About

In 1961, the four clubs which had comprised the Yorke Peninsula Football League/Association since 1945 – Moonta, Kadina, Wallaroo, Paskeville – joined the existing six clubs of the Yorke Valley Football League thus making a ten-team competition.

When the Western Areas Football league disbanded at the end of 1961, Bute and Alford joined the Yorke Valley Football League making it 12 teams. Alford and Point Pearce clubs disbanded at the end of 1962, however, leaving only 10 clubs to contest the ’63 season.

Several Point Pearce players joined the Price club in 1963 and the club enjoyed a finals experience, but by 1965 they were unable to attract new players and went into recess until 1968 when they belatedly joined Round 4. Fielding only an ‘A’ Grade and either a Senior or Junior Colts team, Price struggled on until the end of 1972 before going into permanent recess.

The nine surviving clubs introduced a ‘final five’ finals concept in 1978, but at the end of 1979 Point Pearce applied for re-admission for the first time since 1962. There were concerns over the facilities and state of the Point Pearce oval and the clubs re-admission would almost certainly spell the end of the Port Victoria club, who relied on many Point Pearce players. The application was rejected, but many players left Port Victoria to play elsewhere and at the end of 1985, the ‘Maroons’ disbanded.

The eight teams continued on until the end of 1993, when the struggling Southern Yorke Peninsula Football League reduced to 5 ‘A’ Grade teams and relying heavily on outside players, decided to combine into 2 teams; the Curramulko, Minlaton, and Stansbury Crows clubs forming ‘CMS’, and the ‘Southern Eagles’ comprising Edithburgh, Yorketown and Western United, and joined the Yorke Peninsula Football League.

The competition was again back to 10 teams, and in 1996 it was decided to adopt the name ‘Yorke Peninsula Football League’ which was more appropriate as only one competition remained on the Yorke Peninsula. The merger of the Maitland and Arthurton clubs in the 1997, as the ‘Central Yorke Cougars’ further reduced the competition to nine teams.