The Southern Saints are 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 playing in the

VFL Women's VFL Women's (VFLW) is the major state-level women's Australian rules football league in Victoria. The league initially comprised the six premier division clubs and the top four division 1 clubs from the now-defunct Victorian Women's Football Le ...

, the major state-level women's Australian rules football league in Victoria. It is affiliated with the Sandringham Football Club, which competes in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

History

The Southern Saints entered the VFLW in 2018, after the Seaford Football Netball Club opted to transfer its licence to the

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club ...

. In its

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

, the club had an agreement with the

Frankston Football Club Frankston Football Club, nicknamed the ''Dolphins'', is an Australian rules football club based in Frankston, Victoria, Frankston, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The club, formed in 1887, has played in the Victorian Football League, Victoria ...

. It finished 8th on the ladder at the end of the season. In 2019, St Kilda and its VFL affiliate,

Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places * Sandringham, New South Wales, Australia * Sandringham, Queensland, Australia * Sandringham, Victoria, Australia **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station **Electoral district of Sandringham * Sand ...

, moved to co-manage the club. Since St Kilda entered the AFL Women's competition in 2020, Sandringham holds the Southern Saints team licence. The club's best season came in 2022, when it finished fifth on the home-and-away ladder. They lost in the grand final to

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

, going down by 35 points. Before 2018, the St Kilda Sharks competed in the VFLW, and before that, in the now-defunct

Victorian Women's Football League The Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL) was the oldest and largest Australian rules football league for women in the world, consisting of 47 clubs from Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, across seven divisions and a total of ove ...

References

{{St Kilda Football Club St Kilda Football Club Australian rules football clubs in Melbourne 2018 establishments in Australia Sports clubs and teams established in 2018 Women's Australian rules football clubs in Australia