The Eastern Suburban Churches Football League (ESCFL), formerly the Eastern Suburban Protestant Churches Football Association (ESPCFA) was an Australian rules football competition based in the eastern and southern suburbs of Melbourne.
For much of its history it consisted of clubs associated with various Protestant churches in Melbourne's east and south. At its peak it was one of the largest Australian rules football competitions in Australia, with 5 divisions of 10 clubs fielding seniors and reserves.[1]
History
The ESPCFA was formed on the 19th of March, 1923, when representatives from 6 churches in the Camberwell District met at the Camberwell Methodist School office to discuss the possibility of forming a local competition between the churches.[1] The Association had expanded to a 12-team competition by 1928, which necessitated the formation of a B-grade competition the following year. The C-grade was introduced for the first time in 1933,[2] however it disbanded before the 1936 season following the loss of a number of clubs[3] and would not return until after World War II.[4] D-grade was for the first time in 1947.[1]
The competition contracted back to three grades following the 1954 season after a number of clubs folded due to players moving to other local leagues.[1] The 1950s were marked by the domination of Burwood United and Trinity Presbyterian, who would go on to win 8 A-grade premierships between them from 1952 to 1959.[1] The first reserve grade was introduced in 1959.
1971 saw Donvale United enter the competition for the first time. They would go on to win two A-grade premierships in their first three seasons in 1972 and 1973.[5] St Marys Church of England achieved the league's first A-grade three-peat between 1978 and 1980.[6] This would be bested by Donvale between 1988 and 1991 when they won four premierships in a row before departing for the Eastern Districts Football League.[5]
As the population of the eastern suburbs aged many clubs began to find it hard to field two sides, which led to a number of mergers and foldings during the 1970s.[7][8] The requirement for clubs to be aligned with churches was dropped around the beginning of the 1980s,[1] which allowed for the addition of district clubs to replace the dwindling numbers of church-aligned teams following the 1970s. The ESCFL absorbed a number of clubs from the defunct YCW Football League in 1986,[9] which helped keep the number of clubs reasonably stable. However, the loss of 8 clubs at the end of the 1989 season, many of them decades-long members of the League, saw the E-grade dropped for 1990 and revealed that the competition's days were numbered.[1] A number of prominent clubs left prior to the 1992 season, including the previous years' A-grade premiers Donvale[5] and oldest member club St Marys Church of England,[6] leading to the bottom two divisions being combined.[1] The ESCFL merged with the Southern Football League following the 1992 season, with most clubs merging into the ranks of the new league.[10]
Due to a lack of records on the league, particularly prior to 1970, only known participation years are listed. Additionally, many clubs merged and changed names frequently in the first few decades of competition so some separately-listed entities may actually be continuations of other clubs.[1]
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