Darley Football Club
Encyclopedia
| Fullname | Darley Football Netball Club |
|---|---|
| Emblem | Devils |
| Strip | Black and White Stripes with a black yoke emblazoned with a white DFC |
| Founded | 1919 |
| League | Ballarat Football League Ballarat Football League The Ballarat Football League is an Australian rules football competition that operates in the Ballarat region of Victoria, Australia.The competition formed in 1893 as the Ballarat Football Association and was renamed Ballarat Football League in 1908 and was briefly known as the Ballarat-Wimmera... |
| Ground | Darley Park |
| President | Gerard Harrington |
| Senior Football Coach | Rod MacPherson |
The Darley Football Netball Club, nicknamed the Devils, is an Australian Rules Football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
club playing in the Ballarat Football League
Ballarat Football League
The Ballarat Football League is an Australian rules football competition that operates in the Ballarat region of Victoria, Australia.The competition formed in 1893 as the Ballarat Football Association and was renamed Ballarat Football League in 1908 and was briefly known as the Ballarat-Wimmera...
.
The club is based in the Victorian town of Bacchus Marsh
Bacchus Marsh, Victoria
Bacchus Marsh is an urban centre and suburban locality in Victoria, Australia located approximately west of Melbourne and west of Melton. The population of the urban area is estimated at over 17,000 people, while the central locality is home to 5,566 people...
.
History
Darley Football Netball Club (DFNC) has a proud history of success but is trying to write the next chapter of its story in the Ballarat Football Netball League.DFC was formed in 1919 when it was known as the Magpies
Australian Magpie
The Australian Magpie is a medium-sized black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea. A member of the Artamidae, it is closely related to the butcherbirds...
, playing in the Melton and Bacchus Marsh District Football League where the club was successful winning 9 premierships between 1934 and 1957. The club then progressed into the newly formed Bacchus Marsh Football League, and was successful with premierships in 1959 and a golden era of 4 consecutive premierships from 1969 - 1972.
Darley moved into the Central Highlands Football League
Central Highlands Football League
The Central Highlands Football League is an Australian Rules Football League in the Ballarat region. The league coordinates Senior, Reserve, Under 18 and Under 15 grades.-History:...
and again found success in 1984 before moving into the Riddell District Football League in 1986. Ruckman and local club legend Peter Keep won an amazing four consecutive league Best & Fairest awards whilst in the CHFL. The committee of management at the time saw this as a positive move of the club wanting to test itself and its players at a higher standard.
Upon entering the Riddell League, Darley was forced to change its club emblem from the Magpies as another club in the league (Wallan Football Club
Wallan Football Club
The Wallan Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies, is an Australian Rules football club located 49 km north of Melbourne in the town of Wallan and is affiliated with the Riddell District Football League....
) was already known by the same name. Consequently the club voted to change its emblem to that of a Tasmanian Devil which remains to this day. During the time spent in the Riddell League, our club participated in finals football in every year except 1996, and then only missing out by percentage. Success was again attained with premierships in both 1989 and 1995, with Mick Hewat successful in winning the Bowen Medal as the league best & fairest in 1988, and Lex Miller winning the same award in 1989.
With the depth of football standard in the RDFL on the decline, together with considerable opposition from former second division clubs on the formation of one division, our club voted to make the move to the highly rated Ballarat Football League with Sunbury, Melton and Melton South clubs for the commencement of the 1997 playing season. For a league that was widely regarded as being of a higher standard than anything our club had experienced, Darley has done its football reputation no harm by being part of the September action every season.
However the club still yearns for its first BFL premiership. Darley centreman, Shayne Ward, won the BFL's Henderson Medal for league Best & Fairest in 1999. The club has also produced many fine players who have gone to play at higher levels. These include Collingwood
Collingwood Football Club
The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
Brownlow Medal
Brownlow Medal
The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...
list Marcus Whelan
Marcus Whelan
Marcus Whelan was an Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood Football Club during the 1930s and 1940s....
, Wayne Closter
Wayne Closter
Wayne Closter is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong in the Victorian Football League .Closter played as both a wingman and centreman during his 191 game career, missing out on joining the 200 club due to National Service training commitments and a tour of duty fighting in...
a 200 game player with Geelong Football Club
Geelong Football Club
The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...
, and more recently Heath Scotland
Heath Scotland
Heath Scotland is an Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League.-Background:Scotland grew up and played his junior football for the Darley Football Club, then in the Riddell District Football League, and he played TAC Cup football for the Western Jets. He also featured in the...
drafted to Collingwood in 1999 who is now playing fine football with Carlton
Carlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
.
The annual general meeting held on the 24th November 2009 was an historic occasion. A motion was passed that the club name be changed to the Darley Football Netball Club Inc. This is a great time for the club, the future looks bright for such a proud, family club.
Several senior list players have also had experience at AFL Reserves and VFA/VFL Senior level.
Premierships
- Ballarat Football League
- Nil 2008 Runners up
- Riddell District Football LeagueRiddell District Football LeagueThe Riddell District Football League is an Australian rules football league affiliated with Football Victoria.The league covers towns in the Macedon Ranges Victoria and an area from Rockbank in the south to Broadford in the north....
- 1989, 1995
- Central Highlands Football LeagueCentral Highlands Football LeagueThe Central Highlands Football League is an Australian Rules Football League in the Ballarat region. The league coordinates Senior, Reserve, Under 18 and Under 15 grades.-History:...
- 1983, 1984
- Bacchus Marsh Football League
- 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972
- Melton & Bacchus Marsh Football League
- 1923, 1926, 1934, 1938, 1939, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1955, 1957