Wahgunyah Football / 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 ...

club based in North Eastern Victoria that currently competes in 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 ...

Club history

The town of Wahgunyah has had 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 ...

team since 1877 and Wahgunyah's first recorded match was against Corowa (a return match) on Saturday, 16 June 1877, played "on the hill" in Corowa, with Wahgunyah winning the first encounter by three goals to nothing. W Busch was the captain of Wahgunyah FC. Throughout 1877, there was talk of the Wahgunyah and

Corowa Football Club The Corowa Football Club, nicknamed the Spiders, was an Australian rules football club based in Corowa, New South Wales, that competed in the Ovens & Murray Football League. The club merged with the Wahgunyah Football Club on several occasions d ...

's merging to form one stronger club and be called Border United Football Club, with this merger taking place in August, 1877 and their first match as Border United was played against the Rutherglen Football Club in August 1877 and was captained by Jacob Levin. The Border United team wore pink and white colours. The Wahgunyah Recreation Reserve was set aside by the Victorian Government in 1864 and was controlled by a Government appointed committee of Management. In 1888, Border United FC fielded three teams, First Twenty, Second Twenty and a junior team that played against other local teams and towns. Wahgunyah FC (Juniors) was re-established in 1897, with Mr. J Grimmond elected as president and decided that the club colours would be black and white (Magpies) and they decided to play at the racecourse in the Murray Valley Junior Football Association. The club won the 1897 and 1899 Murray Valley Junior Football Association premierships. The Murray Valley Junior Football Association was abandoned in May, 1905. In 1901, Mr. Hancock won the club's most consistent player award at a club dinner at Wahgunyah's Victoria Hotel. Border United FC remained in place until 1905, when Corowa and Wahgunyah both entered stand alone teams in the Corowa District Football Association in 1906. In 1907, Wahgunyah finished on top of the ladder, with eleven wins from twelve games in the Corowa and District Football Association and won the premiership. Wahgunyah were runners to Howlong in the 1909 Ovens & Murray Junior Football Association grand final. William King won the club's Best all round player award in 1909. Interestingly, in 1896, King was suspended for life by the O&MFA after assaulting an umpire. In 1909, Wahgunyah defeated Corowa to win the local State School premiership. In 1910, Wahgunyah were runners up to Lake Moodemere in the Ovens & Murray Junior Football Association grand final, after they walked off the ground at three quarter time due to excessively rough play. Wahgunyah have been involved in two drawn

Chiltern & District Football Association The Chiltern & District Football Association was first established in 1912 from the following Australian Rules Football clubs - Barnawartha, Chiltern, Chiltern Valley, Christmastown, Southern and Wodonga, in North Eastern Victoria, Australia and w ...

senior football grand finals, in 1924 and again in 1954, with Wahgunyah winning both grand finals replays. Details below.

Football competitions timeline

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 ...

** 1895 - 1905 (Border United FC) *Murray Valley Junior Football Association **1897 - 1904 * Corowa & District Football Association ** 1906 and 1907 (Wahgunyah FC) *

**1908 * Ovens & Murray Junior Football Association **1909 & 1910 *

Rutherglen & District Football Association 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 ...

**1911 & 1912 *

** 1913 to 1915, (Border United FC) * Club in recess due to

World War One World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

**1916 & 1917 * Rutherglen & Murray Football Association ** 1918 (Border United FC) *

**1919 & 1920 *

**1921 *

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 ...

**1922 *

**1923 - 1929 * Corowa & District Football Association **1930 *

**1931 - 1937 * Club withdrew from the

**1938. Wahgunyah FC withdrew from the C&DFA & Corowa Rovers FC entered a team in the C&DFA 1938 & 1939. * Club in recess due to

World War Two 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 ...

**1939 - 1943 *

Murray Valley Patriotic Football League Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian whole ...

** 1944 & 1945 (Border United FC) *

** 1946 & 1947 (Border United FC) *

**1948 & 1949 *

** 1950 - 1956 *

**1957 - 2007 *

**2008 - 2021

Football Premierships

;Juniors *Murray Valley Junior Football Association **1897, 1899. ;Seniors * Corowa & District Football Association **1907 *

**1919, 1924, 1954, 1955 *

Leeton Football Club Leeton is the name of more than one place: *Leeton, Missouri, a town in the United States *Leeton, New South Wales Leeton is a town located in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Leeton is situated in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation ...

– Knockout Competition ** Border United FC *** 1946 *

**1948, 1949, 1968, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2004. ;Reserves *

- (1976 to 2007) **1977, 1978, 1984, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2007. ;Thirds *

- (1980 to 2007) **1987, 1998, 2007. *

- (2008 to present day) **2012 ;Fourths *

- (2008 to present day) **2009, 2010, 2012

Football runners up

;Juniors *Murray Valley Junior Football Association **Wahgunyah ***1898, 1900 *Corowa & District Football Association **Wahgunyah ***1906 *Ovens & Murray Junior Football Association **Wahgunyah ***1909 ;Seniors *

**Border United ***1900, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1914. *

**Wahgunyah ***1926 *Murray Valley Patriotic Football League **Border United ***1944, 1945 *

**Wahgunyah *** 1978, 1982, 1999

Netball Premierships

;A. Grade *

- (2008 to present day) **2009 ;B. Grade *

- (2008 to present day) **2009 ;C. Grade *

- (2008 to present day) ** Nil ;D. Grade (18 & Under) *

- (2008 to present day) ** Nil ;E. Grade (15 & Under) *

- (2008 to present day) ** Nil ;F. Grade (13 & Under) *

- (2008 to present day) ** Nil

League Best & Fairest Awards

;Senior Football * Coreen & DFL: Archie Denis Medal ** 1957, 1961, 1965, 1966 - John Voss. Voss was also runner up in 1962 & 1970. Was runner up in the Chiltern & DFL award in 1954. ** 1976 - Len Chandler ** 1977, 1981 - Len Johnstone ** 1989 - Wayne Milthorpe ** 2002 - Scott Parker ;Reserves * Coreen & DFL ** 1984 - T Cope ** 1989 - Mick Upton ** 2005 - Darren Harvey ;Thirds * Coreen & DFL ** 1980 - R Eyres ** 1988 - Wayne Johnstone ** 1991 - P Roksandic ** 1993 - Grant Jolly ** 2003 - Scott Brunnemeyer ** 2004 & 2005 -

Taylor Duryea Taylor Duryea (born 24 April 1991) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). Duryea initially played with Wahgunyah in the Coreen & District Football League, winning back to ...

VFL / AFL players

The following footballers played with Wahgunyah FNC prior to playing senior VFL / AFL football or were drafted into the AFL. The year indicates their VFL / AFL debut. *1909 -

Duncan McIvor Duncan McIvor (11 November 1884 – 18 November 1930) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood in the Victorian Football League (VFL). McIvor played in 29 games during four seasons over six years for Collingwood in the VF ...

- Collingwood *1994 -

Damien Houlihan Damian Houlihan (born 30 July 1975) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood in the Australian Football League (AFL). Houlihan was the first of a set of four brothers to be drafted to the AFL. His younger brothers ...

- Collingwood *1997 -

Adam Houlihan Adam L. Houlihan (born 6 April 1978) is a former Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club and the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is one of four brothers who were all drafted to Australia ...

- Geelong *2000 -

Ryan Houlihan Ryan Houlihan (born 21 January 1982) is a former Australian rules footballer who played 12 seasons and 201 games for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 2000 to 2011. Background Ryan is the third of four bro ...

- Carlton *2001 -

Josh Houlihan Josh is a masculine given name, frequently a diminutive (hypocorism) of the given names Joshua (name), Joshua or Joseph, though since the 1970s, it has increasingly become a full name on its own. It may refer to: People A–J * "Josh", an early ...

- St. Kilda (No. 49 - 2001 AFL Draft. No senior AFL games) *2010 -

- Hawthorn The following VFL / AFL Footballers were born in Wahgunyah, Victoria. *1903 -

Gordon Rickards Sydney Gordon Rickards (12 April 1884 – 6 January 1948) was an Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda in the Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Austra ...

- St. Kilda *1911 - Arthur Francis - Fitzroy *1930 -

Bert Mills Bert Mills (16 February 1910 – 6 May 1984) was an Australian rules footballer who played for and captained Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Local brothers, Arthur Mills and Albert Mills played for Bethanga in the 1926 and 19 ...

- Hawthorn *1940 -

Shadrach James Shadrach Garfield James (30 November 1917 – 20 November 1973) was an Indigenous Australians, Indigenous Australian Australian rules footballer. Family Shadrach Garfield James was born in Echuca on 30 November 1917 as the son of Indigenous Au ...

- Fitzroy

External links

Tallangatta & District FNLOvens & Murray Football Netball League1919 - Chiltern & District Football Association Premiers: Wahgunyah FC team photo1945 - Border United FC & Tungamah FC team photos1948 - Coreen & District FL Premiers: Wahgunyah FC team photo1948 - Bill & Billy Bryant: Wahgunyah FC premiership players1949 - Coreen & District FL Premiers: Wahgunyah FC team photo1949 - Coreen & District FL Grand Final: Wahgunyah FC spectators photo1949 - Wahgunyah FC Premiership Banquet photo1949 - Coreen & District FL - John Voss: Wahgunyah FC

References

{{reflist 1877 establishments in Australia Australian rules football clubs established in 1877 Ovens & Murray Football League clubs