Essendon District Football League

The Essendon District Football League (EDFL) is a semi-professional Australian rules football league competition based in Essendon, Victoria, consisting of teams based in the north-west suburbs of Melbourne. Founded in 1930, the men's competition consists of three leagues: Premier Division, Division 1 and Division 2, with 10 clubs in the Premier Division, 11 clubs in Division 1 and 9 clubs in Division 2. Ahead of the 2025 competition, two teams will be relegated from Division 1 to Division 2 to ensure that there are 10 teams across each of the top three divisions.

Promotion and relegation between these divisions occurs, with the lowest-placed clubs in the Premier Division and Division 1 being relegated at the end of each season replaced in their respective divisions by the winners of Division 1 and Division 2 premierships respectively Each men's team also fields a reserves side and an under-18 side that play fixtures mirroring that of the senior side.

Since 2017, the League has also run a competition for women's Australian rules football. In its inaugural year, this was a joint competition featuring teams from the EDFL as well as the Western Region Football League (WRFL). In 2018, 13 teams competed in a single division season, expanding to 19 teams and two divisions in 2019.

The league consists of clubs spanning as far north as Sunbury (East Sunbury Football Club), as far south-east as Moonee Ponds (Moonee Valley), and as far west as Hillside (Hillside Football Club). The furthest distance between two clubs is Moonee Valley Football Club and Sunbury Kangaroos totalling a travel distance of 35.2 km.

A number of junior players from the EDFL play for Calder Cannons in the Coates Talent League due to the geography of being based at Highgate Recreation Reserve, Craigieburn and consequently receiving the majority of players from teams in the Northern and North-West Suburbs. A smaller number of players represent Western Jets, being based at Burbank Oval, Williamstown which receive a number of players from clubs based in the western suburbs of Melbourne.

Clubs
The league consists of clubs spanning as far north as Sunbury (Rupertswood), as far south as Ascot Vale (Ascot Vale) or Moonee Ponds (Moonee Valley) at a senior level, as far east as Coburg (Coburg) or Fawkner (Northern Saints), and as far west as Hillside (Hillside Football Club). The furthest distance between two clubs is Moonee Valley Football Club and Sunbury Kangaroos totalling a travel distance of 35.2 km.

The league borders the RDFNL to the north and north-west, WFNL to the south and west, and the NFNL to the east and north-east. A number of clubs have transferred to and from these various leagues throughout their respective existences.

The league recruits a number of current players listed on VFL lists from the Northern and Western Suburbs of Melbourne, such as Coburg, Essendon, Werribee, and Williamstown

Division 2

 * Notes
 * ^ denotes that the club's most recent senior premiership was in Division 1 or the B Grade.
 * + denotes that the club's most recent senior premiership was in Division 2 or the C Grade.
 * 1 Coburg Districts first entered the competition in 1981, before departing after the conclusion of the 1987 EDFL season. The club re-entered the competition from the 2013 EDFL season onwards.
 * 2 Keilor Park did not field a side in the 2018 EDFL season.
 * 3 East Sunbury did not field a side in the 2022 EDFL season.

Active AFL/AFLW Players

 * Notes
 * (R) denotes that the player was selected in the rookie draft.
 * (F-S) denotes that the player was selected as a father-son pick.
 * (M-S) denotes that the player was selected in the mid-season draft.
 * 1 Playing statistics correct as of the end of the 2023 season.

Former clubs

 * Notes
 * North Coburg competed as St Olivers between 1978 and 1989.
 * † denotes that the club did not participate between 1942 and 1945 due to World War II.


 * Aside from the clubs mentioned in the table above, the EDFL 75th Anniversary History Book also listed the following clubs as having been affiliated with the EDFL between 1930 to 2005


 * 6th Melbourne Scouts
 * Ascot Rovers/Maribyrnong
 * Ascot Vale West
 * Catholic Boys Club
 * East Essendon
 * Essendon Tullamarine (now known as )
 * Ford Company
 * Keilor Regal Sports
 * Maribyrnong
 * Maribyrnong Regal Sport
 * Maribyrnong Youth Club
 * Moonee Ponds YCW
 * Moonee Valley Juniors
 * Northcote Excelsior
 * Parkville
 * St. Bernards
 * St. Bernards Juniors
 * Tullamarine-Airport West
 * Tullamarine Ascot Presbyterians (now known as )
 * West Brunswick Laurels
 * West Essendon
 * West Essendon Youth Centre
 * West Coburg Juniors (listed as different club to )
 * West Coburg Seniors (listed as different club to )

Premiers

 * Notes
 * 1 Merger occurred between Essedon Baptist St Johns and Ascot Vale Presbyterians in 1973 to form Tullamarine Ascot Presbyterians, then later Essendon Tullamarine and finally shortened to Tullamarine Football Club in 1981.
 * 2 Woodland Football Club folded at the end of the 1934 Season.
 * 3 La Mascotte played until the EDFL suspended competition due to WW2 in 1942 and didn't reform when the EDFL resumed in 1946.
 * 4 Moonee Imperials merged with Riverside Stars at conclusion of 1979 season to form Maribyrnong Park.
 * 5 Later renamed to Coburg Districts Football Club in 1981 to greater recognise the local community.
 * 6 Old Essendon Gramarians joined the EDFL in 1968 for just two seasons until joining the VAFA (Victorian Amateur Football Association) for the 1970 and 1971 seasons before returning to the EDFL between 1972 and 1983, then departing to play in the Footscray District Football League, now the Western Region Football League in 1983.
 * 7 Renamed from Brunswick to Brunswick City in 1955, Folded at the end of the 1986 season
 * 8 Left the EDFL to join the Footscray District Football League, now the Western Region Football League at the conclusion of the 1987 season, folded in 1997. Later reformed in 2017, only participating in under-age football.

History
The EDFL was first formed in 1930 at the instigation of the Essendon Football Club to increase the pool of local talent available for recruitment. Consequently, the league has consistently had positive ties with Essendon Football Club which can also be seen with the use of former Essendon home ground Essendon Football Ground, now known as Windy Hill as the headquarters of the EDFL since 1958 and hosting training for umpires of the league and occasional use of the ground for home and away season matches as well as being a commonly featuring ground for men's grand finals.

The first season in 1930 consisted of eight clubs, Ascot Vale, Flemington and Kensington, St John's, Kensington Methodist, Essendon High School Old Boys, Northern Juniors, West Essendon and Woodlands. None of the original foundation clubs exist in their current state as a result of participating in mergers or folding since. The completion of the season saw Les Rennie recruited by Essendon, the first successful recruitment of a player from the EDFL, he went on to play for Essendon throughout the 1931 VFL season. Later, in 1933 the great Dick Reynolds, one of just four players to have won three Brownlow Medals was recruited from Woodlands in the EDFL and began his successful 320 game career with Essendon.

In 1936, the first juniors competition was launched which contained a solitary under 16s division, once more at the instigation of the Essendon Football Club however this was abandoned and resumed at a later date in 1948 with the introduction of under-17s. By 1949, 32 teams took part in 3 grades of junior age football. 1962 saw the induction of under-15s to the EDFL and the competition was won by Essendon Doutta Stars, however as a result of fielding an overage player forfeited all their points for the season. In 1967, the inaugural A grade under-13s competition was launched which was a resounding success and resulted in demand for a B grade competition after just one year in 1968.

As a result of World War II the competition went into recess in 1941 with many players fighting in the war, once the war had ended two clubs (La Mascotte and Fawkner District) chose not to resume participation in the competition, despite this, After four years of recess a successful resumption of the leagues activities in this year. A 10 team competition on resumption resumed the success of the pre War Competition.

1949 saw the first split of the teams into two divisions (A grade and B grade) with Essendon Doutta Stars taking out the first ever undefeated season and Glenroy winning the inaugural B grade competition. Later in 1961, C grade was introduced to help facilitate the introduction of more clubs into the EDFL and was won by Doutta Stars, believed to be a reserve team for Essendon Doutta Stars. However, this competition did not last for long before going into recess after the 1982 season and only returning after the 30-year hiatus in 2012.

In 1961, The Umpires Association (EDFLUA) was inaugurated to help with the recruitment of umpires to officiate games. Despite this the league was consistently short of umpires. Notably in 1990, the season commenced with a desperate shortage of umpires. The problem was solved in the short term by former umpires who came out of retirement to assist the league.

in 1989, then prime minister of Australia Bob Hawke attended the A-grade seniors grand final.

History
In partnership with the Western Region Football League (WRFL), in 2016 the two leagues established the Western Region & Essendon District Women's Football League, an eleven-team open-age competition for women. Five EDFL clubs fielded teams in the competition –, , , and  – with  prevailing against WRFL side Manor Lakes in the grand final.

In 2018, the EDFL established its own Women's competition, consisting of 13 teams. Of those 13 teams, two came from outside of the League – the Ballarat Football League-side ; and, at the time competing in the Riddell District Football League. , despite competing in the 2017 joint competition, did not field a side, while and  fielded a joint team under the Avondale Heights–Taylors Lakes moniker.

In 2019, the competition expanded to 19 teams and was split into two divisions – a 10-club Premier Division and a nine-club Division 1. became the first team to field two sides, one in each division.

Juniors matches
The juniors consist of: Under 8s, Under 10s, Under 14s, Under 16s and Under 18.5s. There are also youth girls teams in the junior divisions. There are eight junior divisions at this level and each team listed in the senior section has at least one junior team in divisions 1, 2 or 3 for each age group, however many clubs have more in divisions 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.