Australian Football

South Melbourne Districts

South Melbourne Districts Football Club has enjoyed a long and illustrious history, highlighted by an alleged total of eleven senior grade premierships in a variety of leagues ("alleged" because precise records are difficult to uncover), the most recent of which was won in 2007 in the VAFA’s D2 Section, the Bloods overcoming Aquinas Old Collegians in the grand final by 52 points, 18.16 (124) to 10.12 (72).

For much of its history the club enjoyed a close association with the South Melbourne VFL team. This was particularly so during the difficult economic times of the late 1920s and 1930s, when quite a number of South Melbourne seconds and thirds players would supplement their incomes by playing for the Districts side. Small wonder that the 1930s proved to be far and away the most successful decade in South Melbourne Districts’ history, spawning senior grade flags in 1930, 1933, 1937 and 1939. Even the likes of Bob Pratt and Laurie Nash were known to give the Districts team the benefit of their services on occasion, while the iconic Roy Cazaly served as club coach for a time during world war one.

More recently, South Melbourne Districts has enjoyed success in the Victorian Amateur Football Association, winning a G Section premiership in 2000 (its first season) and a D3 Grade premiership in 2006, in addition to the D2 flag referred to above.

Still more recently the Bloods have endured a somewhat tougher time and in 2017 they slumped to a winless wooden spoon in Division Three which brought with it relegation to Division Four. The 2018 season brought a modicum of improvement as the side qualified for the finals and ultimately finished fourth.