North Bendigo Football Club


The North Bendigo Football Club is an Australian rules football club that competes in the Heathcote District Football League.
The club, known as the North Bendigo Bulldogs, is based in North Bendigo, Victoria and has participated in the HDFL since 1996.
The Bulldogs have appeared in 5 grand finals, winning two, most recently in 2016.

History

Early years

There was a team called North Bendigo that played one season in 1887. For the next forty years a team called California Gully represented the area.

Formally constituted

In 1945 a group of returned servicemen got together and formed the North Bendigo Football Club. The club was accepted into the Bendigo Football Association and they continued in the competition even when it changed its name to Golden City FL in 1960.
In 1981 Golden City FL merged with the Bendigo Football League and North Bendigo continued to play in the merged league until 1995 when they opted to move to the Heathcote DFL.

Heathcote DFL (1996 onward)

During its time in the HDFL North Bendigo was not successful and was new to the league. During their time over 14 years they went to the finals only a couple of times with little progression through the years.
In 2012 after a couple of good seasons they reached the grand final only to suffer a massive defeat to LBU by 94 points. The next season they finished 3rd before losing in the Prelim to Huntly by 66. In 2014 they finished first lost to LBU once again. The next season they finished second at the end of the H&A Season after Leitchville Gunbower and finally won the Grand Final. They won back to back premierships.
2019 saw North Bendigo finish as the HDFL minor premiers. In the second semi final, Colbinabbin defeated North Bendigo by 26 points. North Bendigo then played Mount Pleasant in the Preliminary final in which North Bendigo won by 90 points.
The next week, North bendigo went on to defeat Colbinabbin by 36 points in the 2019 HDFL Grand Final.

Rivalries

North Bendigo's Biggest rivals are Leitchville Gunbower, LBU and Huntly.

Honours

Premierships & Grand Finals
YearCompetitionWinnerRunner-upScore
1955Bendigo FAKangaroo FlatNorth Bendigo82 - 72
1966Golden City FLNorth BendigoNorthern United66 - 52
1967Golden City FLNorthern UnitedNorth Bendigo113 - 66
1968Golden City FLWhite HillsNorth Bendigo102 - 75
1974Golden City FLNorth BendigoNorthern United82 - 77
1977Golden City FLNorth BendigoNorthern United101 - 70
1982Bendigo FL Div 2YCWNorth Bendigo104 - 99
2012Heathcote DFLLockington Bamawm UtdNorth Bendigo140 – 46
2015Heathcote DFLNorth BendigoLeitchville Gunbower73 – 63
2016Heathcote DFLNorth BendigoLeitchville Gunbower102 – 82
2017Heathcote DFLLeitchville GunbowerNorth Bendigo108 – 82
2018Heathcote DFLLeitchville GunbowerNorth Bendigo 94 – 85
2019Heathcote DFLNorth BendigoColbinabbin70 – 34

Books