AFL Darling Downs

AFL Darling Downs

Current season, competition or edition: 2024
Formerly	Darling Downs Australian Football League
Sport	Australian rules football
Founded	1971; 53 years ago (1971)
No. of teams	7
Most recent champion(s)	Coolaroo (2024)
Most titles	University Cougars (13)
Promotion to	(none)
Relegation to	(none)
Official website	aflq.com.au/darlingdowns

AFL Darling Downs (also known as AFLDD) coordinates Australian rules football competitions in the Darling Downs and South Burnett regions of Queensland including its major city of Toowoomba where there are four of the senior clubs are based. The competition was formed as the Darling Downs Australian Football League in 1971. AFL Darling Downs has senior men's, women's as well as multiple grades of junior competition.

The senior representative team is known as the Demons and wear guernseys modelled on the Melbourne Demons guernseys.

The Warwick Football Club was formed in 1873 in Warwick to play under Australian rules, however lacking any nearby competitors for 3 years it played mostly intra-club scratch matches until Brisbane club Civil Service travelled to Toowoomba to play against a newly formed Toowoomba Football Club in 1876.^[1] AFL Queensland cites the Toowoomba Football Club as forming in 1873, however few sources back this up. As the game spread further west of the Great Divide^[2] clubs were split on whether to adopt rugby or Australian rules. Nevertheless, it is noted that clubs from the region in this era were able to hold their own against those from Brisbane.^[3]

A Toowoomba Football Association formed in 1876^{[citation needed]} teams were 16-a-side however the rules used were not fully documented and some suggest it could have been an early rugby association which would be contemporary with the code being introduced to Brisbane. The Light Infantry Corps formed to play against the Light Infantry Football Club. The Association disappeared a couple of years later. As Downs clubs lacked nearby opponents rugby was more suited to facilitating matches against New South Wales clubs, as a result local competition went into recess. An exception was an 1878 match between Old-Victorians and All Comers played in front of a large crowd.^[4] The Queensland Football Association formed in 1880 and affiliated with the Victorian Football Association, however clubs outside of Brisbane were becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of representation for the whole colony. In 1881 matches were once again played in Toowoomba when the Toowoomba Grammar took up the sport.^[5] By 1882, a Toowoomba Association (affiliated with the QFA) had re-formed including both clubs and schools in the region.^[6] In 1883, a team of 12 travelled from Excelsior FC (Brisbane), noting a revival of the code in the region.^[7] The inclusion of the Allora Football Club at Allora in 1883 provided more regular interaction between the clubs.^[8] However the code suffered a major blow when, after the Brisbane private school association in 1887 voted to switch to rugby including Toowoomba Grammar. A senior Toowoomba Rugby Football Club formed in 1887and this was the last mention of the Toowoomba Football Club or any other Downs clubs playing Australian rules. After the collapse of the QFA in 1890 the Toowoomba Rugby Association and Toowoomba British Football Association were able to grow unopposed.

The Darling Downs Australian Football League was first played as an official organised competition in 1971. Signals, Coolaroo and Aviation were the three foundation clubs and were joined by a fourth club, South Toowoomba in 1972.

The League has had many changes to the number of clubs participating since then, with eight A Grade Senior Clubs currently competing, and now known as AFL Darling Downs. It is a regional league in Queensland. There are four Senior clubs based in Toowoomba, and the other senior clubs come from Dalby, Goondiwindi, and Warwick. New teams from Kingaroy, and Chinchilla participated in the 2013 revamped competition. Chinchilla folded in 2018.

University Cougars AFC is the most successful club with 13 premierships, 4 under the banner of "Institute Eagles" and 5 under the moniker of "University Eagles". Coolaroo Roos has 9 premierships and Goondiwindi Hawks has 8. South Toowoomba Bombers (formerly Longhorns) and Toowoomba Tigers (formerly Pinkies) have 6 premiership flags each.^[9]

There have been many different towns in the Darling Downs of Queensland fielding Australian Rules Football teams over the forty plus years of Senior Competition. Coolaroo Roos have played every season from the inaugural year, and Toowoomba Tigers have played the second most seasons. Below is a full list of Current and Former Clubs in the region.

45km
30miles

Warwick Redbacks

University Cougars

Toowoomba

South Toowoomba

South Burnett Saints

Goondiwindi

Dalby Swans

Coolaroo

  

Locations of the teams home grounds

Club	Colours	Nickname	Home Ground	Founded	Years in League	Senior Premierships
						Total	Years
Coolaroo		Roos	Rockville Park, Wilsonton Heights	1971	1971-	12	1975, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2022, 2023, 2024
Goondiwindi		Hawks	Riddles Oval, Goondiwindi	1978	1980-	8	1980, 1983, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2019
South Burnett		Saints	Lyle Vidler Oval, Kingaroy	2013	2013-	0	-
South Toowoomba [note 1]		Bombers [note 2]	Heritage Oval, Southern Cross Reserve, Harlaxton	1971	1972-	8	1972, 1976, 1981, 1982, 1984, 2008, 2020, 2021
Toowoomba		Tigers [note 3]	Rockville Park, Wilsonton Heights	1973	1974	6	1977, 1979, 1988, 2010, 2011, 2012
University [note 4]		Cougars [note 5]	Baker St Oval, Darling Heights	1976	1976-	13	1978, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2006, 2007, 2016, 2017, 2018
Warwick		Redbacks	Roddies Oval, Warwick	1996	1999-	1	2014

Notes

Club	Colours	Nickname	Home Ground	Founded	Years in League
Downlands College		Gryphons	Downlands College	2018	2018-

Club	Colours	Nickname	Home Ground	Est.	Years in League	Premierships		Fate
						Total	Years
Aviation					1971-1977	2	1973, 1974	Folded
Chinchilla		Suns	Chinchilla Recreation Grounds, Chinchilla	2013	2013-2019	0	-	Folded
Combined Services					1973	0	-	Folded
Coolaroo Roos 2		Roos	Rockville Park, Wilsonton Heights	1971	2002	0	-	Folded
Dalby		Swans	Dalby AFL Oval, Dalby	1980	1980-2022	0	-	In recess
Goondiwindi-Moonie		Hawks	Riddles Oval, Goondiwindi	1987	1987	0	-	Became Goondiwindi
Goondiwindi 2		Hawks	Riddles Oval, Goondiwindi	1978	2000	0	-	Folded
Highfields		Lions	Kratzke Road Recreation Reserve, Highfields	2003	2010-2019	0	-	In recess
Lockyer-Warwick					1980	0	-	Became Lockyer Valley
Lockyer Valley Demons		Demons (formerly Magies)	Cahill Park, Gatton	1981	1981-2017	2	1985, 1993	Folded
Moonie					1985-1986	0	-	Merged with Goondiwindi
QAC Gatton					1974, 1977	0	-	Folded
Signals					1971-1972	1	1971	Folded

NOTE: Some clubs listed above played in Reserve Grade (Division 2) only for many seasons, but were not part of the A Grade competition and those years are not included in the above table.

^[10]

GOALS:
Signals – B.Fletcher 2, W. Sampson, T. Osborne, M. Darby.
Coolaroo Roos – A. Jericho 2, I. Shaw, J. Oska.
BEST:
Signals – T. Osborne, D. Akesson, J. Davis, J. Walsh, K. Zeller.
Coolaroo Roos – R. Smith, J. Hagerstrom, J. Smith, A. Jericho, C. Wells.^[12]

Below is a summary of AFL Darling Downs A Grade Ladders at the end of the home and away fixtures, and the Finals Results for the major rounds:

The Reserve Grade competition ran from 1975 to 1999, and 2001, before player numbers for some clubs became a problem and therefore the "Adrian Jericho Trophy" had not been contested for a full decade.

In 2012, the Reserves competition returned with a three team competition involving University, Coolaroo, and Souths. It was the first time the competition has been staged since Kingaroy defeated Coolaroo in the 2001 Grand Final.^[13]

South Toowoomba Longhorns are the most successful team in Reserve Grade with 10 Premierships from 14 Grand Finals. University (Institute) are the next best with 8 flags from 11 Grand Finals.

The Reserve Grade or a Division 2 Competition will resume as soon as the competition can gain enough interest once again.

The League has the potential to expand to 12 Senior Clubs if these areas can field enough players, and with Junior competitions also expanding. In recent seasons, the League has fielded up to 11 sides in Division One already.

League president Andrew Foley said splitting the 11-team competition into two divisions for 2014, including the three current reserve grade sides, would help the newer clubs to be more competitive. The senior competition grew last season with the formation of Chinchilla and South Burnett but those clubs struggled on-field .^[14] First division has Coolaroo, Goondiwidi, Highfields, Lockyer Valley, South Toowoomba, Toowoomba, university and Warwick. Second division has Chinchilla, Dalby, South Burnett as well as clubs seconds from Coolaroo, Highfields, South Toowoomba, university and Warwick.

• Australian Rules football in Queensland