) – won the 1980 and 1981

Sandover Medal The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League. The award was donated by Alfred Sandover M.B.E., a prominent Perth hardware merchant and be ...

s, and the 1983

. Inducted into the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coa ...

. *

Bert Renfrey Ethelbert Luxmore "Bert" Renfrey (5 May 1879 – 29 April 1940) was an Australian rules footballer who played in the South Australian National Football League, South Australian Football Association, Australian Football League, Victorian Football ...

(Boulder City) – Captain of the undefeated 1911 South Australian state team. *

Alec Robinson Alexander Robinson (19 August 1886 – 4 October 1967) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon Football Club, Essendon in the Australian Football League, Victorian Football League (VFL). He also had a noted football career in ...

(Boulder City) *

Frank Hailwood Frank Hailwood (3 April 1873 – 21 May 1944) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Family One of the eight children of Joseph Hailwood (1834–1912), and Ellen ...

(Boulder City) 150 games for Collingwood (1894-1904) *

Jack Rocchi Jack Rocchi (21 December 1904 – 25 November 1979) was an Australian rules footballer who played for South Fremantle in the WAFL and Fitzroy in the VFL. Originally from the Goldfields, Rocchi started his career at South Fremantle and bec ...

(Boulder City) – won the 1928 Sandover Medal for South Fremantle. *

Dave Cuzens David Cuzens (11 December 1932 – 22 October 2021) was an Australian rules football player who played in the VFL between 1957 and 1961 for the Richmond Football Club. After leaving Richmond he returned to his home town of Perth Perth ...

(Kalgoorlie City) – won 's best & fairest in 1958 and 1959. *

Jerry Dolan John "Jerry" Dolan (25 December 1901 – 26 December 1986) was an Australian rules footballer and coach in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) before becoming a politician. He played for as well as coached East Fremantle and was also a ...

(Kalgoorlie City) * Ted Holdsworth (Kalgoorlie City) – named at full-forward in the Swan Districts Team of the Century. * Jim Gosnell (Kalgoorlie Railways) – won the 1924 Sandover Medal. * Dean Kemp (Kalgoorlie Railways) – won a

Norm Smith Medal The Norm Smith Medal is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best on ground in the Grand Final of the Australian Football League (AFL). Prior to 1990 the competition was known as the Victorian Football ...

for and played in two premierships. * Steve Marsh (Kalgoorlie Railways) – 1952 Sandover Medallist and

West Australian Football Hall of Fame The West Australian Football Hall of Fame was created in 2002 to recognise and enshrine those who have made a significant contribution to Australian rules football in Western Australia. People eligible for inclusion are players, coaches, umpires, ...

Legend. * Alexander McKenzie (Kalgoorlie City) – Four time Port Adelaide leading goal-kicker. Played for

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

in 1892 and 1894. * Ted Rowell (Kalgoorlie Railways) *

Charlie Tyson Charles Edward Tyson (14 November 1897 – 23 September 1985) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood and North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League during the 1920s. VFL career Recruited to Collingwood from Weste ...

(Kalgoorlie Railways) – played 144 games in the VFL for and , captaining both teams. * John Quinn Sr. (White Feather/Kanowna) – Port Adelaide captain in 1904-1905, father of champion players Tom Quinn and Bob Quinn. * John Woollard (Mines Rovers/Kalgoorlie City) – Port Adelaide captain in 1910. *

Lou Daily Louis Joseph Daily (31 January 1911 – 29 August 1974) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood and Geelong in the Victorian Football League (VFL) as well as Subiaco in the West Australian National Football League (WANFL ...

(Mines Rovers) – won the 1935 Sandover Medal for Subiaco. * Alec Epis (Mines Rovers) *

Jaymie Graham Jaymie Wayne Graham (born 6 February 1983) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally from Kalgoorlie, where he played for the Mines Rovers Football Club, Gr ...

(Mines Rovers) – played for . * Tom Outridge (Mines Rovers) – inaugural winner of the Sandover Medal in 1921. * "Nipper" Truscott (Mines Rovers) – inducted into the

. *

Eddie Betts Edward Robert Betts III (born 26 November 1986) is a former Australian rules football player who played as a forward for Carlton and Adelaide in the Australian Football League. Betts was originally drafted by Carlton with pick No. 3 in the ...

(Mines Rovers) – 's leading goalkicker in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. *

Dom Sheed Dom Sheed (born 10 April 1995) is an Australian rules footballer, playing for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early life From Kalgoorlie, in the Goldfields region of Western Australia, Sheed played underage f ...

(Mines Rovers) -

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

premiership player. *

Joe Fanchi Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

(Mines Rovers) - Premiership player for West Perth kicked the winning goal for WA against Victoria 1961 National Carnival

References

{{Aussie Rules in Western Australia Australian rules football competitions in Western Australia Sports leagues established in 1896