Bellarine Football Netball League

The Bellarine Football Netball League (BFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition based in the Bellarine Peninsula region of Victoria, Australia. Established in 1971 as the Bellarine & District Football League, the competition was formed out of the ashes of the Polwarth Football League, which had six of its former teams join.

The competition was renamed the Bellarine Football League in 1986, and finally the Bellarine Football Netball League in 2011 when the local netball competition was administratively aligned with the football competition for the first time. Prior to 2011, netball clubs competed in a competition overseen by the Bellarine District Netball Association.

The BFNL forms the second tier of football in the Geelong area, along with the Geelong Football Netball League (GFNL) and the Geelong & District Football League.

In March 2024, following extensive consultation AFL Barwon detailed a plan for expanding the BFNL to 12 teams from 2025 with a path for a team to accept an invitation for promotion to the GFNL, replacing a club that would then be relegated from the GNFL.

Les Ash Medal
The Les Ash Medal, named after the late longtime Bellarine football administrator, is presented to the league's best and fairest player at the conclusion of the home-and-away season. It was first named after Ash in 1989; previously it was known simply as the best and fairest medal. Two players have won the award on four occasions – Modewarre's Josh Finch, whose honours spanned seven seasons throughout the 2010s, and Torquay's James Darke, whose period of success overlapped with Finch to claim the award across nine seasons. Both Finch and Darke are also members of a group of five players who have won the award in consecutive seasons.

Leading Goalkicker Award
The Leading Goalkicker Award is presented to the player who has kicked the most goals at the conclusion of the home-and-away season. Barwon Heads' Stephen "Chooka" Piec, described as "a poster boy for the Bellarine in its formative years", holds the record for the most titles (four). The magical century-mark of goals has been reached 14 times throughout the regular season. Dominant Torquay forward Wayne Tyquin's three-year run of 349 cumulative goals from 1997 to 1999 capped off a five-year consecutive period where the league had at least one centurion. Overlap between the Leading Goalkicker Award and the Les Ash Medal is rare; only two players (Torquay's Mark Browne in 1986 and Geelong Amateur's Mitch Day in 2015) have collected both honours in the same season.