The Esperance District Football Association is an Australian rules football league based in the city of Esperance in Western Australia. It was formed in 1956.A way of Life

History

In 1956 after many years of playing scrimmage matches between Esperance and Grass Patch a decision was made to create a football association. The first decision was to create two new football clubs. Gibson Football Club was created by excess players from the Esperance club and Salmon Gums was from surplus players from Grass Patch.

The first season was dominated by the Southern teams. Gibson won eleven out of twelve games followed by Esperance win nine wins. Grass Patch won four while Salmon Gums went winless. Gibson were the first premiers.

In 1957 saw the merger of Salmon Gums and Grass Patch, the new entity was called The Mallee. The association continued with three teams until the inclusion of Newtown in 1958.

The league has fielded a women's competition since 2019.

Clubs Locations

Current ClubJumperNicknameHome GroundFormer LeagueEst.Years in EDFAPremierships Total Years Esperance BulldogsEsperance Oval, Nulsen–1937 1956– 31 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1987, 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2024, 2025, 2026 Gibson TigersGibson Oval, Gibson–1956 1956– 18 1956, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2018, 2019, 2023 Newtown Condingup LionsNewtown Oval, Bandy Creek and Condingup Oval, Condingup–2005 2005– 2 2009, 2022 Ports BluesPorts Oval, Esperance–1966 1966– 12 1973, 1975, 1978, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2020

Former ClubJumperNicknameHome GroundFormer LeagueEst.Years in EDFAPremiershipsFate Total Years Condingup(1982-?)(?-2004) CougarsCondingup Oval, Condingup–1982 1982–2004 0 -Merged with Newtown to form Newtown-Condingup in 2005 Grass PatchGrass Patch Oval, Grass PatchMFA 1956 0 -Merged with Salmon Gums to form The Mallee in 1957 Newtown (1970s)(1980s)(?-2004) DemonsNewtown Oval, Bandy Creek–1958 1958–2004 7 1960, 1963, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1994, 1995Merged with Condingup to form Newtown-Condingup in 2005 Norseman VikingsNorseman Oval, NorsemanGFL1971 1983–1995 1 1983Folded after 1995 seasonMunglinupDemonsMunglinup Oval, MunglinupRDFA19571983–1987 0 -Returned to Ravensthorpe & Districts FA in 1988RavensthorpeTigersRavensthorpe Oval, RavensthorpeNPFA19621966-19670 -Formed Ravensthorpe & Districts FA in 1968 Salmon GumsGrass Patch Oval, Grass Patch–1956 1956 0 -Merged with Grass Patch to form The Mallee in 1957 The MalleeGrass Patch Oval, Grass Patch–1957 1957–1965 0 -Folded after 1965 season

2020 Ladder EsperanceWinsByesLossesDrawsForAgainst%PtsFinalTeamGBPtsTeamGBPts Esperance 7 0 2 0 702 453 154.97% 28 1st Semi Gibson 7 7 49 Newtown Condingup 5 15 45 Ports 6 0 2 1 717 492 145.73% 26 2nd Semi Esperance 15 1 91 Ports 5 15 45 Gibson 3 0 5 1 404 601 67.22% 14 Preliminary Ports 14 8 92 Gibson 7 5 47 Newtown Condingup 1 0 8 0 404 681 59.32% 4 Grand Ports 15 10 100 Esperance 4 10 34 2021 Ladder EsperanceWinsByesLossesDrawsForAgainst%PtsFinalTeamGBPtsTeamGBPts Esperance 11 0 1 0 989 648 152.62% 44 1st Semi Ports 8 6 54 Newtown Condingup 7 4 46 Gibson 7 0 5 0 865 636 136.01% 28 2nd Semi Gibson 9 11 65 Esperance 4 12 36 Newtown Condingup 3 0 9 0 753 865 87.05% 12 Preliminary Esperance 15 14 104 Ports 6 7 43 Ports 3 0 9 0 668 1126 59.33% 12 Grand Esperance 11 9 75 Gibson 10 11 71 2022 Ladder EsperanceWinsByesLossesDrawsForAgainst%PtsFinalTeamGBPtsTeamGBPts Esperance 11 0 1 0 1473 453 325.17% 44 1st Semi Gibson 14 10 94 Ports 5 7 37 Newtown Condingup 7 0 5 0 923 836 110.41% 28 2nd Semi Esperance 9 11 65 Newtown Condingup 5 11 41 Gibson 6 0 6 0 896 796 112.56% 24 Preliminary Newtown Condingup 10 8 68 Gibson 10 6 66 Ports 0 0 12 0 313 1520 20.59% 0 Grand Newtown Condingup 8 7 55 Esperance 4 15 39 2023 Ladder EsperanceWinsByesLossesDrawsForAgainst%PtsFinalTeamGBPtsTeamGBPts Gibson 10 0 2 0 1052 388 271.13% 40 1st Semi Ports 12 7 79 Newtown Condingup 8 7 55 Esperance 10 0 2 0 1050 569 184.53% 40 2nd Semi Gibson 15 11 101 Esperance 2 7 19 Newtown Condingup 2 0 10 0 581 1022 56.85% 8 Preliminary Esperance 12 16 88 Ports 4 3 27 Ports 2 0 10 0 357 1061 33.65% 8 Grand Gibson 15 5 95 Esperance 5 8 38

Further reading A Way of Life – The Story of country football in Western Australia – Alan East

References