A suburban Melbourne Australian Rules club has been expelled from its league for alleged acts of racial vilification and threatening umpires.

The Doveton Eagles are out of the Southern Football League (SFL) two years after they were also suspended from the competition.

The SFL said they banned the club because of incidents during and after an elimination final last season.

“The behaviour included insulting and threatening conduct towards umpires as well as serious racial vilification directed at competing players by Doveton Eagles players and spectators on that day,” the league said in a statement.

The league also alleged Doveton had taken too long to answer the allegations after a formal request last September.

Doveton have 28 days to respond.

“No formal response was received from the club until December 1,” the SFL said.

“The club then met with the SFL executive on December 15 and was directed to address various issues within a four-week time frame.

“As at February 17 none of the requests had been addressed by the club.

“As a result of this non-compliance, under league rules the club has been expelled by the full SFL board.”

SFL chief executive Wayne Holdsworth said the league had suspended Doveton during the 2010 season when a coach had stayed in charge of a team, despite losing his accreditation because of umpire intimidation.

“The league gave the club a second chance to lift its game and yet barely 12 months on we are faced with a situation in which umpires have been threatened and opposing players racially vilified,” Holdsworth said.

AFL Victoria also issued a media statement, saying they “fully support” the SFL decision.