Eastern Football Netball League

The Eastern Football Netball League (known previously as the Eastern Districts Football League and later the Eastern Football League) is an Australian rules football and netball league, based in the eastern suburbs of metropolitan Melbourne.

History
The Eastern Districts Football League was established on 15 February 1962, but its origins can be traced back to the Reporter District Football League established in 1903, with the following clubs - Bayswater, Box Hill, Canterbury, Ferntree Gully, Mitcham and Ringwood.

The following football associations all played there part in the now Eastern Districts Football League.

The Ringwood District Football Association was established in 1922 and consisted of the following clubs - Croydon, Ferntree Gully, Kilsyth-Monbulk, Ringwood B and Warrandyte.

The Croydon Mail Football League was established in 1945 and consisted of the following clubs - Bayswater, Boronia, Croydon and Kilsyth. It appears that the League's name was changed to the Croydon District Football League in 1948 and stayed this way in 1949 too.

In 1950 the league became known as the Croydon-Ferntree Gully Football League, when Ferntree Gully left the Dandenong & District Football League and three grades of football commenced in 1950.

In 1997, the Eastern District Football League and the Knox Junior Football Association united to create the Eastern Football League.

Following a restructure during 2018, the league now consists of five divisions, and 2019 had 45 clubs. Premier and First Division had 10 clubs each, Second and Third Divisions have eight clubs each, and Fourth Division has nine with the admission of Croydon North-MLOC for 2019. After the conclusion of the 2019 season, on 15 October the league announced a re-branding to the Eastern Football Netball League, recognising netball as a key part of the league structure.

On 3 June 2020, the EFNL cancelled its 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the admission of Beaconsfield and Oakleigh District for 2022, there are now 48 clubs, including 12 in the Premier Division.

Additional Information

 * 1965 - Divisional promotion and relegation began between Division 1 and 2. Clubs such as Scoresby (Division 2 Premiers in 1962, 63, 64, 65) were not promoted despite winning the Division 2 premiership several times and clubs such as Heathmont were not relegated despite having finished last in 1962 and 1964.
 * 1971 - Divisional promotion and relegation began between Division 2 and 3. Olinda (Division 3 Premiers in 1965, 66, 67) and Mount Evelyn (Division 3 Premiers in 1969, 70) won several premierships in a row without promotion and clubs such as Mulgrave (Division 2 Last Place 1968, 69) and Upper Ferntree Gully (Division 2 Last Place 1970, 71) were not relegated despite finishing last for two years in a row.
 * 1986 - Division 4 was added to the league. The last seven teams of the 1985 Division 3 season were relegated to Division 4 for 1986 (Mount Evelyn, Lilydale, Nunawading, South Wantirna, South Waverley Sandown, Blackburn South and Kilsyth), joining Wonga Park who was admitted as a new club.
 * 2019 - With Division 1 becoming Premier Division, Division 2 becoming Division 1 and Division 3 becoming Division 2, the newly created Division 3 comprised the bottom six teams of Division 3 of 2018 (Waverley Blues, Donvale, Ferntree Gully, South Belgrave, Warrandyte and Chirnside Park), as well as the two Grand Finalists of Division 4 of 2018 (Whitehorse Pioneers and Glen Waverley Hawks).