The North Albury Football Netball Club, nicknamed the ''Hoppers'', is an Australian rules football and

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

club playing in the

Ovens & Murray Football League The Ovens and Murray Football Netball League (O&MFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing ten clubs based in north-eastern Victoria, the southern Riverina region of New South Wales and the Ovens and Murray ar ...

(O&MFL). They are incorporated as part of the North Albury Sports Club licensed club at Bunton Park in

North Albury North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...

, where they play their home matches. The club has won six O&MFL premierships. The Hoppers currently play in forest green guernseys with a gold vee and the "Hopper" logo on the right side. Previous guernsey designs included a dark green and gold design similar to the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football L ...

' classic wingtip design (up to 2008) and a gold design with two dark green vees over the yoke. The club song is a version of " Join in the Chorus" with some words altered from the AFL Kangaroos version.

History

The club was formed in 1943, and for the first few years of their existence played in the ''Chiltern & District Football League'', then moved to the O&MFL in 1947. For a short time in the early 1950s they also played a reserves team in the

Hume Football League The Hume Australian Football Netball League (HFNL), often shortened to Hume Football League, is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing twelve clubs based in the South West Slopes and southern Riverina regions of New Sout ...

. Bunton Park was established during the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

period in an area that was quickly becoming established with housing. Bunton Park is named after

Cleaver Bunton Cleaver Ernest Bunton (5 May 190220 January 1999) was a long-serving Mayor of Albury, New South Wales, Australia, who came to national prominence in 1975 when he was controversially appointed to the Senate by New South Wales Liberal Party Premi ...

, long-time mayor of

, rather than his famous footballing brother Haydn Bunton, although neither played for North Albury. In the early 1980s the club was beset by financial difficulties causing it to fall in arrears in paying match payments to its players. In the meantime the club committee was endeavouring to establish a licensed club at its ground, which would allow it to serve alcohol outside of match times and house poker machines. With the establishment of the licensed club in 1984, the club's future in the O&MFL was secured. A large number of North Albury players have gone on to play in the

VFL/AFL The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). I ...

, such as 1984 Morris Medallist Rudy Yonson, who played a number of games with the Sydney Swans, and most famously

Brett Kirk Brett Kirk (born 25 October 1976) is a former Australian rules football player of the Sydney Swans and was the AFL's International Ambassador. Kirk is currently serving as an assistant coach with the Sydney Swans. AFL career Kirk grew up in Al ...

, who played with North Albury up to the 1998 season and then joined the rookie list of the Sydney Swans on trial the following year, later being elevated to the main list and being an integral part of the

Swans Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Someti ...

' 2005 premiership-winning side. As many as 17 players have been recruited from North Albury to the VFL/AFL including Peter Curtis (North), Ross Henshaw (North), Don Ross (Footscray)& Brian Leahy (Melbourne) amongst others. Anthony Miles, the 2014 star recruit for Richmond from GWS, also played his junior football at North Albury and Howlong. The three-time AFL premiership player

Jason Akermanis Jason Dean Akermanis (born 24 February 1977) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a Brownlow Medallist and triple premiership player who played for the Brisbane Bears ...

coached the club in 2013–14. Other ex-VFL/AFL players to have coached the club include Tim Robb, Martin Cross Snr and John Sharrock. North Albury traditionally play an Anzac Day fixture against cross-town rivals, the Albury Tigers, with the venue alternating between the two clubs every year.

Football Premierships

;Seniors * Chiltern & District Football Association **1946 * O&MFL **1948, 1955, 1980, 1984, 1999, 2002. ;Reserves * O&MFL **1954, 2000 ;Thirds * O&MFL **Nil

VFL / AFL Players

The following footballers played with North ALbury FNC prior to playing VFL / AFL senior football and / or were drafted. The year indicates their VFL / AFL debut. * 1952 - Don Ross - Footscray * 1955 - Bill Barton - North Melbourne * 1955 - Peter Curtis - North Melbourne * 1957 - Vin Bourke - North Melbourne * 1960 - Brian Leahy - Melbourne * 1963 - Geoff Doubleday - Fitzroy * 1971 - Ross Henshaw - North Melbourne * 1980 -

Paul Ross Paul Ross (born 31 December 1956) is an English television and radio presenter, journalist and media personality. He is the son of Martha Ross and the elder brother of Jonathan Ross. Early life Growing up in outer east London, Ross was educa ...

- Footscray * 1980 - Graham Schodde - St. Kilda * 1985 - Rudy Yonson - Sydney Swans * 1988 -

Gerard Butts Gerard Butts (born 19 November 1966) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Carlton in the Victorian Football League (VFL). After playing three games in two years with the Blues, Butts was delisted and moved to Tasmania to pla ...

- Carlton * 1999 - Ben Hollands - Richmond * 1999 -

- Sydney Swans * 2001 - Brent Piltz - Sydney Swans * 2001 - Mark Hilton - North Melbourne * 2015 - Anthony Miles - Richmond * 2023 - Tyler Young - Richmond Tigers

Team song

Their team song is:

Out we come, out we come, out we come to play hey. Just for recreation's sake to pass the time away, oh Lots of fun, heaps of fun, enjoy yourself today, North Albury boys are hard to beat, when they come out to play. Sooooo join in the chorus and sing it one and all, Join in the chorus, North Albury's on the ball. Good old North Albury, they're champions you'll agree, North Albury is the team to play to win for you and me HEY

Bibliography

*Johnston, David (20 May 2004). "Green and Gold didn't fold in '84" ''Border Mail'' *Halloran, Jessica (10 September 2004
Never-give-up Kirk arrives
''The Melbourne Age''

References

External links

Official website1948 - North Albury FC - Team Photo
{{Ovens & murray football league Ovens & Murray Football League clubs Sport in Albury, New South Wales 1943 establishments in Australia Sports clubs and teams established in 1943 Australian rules football clubs established in 1943 Netball teams in New South Wales North Albury Football Club players