The Lower South West Football League is a country Australian rules football league incorporating teams from towns located within the South West and Great Southern regions of Western Australia.
History
Australian Rules Football in the lower south west region of Western Australia has been played since the early part of the 20th century. For the first half of the century, the two major leagues that existed in the region were the Nelson Football Association and the Warren Football Association.
The Nelson Football Association included teams from the areas of Bridgetown, Greenbushes, Balingup, Nannup and Boyup Brook. The Warren Football Association was based in Manjimup and also included teams from the surrounding areas of Jardee, Pemberton, Northcliffe and Deanmill. Other smaller leagues such as the Bridgetown and Nannup Football Associations also existed, but only for short periods of time.
The Lower South West Football League was formed in 1959, as a result of a merger between the Nelson Football Association and the Warren Football Association. The merger of the two Associations was not easy with each league seeking to protect its interests and the clubs in each association were determined that they would not be overshadowed. After several meetings and lengthy discussions, the League was officially formed on 31 March 1959. The first league matches were scheduled for 26 April 1959, including reserves (B Grade) and colts (C Grade) matches.
Mr LW Gates, President of the Nelson Association prior to the merger, and one who played an important part in the merger, became the League's first President and Mr Joe Rowberry was elected vice president.
The inaugural teams included Boyup Brook, Bridgetown, Deanmill, Royals, Imperials, Tigers, Nannup and Southerners. Several of these inaugural clubs resulted from mergers. Bridgetown resulted from the merger of Warriors (maroon and yellow) and Rovers (red and blue), Tigers resulted from the merger of Jardee (green and gold) and Fire Brigades (blue and white), and Royals resulted from the merger of Greenbushes Centrals (blue and white) and Balingup (black and white). Southerners were formed by the amalgamation of Pemberton (red and blue) and Northcliffe (white and red), the two southernmost towns in the district, thus the naming Southerners.
Nannup only competed for one year and Royals competed for five years, before both teams left to join the Blackwood Football Association. The league remained as a six-team league for the next 44 years, when Kojonup joined the league in 2008 after transferring from the Great Southern Football League. Kojonup were previously known as the Magpies and wore black and white, but were required to change their colours and adopt a new logo (Cougars) to avoid a clash with Manjimup Imperials.
The only changes to the league since then have been the changes of logos for Boyup Brook and Deanmill. In 1987, Boyup Brook changed from being known as the Tigers to the Roos. This was also accompanied by a change in colours (to green and white). In 1997, Deanmill changed their nickname from The Mill to Hawks.
The official league colours were initially black and yellow, but have since changed to red, blue, green and yellow. The league has competed in numerous country carnivals, including the Mobil and Wesfarmers Country Carnivals (held in Perth) and the Great Southern Carnival.
Clubs Locations
Current ClubColoursNicknameHome GroundFormer LeagueEst.Years in LSWFLLSWFL Premierships Total Years Boyup Brook Boyup Brook Oval, Boyup Brook NFA 1959– 4 1981, 2012, 2022, 2024 Bridgetown Bulldogs Bridgetown Greater Sports Ground, Bridgetown –1959 1959– 5 1984, 1986, 2003, 2019, 2021 Deanmill Deanmill Oval, Deanmill WFA1920 1959– 18 1963, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1980, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1997, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2015, 2025 Imperials Magpies Manjimup Recreation Oval, Manjimup WFA1930 1959– 9 1961, 1982, 1983, 1989, 1993, 1998, 2004, 2007, 2018 Kojonup Cougars Kojonup Oval, Kojonup GSFL1923 2008– 3 2014, 2023, 2026 Manjimup Tigers Rea Park, Manjimup –1959 1959– 8 1959, 1960, 1962, 1977, 1978, 1996, 2010, 2013 Southerners Souths Pemberton Oval, Pemberton –1959 1959– 20 1964, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1985, 1988, 1992, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2016, 2017
Former ClubColoursNicknameHome GroundFormer LeagueEst.Years in LSWFLLSWFL PremiershipsNotes Total Years Greenbushes Royals Greenbushes Oval, Greenbushes – 1959 1959–1963 0 - De-merged into Centrals and Balingup, who, along with Kirup, formed the Central District FA in 1964 Nannup Redlegs Nannup Oval, Nannup NFA 1959 0 - Played socially from 1960-1962, joined the Augusta-Margaret River NFA in 1963.
Grand final results