The Fortitude Valley Diehards, often referred to simply as Valleys, are an Australian semi-professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

football club based in the Brisbane suburb of

Fortitude Valley Fortitude Valley (often called "The Valley" by local residents) is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. In the , Fortitude Valley had a population of 9,708 people. The suburb features two pedestr ...

History

Until their demise in 1995, the Fortitude Valley Diehards, were the oldest surviving

team in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, Australia, being formed in, and winning their first premiership, in 1909 – also the year of the inaugural Brisbane Rugby League premiership. They have roots tracing to 1908 and the first rugby league game in the state, between North Brisbane and Toombul, who would combine with Valleys in 1911. They were by far and away Brisbane’s most successful rugby league team and one of the greatest clubs in Australian history, having won a total of 24 premierships in their 86 seasons, including seven of the first eleven premierships. With the introduction of the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite c ...

into the Sydney Rugby League in 1988, Valleys formed a short-lived joint venture with the

Tweed Heads Seagulls The Tweed Heads Seagulls, often referred to simply as Tweed or Seagulls or Tweed Seagulls, is a rugby league club based in Tweed Heads, New South Wales. It is one of only two non-Queensland teams to play in the Queensland Cup, along with th ...

playing under the name Seagulls-Diehards, winning the 1988 premiership. The joint venture broke soon after and Valleys returned to their old name in 1989. Financial difficulties in the early 1990s took their toll on the club, leading Valleys to a short-lived merger with the Caboolture Snakes, calling themselves Caboolture Valleys, in 1995. However the club folded at season’s end, preventing the foundation club from playing in the inaugural

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fou ...

in 1996. In 2002, Valleys entered a partnership with another former Brisbane Rugby League team,

Brothers A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

, playing under the name Brothers-Valleys. Playing out of Perry Park, in the Brisbane suburb of Bowen Hills, approximately halfway between Fortitude Valley and Albion, the Two-Blues participated in the Mixwell Cup and Mixwell Colts Challenge, before being accepted into the

for Season 2004. Based at O'Callagahn Park in Zillmere, the club’s only premiership points that season were from a first round draw. At season’s end, Brothers Valleys announced a name change to Brothers Diehards, but were not accepted into the 2005

, on the basis of club finance. The Diehards still however compete in the Amateur Brisbane Second Division along with other Brisbane Clubs. The club was readmitted to the Brisbane Rugby League in 2015. Perhaps the greatest ever year for Valleys was their 1955 success during which the side remained undefeated under the peerless leadership of fullback Norm Pope. As of 2021 Valleys compete in the

QRL Women's Premiership The QRL Women's Premiership, known as the BMD Premiership due to sponsorship from BMD Group, is the top level of women's rugby league football in Queensland, Australia. Run by the Queensland Rugby League, the competition is Queensland's first s ...

, which is the strongest state-based competition in QLD. Their side features a number of representative players including Shenae Ciesiolka,

Meg Ward Meg Ward (born 18 August 1994) is an Australian rugby league footballer who plays as a and for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL Women's Premiership and the Valleys Diehards in the QRL Women's Premiership. She is an Australian and Queensland ...

, Ali Brigginshaw, Brianna Clark,

Kody House Kody House (born 6 June 1990) is an Australian rugby league footballer who in 2021 signed to play with Valleys Diehards after previous seasons with Ipswich Brothers and Souths Logan Magpies in the QRL Women's Premiership. Primarily a , she ...

and

Lavinia Gould Lavinia Gould (born 15 March 1983) is a New Zealand rugby league footballer who plays for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL Women's Premiership. A in rugby league and a flyhalf in rugby union, she is a former New Zealand and New Zealand seven ...

. They are coached by former international and Queensland representative NRL star

Scott Prince Scott Prince (born 27 February 1980) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative, he played club footba ...

Crest

Unlike many other rugby league teams in Australia, until it was forced upon them Valleys never had an official moniker. Although they were nicknamed the "Diehards", which came about from their reported "Diehard spirit" in tough games, until the Queensland Rugby League's rebranding process in the 1980s, which saw all BRL clubs adopt a logo framed by a stylised Q, Valleys identified themselves with a simple VFC (Valleys Football Club) monogram. With the introduction of the new logo in the 1980s, the monogram was relocated to the shield of the newly adopted Gladiator moniker, although for the next few seasons, the monogram remained on the jersey beneath the AVCO sponsorship logo.

Colours

Valleys had a very traditional playing strip, and were the simplest of the

Brisbane Rugby League The Brisbane Rugby League is a rugby league football competition in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first held in 1922 and for every year until 1997. The competition was reinstated in 2001, known as the FOGS premiership under the Queen ...

clubs. Their colours were royal blue, with a white collar, and a white butcher stripe (irregular hoop) vertically on each side of the shorts. Their socks were blue, although again were complemented by a white butcher stripe in the middle on occasion. The VFC monogram was white, as was the majority of sponsorship logos placed on the jersey.

Home ground

Although not technically in the Fortitude Valley area, the Diehards played out of what was then known as Neumann Oval in Albion, in the same area as the Albion Park trots and Brothers Rugby Union's Crosby Park. Following the Diehards departure for Caboolture, and eventual extinction, in 1995,

Queensland Cricket Queensland Cricket, formerly known as the Queensland Cricket Association, is the governing body of Cricket in Queensland, Australia. Formed in 1876, it is directly responsible for the Queensland Bulls, Queensland Fire, Allan Border Field and ...

purchased the ground and renamed it

Allan Border Field Allan Border Field is a cricket ground in the Brisbane suburb of Albion in Queensland. The Australian Cricket Academy has been based at the oval since 2004 using it as a base for the development of elite cricketers throughout Australia. It w ...

. Currently Valleys Juniors, who evolved from the BRL team in 1951, play full-time at Emerson Park, Grange, and have done so since gradually moving out of Neumann Oval in the early 1970s.

Junior Clubs

Valleys Juniors, Valleys Hawthorne and Valleys United Stars (now Easts Bulimba Stars) were the only junior clubs that belonged to Valleys.

Representative Players

Australia

Vic Armbruster Louis Victor Armbruster (born 12 July 1902 – 11 October 1984) was an Australian rugby league footballer for New South Wales, Queensland and Australia. He is considered one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century. Standing 6 fe ...

* Barry Brennan *

Edward Buckley Edward Bulkley (died 10 August 1714) was an East India Company surgeon (1602-1709) posted in Madras and a pioneer naturalist. He corresponded with James Petiver and was the first to document the bird species of which a list of birds was published ...

Chris Close Christopher "Choppy" Close (born 5 February 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. A robust three-quarter back, he represented Australia internationally and Queensland in St ...

* Arthur Edwards * Vince Fawcett * Declan Bradbury *

Duncan Hall Duncan Hall (24 August 192518 January 2011) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s, singled out as having been amongst the greatest of the 20th century. He played in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership f ...

Mark Hohn Mark Hohn (; born 29 January 1964) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. A front-rower, he represented Queensland in the State of Origin on nine occasions and played one Test for Australia as a reser ...

* Jack Horrigan *

Wally Lewis Walter James Lewis AM (born 1 December 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1980s and 1990s. He became a commentator for television coverage of the sp ...

* Jack Little *

Ken McCaffery Ken McCaffery (27 September 1929 – 6 February 2021) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer, commentator and administrator. As a player, he was an Australian national and Queensland state representative back. He played his clu ...

* Mark Murray *

Bryan Niebling Bryan Niebling (born 18 July 1960) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. Niebling played in the forwards. After a successful Brisbane Rugby League premiership, and representative caree ...

* Fred Neumann * Norm Pope * Ross Strudwick * Roy Westaway * Ali Brigginshaw

Great Britain

Tulsen Tollett Tulsen Paul Tollett (born 6 May 1973) is a TV presenter and former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A Great Britain international representative utility back, he played in Australia for Sydney's Penrith Pa ...

Queensland (State of Origin)

Gavin Allen Gavin Allen (born 30 March 1965) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played club football in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership for Fortitude Valley and in the NSWRL premiership for the St. ...

Ross Henrick Ross Henrick (7 December 1954 – 8 May 2005) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. Nicknamed "The Angry Ant", he was a Queensland State of Origin representative halfback, and played club football in the ...

Norm McGregor Norm McGregor was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played two seasons with the Fortitude Valley Diehards of the Queensland Rugby League competition. He also represented the Queensland Firsts at representative level. Play ...

* Mark Murray *

* Grant Rix * Shenae Ciesiolka

Queensland (Residents)

Mark Shipway Mark Shipway (born 3 May 1976 in Australia) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played for the North Queensland Cowboys, the Northern Eagles and the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League (NRL). He also played ...

*David Bourke *Shane Buckley *Nicholas Butler *Tony Catton * Peter Coyne *Brett Daunt *Kelly Egan *Bill Holmes *Eric Kennedy *Gerard Kerr * Steele Retchless *Frank Rolls *Shaun Rubesaame *Trevor Schodel *Craig Marshall *Greg Walker Pre State of Origin/Bulimba Cup Albert Park

Sources

* Lester, Gary. ''The Sun Book of Rugby League'' * Lester, Gary. ''Action '85''

References

External links

* {{Rugby League in Queensland Rugby clubs established in 1908 1908 establishments in Australia Rugby league teams in Brisbane Fortitude Valley, Queensland