The Hills Football League (HFL) 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, situated in the Adelaide Hills region of

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 ...

, to the south east of the state capital

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. The League has over 3000 players belonging to 20 member Clubs. The League's Clubs are divided into two playing Divisions
- Division 1 (Formerly Central Division - mostly the larger towns in the Hills region);
- Division 2 (Formerly Country Division - the remaining clubs in the region). Both divisions have their own programs for the season. There is a promotion and relegation system that received criticism in 2014 following the ultimately unsuccessful decision to relegate Echunga in the same season that they won the Central Division premiership. It is the second biggest league in South Australia after the South Australian Amateur Football League. In 2009 the

Uraidla Districts Football Club The Uraidla Districts Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in the eastern suburbs of Adelaide which was formed in 1997 as a merger between the former Uraidla Football Club and Eastern Rangers Football Club. The combined club ...

became the first team in HFL history to secure all senior premierships (A,B&C) in a single season a feat that was followed by Hahndorf in 2016.

History

The Hills FL was formed in 1967 as a result of the merger of the original Hills Central FL and the Torrens Valley FL. For a number of years, the competition consisted of three divisions, firstly known as the Central Zone, the Northern Zone and the Southern Zone. This later changed to Zone 1, 2 and 3 with two years also providing a Zone 4. Eventually in 1979 the two divisions that exist today was established. The one year that was an exception was 1983 when competition was played in one division. Heathfield-Aldgate United hold the record for the most premierships won in succession from 1971 to 1977.

Grades

The HFL consists of: *Junior Grades **Under 14's (mini colts) **Under 16's (junior colts) **Under 18's (senior colts) *Senior Grades **A Grade(A1) **B Grade(A2) **C Grade(A3)

Division 1

Premierships

* 1967 - Heathfield-Aldgate United * 1968 - Heathfield-Aldgate United * 1969 - Mount Barker * 1970 - Mount Barker * 1971 - Heathfield-Aldgate United * 1972 - Heathfield-Aldgate United * 1973 - Heathfield-Aldgate United * 1974 - Heathfield-Aldgate United * 1975 - Heathfield-Aldgate United * 1976 - Heathfield-Aldgate United * 1977 - Heathfield-Aldgate United * 1978 -

Onkaparinga Valley The Onkaparinga River, known as Ngangkiparri or Ngangkiparingga ("place of the women’s river") in the Kaurna language, is a river located in the Southern Adelaide region in the Australian state of South Australia. Rising in the Mount Lofty Ran ...

* 1979 -

Uraidla Uraidla (, ) is a small town in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia, Australia. At the , Uraidla had a population of 575. However it also sits at the centre of a larger population catchment of rural townships which include Summertown, Piccad ...

* 1980 -

* 1981 - Lobethal * 1982 - Mount Barker * 1983 - Mount Barker * 1984 - Hahndorf * 1985 - Hahndorf * 1986 - Mount Lofty District * 1987 -

Eastern Rangers The Eastern Ranges is an Australian rules football team in the NAB League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. The club is a founding member of the competition (1992) and has produced several players for the Australian Football Leagu ...

* 1988 - Blackwood * 1989 -

* 1990 - Mount Lofty District * 1991 - Blackwood * 1992 - Hahndorf * 1993 - Hahndorf * 1994 -

* 1995 - Hahndorf * 1996 -

* 1997 - Hahndorf * 1998 - Lobethal * 1999 - Lobethal * 2000 - Mount Barker * 2001 - Hahndorf * 2002 - Lobethal * 2003 - Mount Barker * 2004 - Mount Barker * 2005 - Uraidla Districts * 2006 - Mount Lofty District * 2007 - Mount Lofty District * 2008 - Mount Lofty District * 2009 - Uraidla Districts * 2010 - Uraidla Districts * 2011 - Uraidla Districts * 2012 - Mount Barker * 2013 - Uraidla Districts * 2014 - Echunga * 2015 - Hahndorf * 2016 - Hahndorf * 2017 - Blackwood * 2018 - Hahndorf * 2019 - Hahndorf * 2020 - Hahndorf * 2021 - Hahndorf * 2022 - Lobethal

Division 2

Premierships

* 1967 Pleasant Valley * 1968 Pleasant Valley * 1969 Pleasant Valley * 1970 Gumeracha * 1971 Pleasant Valley * 1972 Kersbrook * 1973 Birdwood * 1974 Kersbrook * 1975 Birdwood * 1976 Birdwood * 1977 Birdwood * 1978 Lenswood Rangers * 1979 Lenswood Rangers * 1980

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

* 1981 Bridgewater * 1982 Gumeracha * 1983 No Division 2 * 1984 Gumeracha * 1985 Nairne Bremer * 1986 Kersbrook * 1987 Barossa District * 1988 Barossa District * 1989 Nairne Bremer * 1990 Barossa District * 1991 Mount Torrens * 1992 Birdwood * 1993 Kersbrook * 1994 Birdwood * 1995 Echunga * 1996 Echunga * 1997 Kersbrook * 1998 Ironbank-Cherry Gardens * 1999 Ironbank-Cherry Gardens * 2000 Echunga * 2001 Meadows * 2002 Meadows * 2003 Meadows * 2004 Meadows * 2005 Torrens Valley * 2006

Kangarilla Kangarilla is a small rural town and locality around from Adelaide city centre, in South Australia. The area, formerly inhabited by Kaurna people, was settled by Europeans in 1840, not long after the British colonisation of South Australia. Tod ...

* 2007 Torrens Valley * 2008 Kersbrook * 2009 Kersbrook * 2010 Torrens Valley * 2011 Echunga * 2012 Kersbrook * 2013 Echunga * 2014 Mount Lofty District * 2015 Kersbrook * 2016 Bridgewater Callington * 2017 Nairne Bremer * 2018 Ironbank-Cherry Gardens * 2019 Gumeracha * 2020 Ironbank-Cherry Gardens * 2021 Kersbrook

Former Clubs

AFL Players

The following were drafted to AFL club lists having previously participated in the Hills Football League.

References

External links

Hills Football League Official Site

Books

* Encyclopedia of South Australian country football clubs / compiled by Peter Lines. * South Australian country football digest / by Peter Lines {{Aussie Rules in South Australia Australian rules football competitions in South Australia