Footy in Country South Australia

Current Scores: Weekend of August 3/4, 2024
While metropolitan Adelaide can lay claim to playing games in the state of South Australia early, there were also games played in Gawler and Angaston in regional South Australia around the same time. The first regional club to be formed was Kapunda in 1866 although Penola claims it was formed in 1865 despite no meeting noted until 1868. The original Mount Gambier club was formed in 1867.
Early records outside of regions close to Adelaide and in the state's south east are hard to track. There were plenty of small competitions scattered throughout the state during the Great Depression. But many disappeared or merged by World War 2 and after the war a more stable regional layout prevailed based more or less in regions - the South East, the Riverland, the Adelaide surrounds, the Yorke Peninsula, the Mid North and the Eyre Peninsula. Larger towns such as Mount Gambier, Murray Bridge, Renmark, Port Pirie, Port Augusta and Port Lincoln tended to be stronger but were all supported by other competitions in the area. All except for Renmark had multiple clubs in the town, but Renmark had several close by.
After World War 2 there were over 50 leagues in the regional areas. The South East hosted two leagues around Mount Gambier with another four a little further north and another two on the border between the South East and the Riverland. The Riverland hosted a number of leagues in the region. Six leagues filled the south and Hills area out to Murray Bridge and four to the north surrounding Adelaide. The Eyre Peninsula had plenty of leagues and more than a few populated the neighbouring Mid North and Yorke Peninsula. Only two fresh leagues formed - on Kangaroo Island and in Woomera.
Perhaps the biggest move in regional South Australia was in 1961 when the leagues in Port Pirie, Port Augusta and Whyalla combined to form the super competition the Spencer Gulf Football League. It didn't last though as Whyalla got cold feet and withdrew in the late 1960's.
By this time league numbers were contracting. The South East competition merged with the Western District league in Victoria to form the Western Border competition, and the majority of small competitions around the Riverland became single clubs causing the formation of an Independent grade to the main Riverland competition. Another super competition formed in the Adelaide Hills contracting from three leagues to one over a few years. After the 1980 season the number of leagues had contracted to thirty.
Things more or less stablised but there were more mergers and foldings. In 1987 the Barossa & Light competition merged with the Gawler District league and in 1988 the Streaky Bay competition merged with the Le Hunt competition. In 1989 the Kimba competition merged with the County Jervois competition in the second merger in two years on the Eyre Peninsula. The South East then had two contractions in the early 1990's with the merger of the Tatiara and the Kowree Naracoorte competitions, and the merger of the Murraylands and the Lameroo District competitions. On the Yorke Peninsula two leagues became one when the Yorke Valley competition absorbed the Southern Yorke Peninsula league through triple clubs mergers.
The most recent losses were the Mid Murray competition in 2009 and the Mid West FL in 2020. But regional South Australia is probably the most stable region in the country right now.
Category:Footy History