Kingborough Football Association
| Most recent season or competition: 1966 | |
| Sport | Australian rules football |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1922 |
| First season | 1922 |
| Folded | 1967 |
| No. of teams | 6 (1967), 8 (historical) |
| Country | Australia |
Last champion | Kingston (1966) |
| Most titles | Kingston (10) |
| Related competitions | Huon FA |
The Kingborough Football Association was an Australian rules football competition based in the Kingborough region of southern Tasmania.
History
The KFA began as the Channel Football Association, first formed in 1922 with Gordon, Kettering, Woodbridge and Middleton playing in the inaugural season.[1] Records of the early years of the Association are somewhat incomplete and it isn't always clear which clubs competed in which years between 1923 and 1926. Some premierships from this era are also unknown. in 1926 Woodbridge won the premiership after Middleton forfeited the deciding match.[2] Records of the competition become more concrete starting with the 1927 season, in which Kettering, Margate, Woodbridge and Sandfly all competed.[3]
The Kingborough Football Association name was adopted in 1929 with the entry of Kingston and the return of Middleton.[4] Middleton re-named itself as South Channel in July but withdrew before the completion of the season.[5] Kettering left before the 1931 season and the competition seems to have lapsed in 1932, before returning the next season.[6] Sandfly were the dominant club of the 1930s, winning four premierships including three in a row from 1937 to 1939. They also went undefeated for two seasons during this period.[7] Kingston left the Association during the 1938 season after a protest registered against them by Sandfly for playing an ineligible player was upheld.[8] They were replaced by Kettering in the following season. Owing to a lack of players due to WWII enlistments, the four KFA clubs decided to merge and play in the Huon Football Association as Kingborough for the 1940 season.
The KFA was re-formed in 1945 with Kingston returning and Snug joining from the Channel Junior Football Association.[9] Kingston, Margate and Snug were the dominant clubs of the next 15 years, with two of these three clubs competing in every grand final from 1950 until 1963. Margate won four premierships in a row between 1949 and 1952. Kettering finally broke the three-club dominance with a win over Kingston in the 1964 grand final. Sandfly briefly played in the AYC competition from 1962 to 1963, before returning to the KFA as Longley in 1964.
The end of the KFA came abruptly. Just before the 1967 season opened, many KFA clubs were finding it difficult to fill out 3 football sides. On February 7th, enormous bushfires swept through large swathes of southern Tasmania, devastating the Kingborough region. It became clear that it would be impossible for the clubs to form for the season, and the decision was made for Kettering, Margate, Woodbridge and Snug to merge and play in the Huon Association instead.[10] Kingston absorbed Longley and also moved to the HFA.[11] Longley donated its St Kilda-style jumpers to the newly-formed Channel club, which would become known as the Saints as a result.
Clubs
Final
| Club | Colours | Nickname | Home Ground | Former League | Est. | Years in KFA |
KFA Senior Premierships | Fate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Years | ||||||||
| Kettering |
(1920s)  |
Kettering Oval, Kettering | – | 1901 | 1922, 1924-1925, 1929-1930, 1939-1966 | 2 | 1947, 1964 | In recess/not associated with a league between 1932-38. Merged with Margate, Snug and Woodbridge to form Channel in Huon FA in 1967 | |
| Kingston |  |
Tigers | Kingston Beach Sports Ground, Kingston Beach | QFA | 1903 | 1929-1931, 1933-1938, 1945-1966 | 10 | 1930, 1933, 1936, 1948, 1953, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1965, 1966 | Played in Queenborough FA in 1939. Moved to Huon FA in 1967 |
| Longley (Sandfly 1924-61) |   |
Saints | Sandfly Football Ground, Sandfly | AYC | 1909 | 1924, 1927-1931, 1933-1961, 1964-1966 | 7 | 1924, 1934, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1945, 1946 | Played in AYC between 1962-63. Absorbed by Kingston after 1966 season |
| Margate | .svg.png)  |
Waratahs | Margate Memorial Oval, Margate | – | 1910 | 1924, 1927-1931, 1933-1966 | 9 | 1935, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1959, 1962, 1963 | Merged with Kettering, Snug and Woodbridge to form Channel in Huon FA in 1967 |
| Snug |  |
Magpies | Snug Football Ground, Snug | CJFA | 1905 | 1945-1966 | 3 | 1954, 1956, 1957 | Merged with Kettering, Margate and Woodbridge to form Channel in Huon FA in 1967 |
| Woodbridge |  |
Blue and Golds | Woodbridge Football Ground, Woodbridge | – | 1910 | 1922-1931, 1933-1966 | 3 | 1926, 1929, 1931 | Merged with Kettering, Margate and Snug to form Channel in Huon FA in 1967 |
Former
| Club | Colours | Nickname | Home Ground | Former League | Est. | Years in KFA |
KFA Senior Premierships | Fate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Years | ||||||||
| Gordon | Gordon Football Ground, Gordon | – | 1920 | 1922 | 0 | - | Unaffiliated in 1923, did not re-form after 1923 season | ||
| South Channel (Middleton 1922-29) | Middleton Football Ground, Middleton | – | 1920 | 1922, 1926, 1929 | 0 | - | Withdrew during 1929 season, folded in early 1930. | ||
Premierships
| Year | Premier | Score | Runners-up | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1922 | ||||
| 1923 | ||||
| 1924 | Sandfly | Woodbridge | ||
| 1925 | ||||
| 1926 | Woodbridge | |||
| 1927 | ||||
| 1928 | ||||
| 1929 | Woodbridge | 8.11 (57) - 5.7 (37) | Kingston | |
| 1930 | Kingston | 7.12 (54) - 4.16 (40) | Woodbridge | |
| 1931 | Woodbridge | 9.10 (64) - 6.16 (52) | Margate | |
| 1932 | KFA in recess | |||
| 1933 | Kingston | 9.13 (67) - 7.13 (55) | Sandfly | |
| 1934 | Sandfly | 11.9 (75) - 4.10 (34) | Woodbridge | |
| 1935 | Margate | 7.8 (50) - 7.7 (49) | Woodbridge | |
| 1936 | Kingston | 14.7 (91) - 7.14 (56) | Woodbridge | |
| 1937 | Sandfly | 10.13 (73) - 8.14 (62) | Margate | |
| 1938 | Sandfly | |||
| 1939 | Sandfly | 7.18 (60) - 5.12 (42) | Margate | |
| 1940-44 | KFA in recess | |||
| 1945 | Sandfly | Kettering | ||
| 1946 | Sandfly | 13.14 (92) - 6.14 (50) | Margate | |
| 1947 | Kettering | Woodbridge | ||
| 1948 | Kingston | 13.11 (89) - 7.12 (54) | Margate | |
| 1949 | Margate | 8.9 (57) - 5.10 (40) | Woodbridge | |
| 1950 | Margate | 13.13 (91) - 11.10 (76) | Kingston | |
| 1951 | Margate | 11.13 (79) - 12.6 (78) | Snug | |
| 1952 | Margate | 14.17 (101) - 2.7 (19) | Kingston | |
| 1953 | Kingston | 8.17 (65) - 5.11 (41) | Margate | |
| 1954 | Snug | 9.12 (66) - 9.9 (63) | Margate | |
| 1955 | Margate | 21.14 (140) - 16.5 (101) | Kingston | |
| 1956 | Snug | 14.9 (93) - 9.13 (67) | Margate | |
| 1957 | Snug | 14.7 (91) - 11.11 (77) | Kingston | |
| 1958 | Kingston | 7.14 (56) - 7.10 (52) | Snug | |
| 1959 | Margate | 9.23 (77) - 6.11 (47) | Snug | |
| 1960 | Kingston | 15.19 (109) - 7.11 (53) | Snug | |
| 1961 | Kingston | 9.10 (64) - 5.11 (41) | Snug | |
| 1962 | Margate | 16.17 (113) - 8.12 (60) | Kingston | |
| 1963 | Margate | 11.15 (81) - 10.14 (74) | Margate | |
| 1964 | Kettering | 13.15 (93) - 10.15 (75) | Kingston | |
| 1965 | Kingston | 14.10 (94) - 5.6 (36) | Kettering | |
| 1966 | Kingston | 24.22 (160) - 6.4 (40) | Kettering | |
References
- ↑ "WILLIAMSTOWN FOOTBALLERS AT WOODBRIDGE". The Mercury. 21 April 1922. p. 8. Retrieved 7 April 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "CHANNEL JOTTINS". Huon Times. 20 August 1926. p. 2. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Channel Football Association". Huon Times. 13 May 1927. p. 2. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "KINGBOROUGH ASSOCIATION". Huon Times. 26 July 1929. p. 6. Retrieved 7 April 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "SANDFLY". Huon Times. 20 August 1929. p. 3. Retrieved 7 April 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "KINGBOROUGH ASSOCIATION". The Mercury. 24 April 1933. p. 10. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "NEWS OF COUNTRY DISTRICTS". The Mercury. 17 September 1938. p. 23. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "KINGSTON DECISION". The Mercury. 2 August 1938. p. 12. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Kettering Minor Premiers". The Mercury. 22 August 1945. p. 19. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Glory days of Tasmanian football club born from disaster long gone". ABC News. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
- ↑ "History - Tigers FC". kingboroughtigers.com.au. Retrieved 7 May 2026.