Esperance District Football Association

The Esperance District Football Association is an Australian rules football league based in the city of Esperance in Western Australia. It was formed in 1956.^[1]

In 1956 after many years of playing scrimmage matches between Esperance and Grass Patch a decision was made to create a football association. The first decision was two create two new football clubs. Gibson Football Club was created by excess players from the Esperance club and Salmon Gums was from surplus players from Grass Patch.

The first season was dominated by the Southern teams, Gibson won eleven out of twelve games followed by Esperance win nine wins. Grass Patch won 4 while Salmon Gums went winless. Gibson was the first premiers.

In 1957 saw the merger of Salmon Gums and Grass Patch, the new entity was called The Mallee. The association continued with three teams until the inclusion of Newtown in 1958.

Club	Jumper	Nickname	Home Ground	Former League	Est.	Years in EDFA	Premierships
							Total	Years
Esperance		Bulldogs	Esperance Oval, Nulsen	–	1937	1956–	29	1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1987, 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2024
Gibson		Tigers	Gibson Oval, Gibson	–	1956	1956–	18	1956, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2018, 2019, 2023
Newtown Condingup		Lions	Newtown Oval, Bandy Creek and Condingup Oval, Condingup	–	2005	2005–	2	2009, 2022
Ports		Blues	Ports Oval, Esperance	–	1966	1966–	12	1973, 1975, 1978, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2020

Club	Jumper	Nickname	Home Ground	Former League	Est.	Years in EDFA	Premierships		Fate
							Total	Years
Condingup		Cougars	Condingup Oval, Condingup	–	1982	1982–2004	0	-	Merged with Newtown to form Newtown-Condingup in 2005
Grass Patch			Grass Patch Oval, Grass Patch	MFA		1956	0	-	Merged with Salmon Gums to form The Mallee in 1957
Newtown		Demons	Newtown Oval, Bandy Creek	–	1958	1958–2004	7	1960, 1963, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1994, 1995	Merged with Condingup to form Newtown-Condingup in 2005
Norseman		Vikings	Norseman Oval, Norseman	GFL	1971	1983–1995	1	1983	Folded after 1995 season
Munglinup		Demons	Munglinup Oval, Munglinup	RDFA	1957	1983–1987	0	-	Returned to Ravensthorpe & Districts FA in 1988
Salmon Gums			Grass Patch Oval, Grass Patch	–	1956	1956	0	-	Merged with Grass Patch to form The Mallee in 1957
The Mallee			Grass Patch Oval, Grass Patch	–	1957	1957–1965	0	-	Folded after 1965 season

• A Way of Life – The Story of country football in Western Australia – Alan East