| AFL Barwon Female Football | |
| Sport: | Australian rules football |
| Teams: | 20 |
| Confed: | AFL Barwon |
| Champion: | Grovedale (Div 1) Anglesea (Div 2) Belmont (Div 3) |
| Champ Season: | 2024 |
| Most Champs: | Geelong Amateur (2× Div 1) |
| Sponsor: | Epworth Health |
| Related Comps: | GFL, GDFL, BFL, CDFL |
| Website: | AFL Barwon |
AFL Barwon Female Football[1] is a women's Australian rules football competition based in the greater Geelong region. The first season of senior football held for women in the area was 2018. The senior competition has since swelled to three divisions incorporating 20 teams. A further eight underage girls divisions are also competed for in the 2023 season.
AFL Barwon is the governing body overseeing Australian rules football in the Geelong and greater district. After many years in which only junior girl's competitions were organised, a senior women's football competition commenced in 2018 under the banner of AFL Barwon Women's Football. Rather than being organised by the GFL, GDFL, or the BFL, the competition is managed under the AFL Barwon banner. The competition was renamed to AFL Barwon Female Football ahead of the 2019 season.
2018 inaugural season competing teams:[2]
Barwon Heads; Drysdale; Geelong Amateur; Ocean Grove
Grovedale; Lara; St Joseph's; St Mary's
The competition has held grading games at the start of the seasons in 2018, 2021–2024 in order to compose divisions to try to make matches as competitive as possible.
In March 2024, following extensive consultation[3] AFL Barwon announced that the competition would transition from playing mostly on Sundays to scheduling Saturday matches from 2025.[4]
| Club | Colours | Nickname | Home Ground | Former League | Est. | AFL Barwon Seasons | AFL Barwon Senior Premierships | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Most recent | ||||||||
| Barwon Heads | Seagulls | Howard Harmer Reserve, Barwon Heads | — | 1922 | 2018- | 1 | 2018 | ||
| Geelong Amateur | Ammos, Pegasus | Queens Park, Highton | — | 1926 | 2018- | 2 | 2023 | ||
| Grovedale | Tigers | Burdoo Reserve, Grovedale | — | 1947 | 2018- | 1 | 2024 | ||
| Lara | Cats | Lara Recreation Reserve, Lara | — | 1880 | 2018- | 0 | - | ||
| St Mary's | Saints | Kardinia Park West, South Geelong | — | 1953 | 2018- | 1 | 2019 | ||
| Thomson | Tigers | Thomson Recreation Reserve, Thomson | — | 1953 | 2023- | 0 | - | ||
| Torquay | Tigers | Spring Creek Reserve, Torquay | — | 1952 | 2019- | 0 | - | ||
| Club | Colours | Nickname | Home Ground | Former League | Est. | AFL Barwon Seasons | AFL Barwon Senior Premierships | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Most recent | ||||||||
| Anglesea | Roos | Ellimatta Reserve, Anglesea | — | 1963 | 2021- | 2 | 2024 | ||
| Drysdale | Hawks | Drysdale Recreational Reserve, Drysdale | — | 1879 | 2018- | 0 | - | ||
| Geelong West Giants | Giants | West Oval, Geelong West | — | 2017 | 2018- | 1 | 2022 | ||
| Newtown & Chilwell | Eagles | Elderslie Reserve, Newtown | — | 1933 | 2021- | 0 | - | ||
| South Barwon | Swans | McDonald Reserve, Belmont | — | 1990 | 2021- | 0 | - | ||
| St Joseph's | Joeys | Herne Hill Reserve, Herne Hill | — | 1973 | 2018- | 1 | 2022 | ||
| Club | Colours | Nickname | Home Ground | Former League | Est. | AFL Barwon Seasons | AFL Barwon Senior Premierships | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Most recent | ||||||||
| Barwon Heads | Seagulls | Howard Harmer Reserve, Barwon Heads | — | 1922 | 2018- | 1 | 2018 | ||
| Belmont Lions | Lions | Winter Reserve, Belmont | — | 1965 | 2024- | 1 | 2024 | ||
| Geelong Amateur | Ammos, Pegasus | Queens Park, Highton | — | 1926 | 2018- | 0 | - | ||
| Grovedale | Tigers | Burdoo Reserve, Grovedale | — | 1947 | 2018- | 0 | - | ||
| Modewarre | Warriors | Mt Moriac Recreation Reserve, Mount Moriac | — | 1879 | 2023- | 1 | 2023 | ||
| North Geelong | Magpies | Osborne Park, North Geelong | VWFL | 1876 | 2018- | 2 | 2019 | ||
| St Albans | Supersaints | St Albans Reserve, Thomson | — | 1880 | 2021- | 0 | - | ||
| Club | Colours | Nickname | Home Ground | Former League | Est. | AFL Barwon Seasons | AFL Barwon Senior Premierships | Fate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Most recent | |||||||||
| Bell Post Hill | Panthers | Myers Reserve, Bell Post Hill | — | 1976 | 2018 | 0 | - | In recess | ||
| Colac Imperials | Imperials | Western Reserve, Colac | — | 1922 | 2018-2021 | 0 | - | In recess | ||
| Ocean Grove | Grubbers | Shell Road Reserve, Ocean Grove | — | 1964 | 2018-2019 | 0 | - | In recess | ||
| † | Team also won the minor premiership for finishing on top of the ladder |
| Season | Premiers | Runners-up | Score | Venue | Best on ground | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | North Geelong† | 6.5 (41) d. 2.3 (15) | Burdoo Reserve | ||||
| 2019 | 6.4 (40) d. 4.5 (29) | Bisinella Oval | |||||
| 2020 | Season cancelled due to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. | ||||||
| 2021 | Not awarded[5] | ||||||
| 2022 | Geelong Amateur† | 4.5 (29) d. 0.3 (3) | Herne Hill Reserve | Cheryl de Groot (Geelong Amateur) | [6] [7] | ||
| 2023 | Geelong Amateur† | 4.10 (34) d. 2.1 (13) | Herne Hill Reserve | Danielle Sgarbi (Geelong Amateur) | [8] [9] | ||
| 2024 | Grovedale† | 2.8 (20) d. 1.6 (12) | Bisinella Oval | Taylah Hassett (Grovedale) | [10] [11] | ||
| † | Team also won the minor premiership for finishing on top of the ladder |
| Season | Premiers | Runners-up | Score | Venue | Best on ground | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 4.9 (33) d. 4.8 (32) | Burdoo Reserve | |||||
| 2019 | North Geelong† | 3.8 (26) d. 0.1 (1) | Bisinella Oval | ||||
| 2020 | Season cancelled due to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. | ||||||
| 2021 | Not awarded | ||||||
| 2022 | St Joseph's† | 5.3 (33) d. 3.2 (20) | Herne Hill Reserve | Tamika Lewis (St Joseph's) | |||
| 2023 | Geelong West Giants† | 3.5 (23) d. 3.4 (22) | Herne Hill Reserve | Teagan Tatlock (Thomson) | [12] | ||
| 2024 | 5.9 (39) d. 3.5 (23) | Bisinella Oval | Ella Nickolaus (Angelsea) | [13] | |||
| † | Team also won the minor premiership for finishing on top of the ladder |
| Season | Premiers | Runners-up | Score | Venue | Best on ground | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Not awarded | ||||||
| 2022 | Anglesea† | 6.6 (42) d. 2.3 (15) | Herne Hill Reserve | Ruby Manson (Anglesea) | |||
| 2023 | 6.0 (36) d. 1.8 (14) | Herne Hill Reserve | Monique Martin (Modewarre) | [14] | |||
| 2024 | Belmont Lions† | 1.7 (13) d. 1.2 (8) | Bisinella Oval | Ashleigh Feehan (Belmont) | |||
The divisions has had the following organisations as naming rights partner for each season:
Epworth Health (Division 1)
Corio Bay Health Group (Division 2)
Epworth Health (Divisions 1–3)
In May 2019, an AFL Barwon Female Football representative team coached by Geelong AFLW player Melissa Hickey, and captained by Barwon Heads' Emma Allen, played the Northern Football Netball League.