Murray Valley Football Netball League

The Murray Valley Football Netball League (MVFNL) is an Australian rules football League located in South Australia's Riverland region. The league features clubs from the smaller towns of the Riverland and Upper Murray region.

The league was born out of the ashes of the Riverland Independent Football League, which, after disassociating from the Riverland Football League following the conclusion of the 2022 season, combined with the Riverland Independent Netball Association to create a new administration and competition.^[1]

History

The origins of this league came in 1909 when Lyrup, Renmark Town and Fairview Rovers founded the Murray Football Association. Lyrup won the first ever premiership.

The competition reformed in 1919 as the Upper Murray Football Association and in 1923 split into A and B grade competitions. In 1952, the Association became the Upper Murray Football League (UMFL), not to be confused with the league of the same name located around Corryong, Victoria.

In 1971, the league's B Grade division split out into its own competition as the Riverland Independent B-Grade Football Association. It was renamed the Riverland Independent Football League (RIFL) the following season, while the UMFL underwent its own renaming to the Riverland Football League.

Ramco joined the RIFL in 2009 from the Mid Murray Football Association (MMFA), as did Blanchetown/Swan Reach in 2010, and the MMFA disbanded.

At the conclusion of the 2022 season, the Mallee Football League disbanded and Murrayville applied for admittance to the new MVFNL competition.

Clubs

Murray Valley FNL (2023–)

Current clubs

Jumper	Club	Nickname	Years	Premierships	Premiership seasons
	Blanchetown-Swan Reach	Redbacks (formerly Bulldogs)	2023–	0
	Browns Well	Bombers	2023–	0
	Murrayville	Blues	2023–	0
	Paringa	Swans	2023–	0
	Sedan-Cambrai	Magpies	2023–	1	2023
	Ramco	Roosters	2023–	0
	Wunkar	Bulldogs	2023–	0

Riverland Independent FL (1971–2022)

Final clubs

Jumper	Club	Nickname	Years	Premierships	Premiership seasons[2]
	Blanchetown-Swan Reach	Redbacks (formerly Bulldogs)	2010–2022	2	2012, 2022
	Browns Well	Bombers	1971–2022	10	1972, 1975, 1978, 1982, 1985–86, 1988, 2000, 2016–17
	Paringa	Swans	1971–2022	8	1979, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2018
	Sedan-Cambrai	Magpies	2016–2022	1	2019
	Ramco	Roosters	2009–2022	1	2021
	Wunkar	Bulldogs	1971–2022	2	1974, 1976

Former clubs

Jumper	Club	Nickname	Years	Premierships	Premiership seasons	Notes
	Browns Well 2		1971–1976	0		Folded in 1977
	Chaffey	Blues	1971–1980	0		Merged with Renmark Rovers to become Renmark-Chaffey in 1981
	Cobdogla	Eagles	1971–2021	11	1981, 1984, 1987, 1989–90–91, 1998–99, 2006–07–08	Folded in 2022
	East Murray	Tigers	1994–2014	1	2003	Folded in 2015
	Gerard	Hawks	1971–1989	0		Folded in 1990
	Lyrup	Lions	1971–2021	8	1973, 1980, 1996, 2001, 2004, 2010–11, 2015	Folded in 2022
	Moorook-Kingston	Warriors	1971–2016	7	1971, 1977, 1983, 1992–93–94, 2014	Folded in 2017
	Renmark-Chaffey	Rovers	1981–1986	0		Folded in 1987
	Riverland United		1998–1999; 2003	0		Went into recess in 2000, returned in 2003 and folded in 2004
	United	Saints	1997–2003	0		Suspended mid-season 2001, returned in 2002 and folded in 2004

Notable players

Sam Durdin East Murray

Aaron Francis East Murray

Anthony Lehmann Browns Well

Premiers

Riverland Independent FL (1971–2022)

• 1971 Moorook-Kingston 11 14 80 Def Browns Well 10 16 76
• 1972 Browns Well 11 12 78 Def Paringa 7 10 52
• 1973 Lyrup 15 13 103 Def Moorook-Kingston 11 9 75
• 1974 Wunkar 10 13 73 Def Browns Well 8 14 62
• 1975 Browns Well 11 7 73 Def Wunkar 9 17 71
• 1976 Wunkar 13 13 91 Def Moorook-Kingston 9 10 64
• 1977 Moorook-Kingston 18 11 119 Def Wunkar 9 13 67
• 1978 Browns Well 13 7 85 Def Wunkar 11 8 74
• 1979 Paringa 16 15 111 Def Gerard 9 13 67
• 1980 Lyrup 11 12 78 Def Paringa 10 14 74
• 1981 Cobdogla 14 17 101 Def Paringa 5 17 47
• 1982 Browns Well 13 11 89 Def Paringa 10 15 75
• 1983 Moorook-Kingston 14 7 91 Def Browns Well 10 10 70
• 1984 Cobdogla 14 18 102 Def Browns Well 9 11 65
• 1985 Browns Well 25 18 168 Def Cobdogla 6 4 40
• 1986 Browns Well 22 9 141 Def Paringa 11 6 72
• 1987 Cobdogla 18 14 122 Def Paringa 8 13 61
• 1988 Browns Well 7 10 52 Def Paringa 6 7 43
• 1989 Cobdogla 9 12 66 Def Browns Well 7 10 52
• 1990 Browns Well 13 10 88 Def Cobdogla 12 15 87
• 1991 Cobdogla 12 14 86 Def Wunkar 8 4 52
• 1992 Moorook-Kingston 15 10 100 Def Cobdogla 14 15 99
• 1993 Moorook-Kingston 21 18 144 Def Lyrup 14 12 96
• 1994 Moorook-Kingston 13 10 88 Def East Murray 13 9 87
• 1995 Paringa 11 14 80 Def Browns Well 7 16 58
• 1996 Lyrup 18 13 121 Def Paringa 11 15 81
• 1997 Paringa 26 20 176 Def Browns Well 10 13 73
• 1998 Cobdogla 21 16 142 Def Wunkar 9 10 64
• 1999 Cobdogla 17 9 111 Def East Murray 16 8 104
• 2000 Browns Well 10 15 75 Def Wunkar 8 5 53
• 2001 Lyrup 7 9 51 Def Cobdogla 7 8 50
• 2002 Paringa 12 11 83 Def Lyrup 6 7 43
• 2003 East Murray 18 7 115 Def Moorook-Kingston 10 4 64
• 2004 Lyrup 18 10 118 Def Moorook-Kingston 9 6 60
• 2005 Paringa 14 15 9 Def Cobdogla 12 12 84
• 2006 Cobdogla 13 16 94 Def Paringa 5 8 38
• 2007 Cobdogla 18 16 124 Def Lyrup 12 11 83
• 2008 Cobdogla 18 14 122 Def Lyrup 5 7 37
• 2009 Paringa 18 14 122 Def Wunkar 17 12 114
• 2010 Lyrup 13 9 87 Def East Murray 7 17 59
• 2011 Lyrup 13 5 83 Def Paringa 8 4 52
• 2012 Blanchetown/SR 16 11 107 Def Ramco 6 8 44
• 2013 Paringa 19 13 127 Def Blanchetown/SR 19 10 124
• 2014 Moorook-Kingston 12 11 83 Def Blanchetown/SR 8 9 57
• 2015 Lyrup 15 16 106 Def Browns Well 11 14 80
• 2016 Browns Well 19 8 122 Def Ramco 8 5 53
• 2017 Browns Well 10 8 68 Def Paringa 5 9 39
• 2018 Paringa 9 8 62 Def Sedan-Cambrai 8 12 60
• 2019 Sedan-Cambrai 17 6 108 Def Paringa 6 10 46
• 2021 Ramco 6 7 43 Def Sedan-Cambrai 4 10 34
• 2022 Blanchetown/SR 10 8 68 Def Sedan-Cambrai 8 6 54

Murray Valley FNL (2023–)

• 2023 Sedan-Cambrai 13 13 91 Def Browns Well 8 5 53

References

Books

• Encyclopedia of South Australian country football clubs / compiled by Peter Lines. ISBN 9780980447293
• South Australian country football digest / by Peter Lines ISBN 9780987159199

External links

• Fox Sports Pulse RFL Site
• Country footy Riverland footy news
• SANFL Affiliated Leagues 2006
• RFL League Website

This page was last edited on 25 June 2024, at 10:47