The West Gippsland Football League was an Australian rules football competition based in the West Gippsland region of Victoria. It ran every year between 1927 and 2001 except for 1936.
The West Gippsland Football Association was founded in 1927 and was fundamentally a continuation of the Cora Lynn & District Junior Football Association that had formed the previous year. The original 8 clubs included the 6 CL&DJFA clubs (Pakenham, Iona, Cora Lynn, Tynong, Bunyip and Catani) plus Longwarry from the Central Gippsland FL and Koo Wee Rup from the Southern Gippsland FL.
The early years of the WGFA featured a rotating door of clubs. Catani left for the West Gippsland Junior Football Association in 1930. Koo Wee Rup Rovers played one season in 1928 before folding. Iona left for the CGFL after 1927 but returned in 1933. Tynong merged with Nar Nar Goon after the 1928 season, and Cora Lynn merged with Bayles in 1929 before spending time in recess during the 1930s. Koo Wee Rup left for the Beaconsfield Junior Football Association in 1932. Other clubs to spend time in the league included Officer-Toomuc (1932âÂÂ33), Nar Nar Goon (joined in 1931), Warragul Rovers (1934âÂÂ35) and Drouin (1931âÂÂ32).
Before the 1936 season Pakenham left for the Dandenong District Football Association, while Iona and Warragul Rovers both entered recess. This left the WGFA with only 3 clubs and it was decided to disband the Association for the season as a result. The association was re-formed in 1937 as the West Gippsland Football League, with 8 clubs.
The 1938 grand final was notable for being decided with a kick after the siren. Longwarry led Bunyip by 3 points deep into the final quarter, but Bunyip's Reidy took a mark 60 yards out from goal as the siren sounded and kicked the goal to give Bunyip a 3-point win.
The 1939 grand final between Bunyip and Garfield was scheduled to take place at Nar Nar Goon on the 26th of August. A delegation from Garfield travelled to Bunyip to request that the final be delayed by a week as they considered the ground unfit for play due to being too wet. This was refused by Bunyip. Bizarrely, despite subsequent inspections revealing the ground to be in better condition than it had been during the season, Garfield announced that they would not play on the Friday before the game. Bunyip took the field on the 26th against zero opposition players, kicked a goal and were awarded the premiership. The only Garfield player to arrive at Nar Nar Goon had travelled from Melbourne but had not been informed of his team's decision to forfeit. He was, reportedly, baffled by his club's decision to forfeit the grand final.
The WGFL was in recess between 1942 and 1943 due to WWII enlistments. It re-formed in 1944 with 8 clubs and expanded to 12 by 1948 as clubs re-formed after the war. Nyora played two seasons (1948âÂÂ49) before returning to the Bass Valley Football Association, while Rythdale-Cardinia joined the Dandenong District FA in 1949 after finishing last in all but 2 of their 9 WGFL seasons. Drouin briefly played in the Latrobe Valley Football League between 1960 and 1965, while Yarragon joined from the LVFL in 1961.
The WGFL began to shift towards catering for clubs from larger towns and areas closer to Melbourne during the 1970s. Korumburra joined in 1970 from the defunct South Gippsland FL, while Tooradin-Dalmore and Rythdale-Officer-Cardinia joined from the South West Gippsland FL in 1976 and 1979 respectively. The increasing competition from these large clubs saw long-term member clubs from small towns depart the WGFL. Catani joined the Ellinbank & District FL in 1976, Bunyip in 1982, Longwarry in 1988, and Lang Lang and Koo Wee Rup in 1999. Yarragon left for the Mid Gippsland FL in 1977 and Korumburra for the Bass Valley Wonthaggi District FL in 1984. Beaconsfield joined in 1993 and along with Pakenham had become the two strongest clubs in the competition by the new millennium. A VCFL review in 2002 saw them moved to the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League, while the West Gippsland FL would be merged with the Gippsland-Latrobe Valley FL to form the West Gippsland-Latrobe Valley FL before the 2002 season.