Wimmera Football League

The Wimmera Football League is a major Australian rules country league based in Western Victoria, with clubs located in towns in the Wimmera region: the regional centres along the Western Highway from Ararat to Nhill as well as Minyip-Murtoa and Warracknabeal.

History
A Wimmera Football Association was first formed in 1902, with teams from Ararat, Horsham and Stawell as the founding clubs. In 1921 the Wimmera District Football League was formed. The seven original clubs were Ararat, Horsham, Minyip, Murtoa, Rupanyup, Stawell and Warracknabael. Dimboola joined in 1923 and Nhill in 1925; Ararat spent six years in the Ballarat Football League from 1924 to 1929.

In 1932, during the height of the Great Depression, the small town clubs were suffering from financial pressures, and tried to get the league to change the way the gate taking were distributed to the clubs. The larger town clubs, knowing that they would be disadvantaged, blocked the motion. Subsequently, Nhill and Dimboola both went into recess while Minyip and Murtoa replaced their junior sides in the Dunmunkle FL.

The WDFL approached the Ballarat Football League to merge hoping that greater interest and better football would cause larger gate takings, so in 1934 the Wimmera FL and the Ballarat FL merged to form the Ballarat Wimmera FL. After three years, in which the Wimmera clubs faced with greater costs and were constantly losing on the field, feelers were put out to the smaller clubs, now playing in the Mid Wimmera FL. A peace deal was settled in September 1936 and the Wimmera Football League was reformed in 1937 as a nine team competition.

After WWII Rupanyup decided to join and that made it a ten team competition. As a ten team competition the league remain stable until Rupanyip decided the level of football was too hard for them and they opted to drop to the local district competition in 1981. The numbers returned to ten when local district club Imperials-Wonwondah joined in 1983. After fifty fruitless years Jeparit decided to try their luck in the South Mallee FL from 1990. St Michaels from the district competition joined in 1993. Founding clubs Minyip and Murtoa decided to merge in 1995.

2000 saw local Horsham clubs change their names, St Michaels became Horsham Saints and Imperials-Wonwondah became the Horsham Diggers.

Horsham Diggers later merged with Natimuk FNC under the banner Natimuk United at the start of 2014; following an exodus of players in the 2008 pre-season, the Diggers had struggled on and off-field, and had won three matches in the previous four seasons. The merged club plays home games at Natimuk and City Oval.

Southern Mallee transferred from the Hosham District League in 2018 after dominating the competition.

Following the 2023 season Southern Mallee merged with Jeparit Rainbow from the Horsham District Football Netball League to form the Southern Mallee Thunder.

List of premiers
Wimmera District FL

Wimmera Football League Wimmera Patriotic Football League Wimmera Football League
 * 1920	Ararat
 * 1921	Warracknabeal
 * 1922	Minyip
 * 1923	Warracknabeal
 * 1924	Horsham
 * 1925	Stawell
 * 1926	Stawell
 * 1927	Warracknabeal
 * 1928	Dimboola
 * 1929	Dimboola
 * 1930	Stawell
 * 1931	Stawell
 * 1932	Horsham
 * 1933	Stawell
 * 1937	Dimboola
 * 1938	Horsham
 * 1939	Stawell
 * 1940	Stawell
 * 1941-1944 No play WWII
 * 1945	Warracknabeal
 * 1946	Dimboola


 * 1947	Warracknabeal
 * 1948	Stawell
 * 1949	Ararat
 * 1950	Stawell
 * 1951	Ararat
 * 1952	Minyip
 * 1953	Warracknabeal
 * 1954	Minyip
 * 1955	Ararat
 * 1956	Ararat
 * 1957	Ararat
 * 1958	Ararat
 * 1959	Dimboola
 * 1960	Horsham
 * 1961	Rupanyup
 * 1962	Horsham
 * 1963	Rupanyup
 * 1964	Nhill
 * 1965	Nhill
 * 1966	Warracknabeal
 * 1967	Horsham
 * 1968	Horsham
 * 1969	Nhill
 * 1970	Horsham


 * 1971	Ararat
 * 1972	Horsham
 * 1973	Rupanyup
 * 1974	Horsham
 * 1975	Ararat
 * 1976	Horsham
 * 1977	Warracknabeal
 * 1978	Stawell
 * 1979	Horsham
 * 1980	Murtoa
 * 1981	Nhill
 * 1982	Horsham
 * 1983	Horsham
 * 1984	Minyip
 * 1985	Dimboola
 * 1986	Ararat
 * 1987	Stawell
 * 1988	United
 * 1989	Horsham
 * 1990	Horsham
 * 1991	Minyip
 * 1992	Minyip
 * 1993	Minyip
 * 1994	Warracknabeal


 * 1995	Stawell
 * 1996	Minyip-Murtoa
 * 1997	Minyip-Murtoa
 * 1998	Minyip-Murtoa
 * 1999	Ararat
 * 2000	Stawell
 * 2001	Ararat
 * 2002	Warrack Eagles
 * 2003	Horsham
 * 2004	Horsham
 * 2005	Horsham
 * 2006	Horsham
 * 2007	Horsham
 * 2008	Horsham
 * 2009	Horsham
 * 2010	Horsham
 * 2011	Horsham
 * 2012	Horsham
 * 2013	Dimboola
 * 2014	Horsham
 * 2015	Horsham Saints
 * 2016	Horsham Saints
 * 2017	Horsham
 * 2018	Horsham
 * 2019	Minyip Murtoa
 * 2020 League in recess due to COVID-19 pandemic
 * 2022	Minyip Murtoa
 * 2023	Ararat

VFL/AFL players
Ararat


 * Scott Turner – Richmond
 * David Astbury – Richmond
 * Lauchlan Dalgleish – Essendon
 * Tom Williamson – Carlton

Dimboola Horsham Horsham Saints
 * Larry Watson – ,
 * Ernest Mucklow – Port Adelaide
 * Jack Baggott – Richmond
 * Tim Watson –
 * Merv Neagle – ,
 * Brett Goodes – Western Bulldogs
 * Doug Wade – ,
 * Shane Heard –
 * Craig Sholl –
 * Adrian Hickmott –, Carlton
 * Brad Sholl – ,
 * Adam Goodes –
 * Luke Brennan – ,
 * Seb Ross –
 * Jake Lloyd –
 * Ben Hobbs –


 * Darcy Tucker – Fremantle,
 * Jarrod Berry – Brisbane
 * Tom Berry – Brisbane, Gold Coast

Horsham United


 * Brad Cassidy – Fremantle,, Collingwood

Minyip


 * Roy Cazaly – ,
 * Ross Funcke – Richmond,
 * Stuart Cameron – ,

Murtoa


 * Rowley Fischer –
 * Alan Killigrew –
 * Ron McDonald – Richmond
 * Hugh Delahunty–
 * Mike Delahunty – Collingwood

Minyip-Murtoa


 * Clinton Young –

Nhill Rupanyap
 * Peter Patterson – Collingwood
 * David Flood –
 * Dean Wallis –
 * Jason McCartney – Collingwood, ,


 * John Sudholz – South Melbourne
 * Trevor Tyler –
 * Greg Bell –

Stawell Warracknabeal/Warrack Eagles
 * Michael Pickering –
 * Allan Hird Jr. –
 * Liam Pickering – ,
 * Craig Ellis –, Western Bulldogs,
 * Brent Tuckey– Collingwood, West Coast
 * Matt Austin – Brisbane


 * Russell Crow –
 * Andy Wilson –
 * Graeme Schultz –


 * Jeremy Clayton –
 * Matt Rosa – West Coast, Gold Coast


 * Kyle Cheney –, ,

Publication
Wheatbelt Warriors. A Tribute To Wimmera Football League.