The Rutherglen Football and Netball Club is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

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 their home games in

Rutherglen, Victoria Rutherglen is a small town in north-eastern Victoria, Australia, near the Murray River border with New South Wales. The town was named after the Scottish town of Rutherglen which lies just outside Glasgow. At the , Rutherglen had a population ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The current Rutherglen FNC was created after the merger of

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 are ...

sides

Rutherglen Rutherglen (, sco, Ruglen, gd, An Ruadh-Ghleann) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having existed as a Lanarkshire burgh in its own ...

and

Corowa Corowa is a town in the state of New South Wales in Australia. It is on the bank of the Murray River, the border between New South Wales and Victoria, opposite the Victorian town of Wahgunyah. It is the largest town in the Federation Council a ...

in 1979. Surplus players formed the Corowa-Rutherglen FC and played in the

Coreen & District Football League The Coreen & District Football League was an Australian rules football competition in the Coreen district of the Riverina in New South Wales, initially formed in 1909. The netball competition commenced in 1972 in line with the football fixture ...

for 13 years. A stint in the

Ovens & King Football League The Ovens & King Football Netball League is a minor country Australian rules football league based in North-Eastern Victoria in the vicinity of Wangaratta and more recently Benalla. History The ''Ovens & King Football League'' was formed on ...

followed before moving to the

Tallangatta & District Football League The Tallangatta and District Football League (TDFL) is an Australian rules football competition in north-east Victoria and the southern border area of Riverina region of the New South Wales. The clubs compete across four competitions, two of ...

. The club dropped the Corowa part in their name in 2002.

History

Predecessor club

The original Rutherglen FC was established in 1877, with the first recorded match being against

Wahgunyah Football Club Wahgunyah Football / Netball Club is an Australian Rules Football club based in North Eastern Victoria that currently competes in the Tallangatta & District Football League. Club history The town of Wahgunyah has had an Australian rules foot ...

on Wednesday, 3 June 1877. Football was played intermittently in the club's formative years against other local towns and districts in the late 1870s and 1880s before joining the Ovens And Murray Football Association in 1893 as one of its four original teams. The club was based at Rutherglen's "Barkley Park" located just off Reid Street & just north-west of the town's center. It was a powerhouse in the Ovens And Murray Football Association during its early days competing in many finals.

The birth of the ''Cats'' (1979)

Following the establishment of the Corowa-Rutherglen Roos in 1979, after the merger of the Corowa Spiders and the Rutherglen Redlegs, a number of surplus players decided to form the Rutherglen-Corowa ''Cats'' (known in some record books as the "Corowa-Rutherglen" Cats). Wearing a navy blue and white hooped jersey along with navy blue shorts and navy blue and white hooped socks for the majority of their history, the club would be based at Rutherglen's "Barkley Park". They joined the

, which was based around the farming districts north of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. The club enjoyed thirteen short but successful seasons in the Coreen & District Football League winning a total of 16 Premierships across the 3 respective grades, including three senior premierships from eight grand final appearances. After the 1991 season the club left the New South Wales based Coreen & District football League for the Victorian

, which was based around the greater

Wangaratta Wangaratta ( ) is a city in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, from Melbourne along the Hume Highway. The city had an estimated urban population of 19,318 at June 2018. Wangaratta has recorded a population growth rate of almost 1% annually ...

area encompassing many former gold rush community's. They spent eleven seasons in the Ovens & King Football League, where neither the senior side nor the reserve side contested a grand final, however the Under 16's contested 4 grand finals from 1999 to 2002, claiming the club's sole premiership in 2001 over Bright by 29 points at the Tarrawingee Rec Reserve. The club officially changed its name to the "Rutherglen Football Club" in 2002, dropping the "Corowa" name 23 years after the merger. At the end of the 2003 season, the Beechworth Football Club & the Rutherglen Football Club applied for an application to join the

, but were refused by the Ovens and King board, so the clubs took their appeal to the Victoria Country Football League and won the appeal to join the Tallangatta & District Football League for the 2004 season. In 2004 the club joined the Victorian

which is based around the small towns & farming districts near

Tallangatta Tallangatta () is a town in north-eastern Victoria, Australia. The town lies on the banks of the Mitta Arm of Lake Hume, approximately south-east of Albury-Wodonga along the Murray Valley Highway. At the , Tallangatta had a population of 1,17 ...

and every finals match being held at the Sandy Creek Oval, locally referred to as "The MCG of the Bush". Since joining the club's jersey has slightly varied to re-introduced the white monogrammed "RFC" of the Redlegs along with keeping the navy blue & white hoops of the Cats. While the club still hasn't tasted premiership success at senior or reserve levels after playing a number of final series, the club has won its first Tallangatta & District Football League Premiership when in 2007 the Under 14's defeated Yackandanda by three points. Traditionally the club does not play on the Queen's Birthday Weekend as the town hosts the annual Winery Walkabout, however, in 2016 the Corowa-Rutherglen Roos moved their OMFL

Round 11 Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, cant, or sphere * Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the number ...

match against the Wodonga Buldogs to Rutherglen's Barkly Park. The club's numbers have continued to grow with each passing season including club staff, supporters, & sponsors.

Honours

Premierships and achievements

Individual honours

Team of the Century (1903-2003)

;Team ref: * EssendonDesign

(1903–78) * Rutherglen fc monogram

(1903–78) * AFL North Melbourne Icon

Corowa-Rutherglen (1979–2003) ;Notes: * ¹ G. Tobias was named in the Team of the Century for his career with the Corowa FC. He was also a foundation player for the Corowa-Rutherglen FC in 1979

Hall of Famers

VFL/AFL players

*From Rutherglen Corowa FNC **

***1987 - Michael Gayfer - Collingwood ***1987 -

John Longmire John Longmire (born 31 December 1970) is the current coach of the Sydney Swans. As a player, he represented the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 1988 to 1999. Early years Longmire was born in Corowa, ...

- North Melbourne ***1988 - Brett McKenzie - North Melbourne ***1988 -

Mark O'Donoghue Mark O'Donoghue (born 10 July 1967) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL). O'Donoghue spent the 1988 VFL season at North Melbourne and kicked two goals on debut against G ...

- North Melbourne ***1988 -

Michael Garvey Michael Garvey may refer to: * Michael Garvey (Australian footballer) (born 1965), Australian rules footballer * Michael Garvey (rugby league) (born 1988), American rugby league player * Mike Garvey (born 1962), American stock car racing driver ...

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Mel ...

***2002 - Robbie Campbell -

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

(2002–2009) &

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

(2011) *Via the AFL **1984 -

Vin Doolan Vin Doolan (born 20 August 1952) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Doolan came to North Melbourne from the Wodonga Football Club in the Ovens & Murray Football Leagu ...

- North Melbourne **

Nicky Winmar Neil Elvis "Nicky" Winmar (born 25 September 1965) is a former Australian rules footballer, best known for his career for and the in the Australian Football League (AFL), as well as in the West Australian Football League. Growing up in Pin ...

- St Kilda (1987-1998) &

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...

(1999)

Notes

References

External links

*
Gameday website
{{Tallangatta & District Football League Ovens & Murray Football League clubs Netball teams in Victoria (Australia) 1979 establishments in Australia Sports clubs established in 1979