Some former clubs of the Yarra Valley
Upper Yarra Dam, 1953-55
The Upper Yarra Dam FC was admitted to the YVFL in 1953 and catered mainly for workers involved in the construction of the reservoir. The club wore navy blue and white horizontal stripes, and were known as the 'Cats'. The UYD ground, presumably the same oval that still exists below the dam wall, was described in 1953 by a visiting Lilydale correspondent as 'the most spectacular this side of the city - full size, well grassed, beautifully fenced, with hot showers and a loud speaker broadcasting the city sporting events.' Unfortunately, UYD did not have the team to compliment such a facility and lost 36 of the 37 YVFL matches they played. Upper Yarra Dam's sole victory was an exciting 5.6 to 3.8 win over Woori Yallock at the Dam on 29 August 1953. After losing every match in 1954, UYD went down by 173 points to Marysville in the opening round of 1955, forfeited their match at Powelltown in round 2, and then withdrew from the competition in order to play social matches.
Toolangi, 1952-53
The Toolangi club was unique in that it never played a senior match. Toolangi were admitted to the 2nd XVIII competition of the YVFL for the 1952 season and won 5 of their 17 games that year. The club played its matches on a cow paddock at Castella. A report of the Toolangi v Seville match of 7 June 1952 told of a ‘running stream flowing the length of the ground, the goal posts out of line, and evidences of the usual use of the area’. The latter presumably being a euphemistic reference to cowpats. Toolangi fronted up again in 1953, lost their first five matches, forfeited the next two, and then withdrew from the competition, never to be heard from again.
Little Yarra Rovers, 1927
The Yarra Junction and Powelltown clubs merged for season 1927 and were successful in winning the YVFA premiership. The name of the merged club referred to Rovers of the Little Yarra River, rather than to diminutive Rovers of the Yarra River. LYR defeated Millgrove, 13.3 to 9.7, in the 1927 grand final. The club split into its component parts for 1928.
Valley United, 1956-59
A three-way merger between Wandin, Seville and Woori Yallock, the Valley United club had four years in the YVFL senior grade without having much success. Valley United won 16 and drew one of their 56 matches in that time. VU wore Footscray-style jumpers and played their home matches at Wandin in 1956, Woori Yallock in 1957, and Seville in 1958-59. The legacy of the club appears to be the adoption of the red, white and blue guernseys by Wandin when that club re-emerged in the early 1960s. Wandin had previously worn maroon and blue.
Yarra Rovers, 1935-38
Not to be confused with Little Yarra Rovers, the Yarra Rovers FC was based at East Warburton and shared the Warburton ground with the powerful Warburton club. The Rovers, who wore purple and gold jerseys, won only one of their 22 matches in 1935 to finish a distant last. By 1937, however, the club had improved enough to win 10 of 18 matches and finish sixth. A swift decline in 1938 saw Yarra Rovers fall to second-last. The club failed to re-form in 1939. The reason given was that the severe bushfires of Black Friday (13 January 1939) had caused much unemployment and made it too difficult to find players to travel each Saturday.
Yarraburn, 1955-61
A product of YVFL club rationalisation of the mid-1950s, the Yarraburn club was the result of a merger between Yarra Junction and Wesburn. The Yarraburn FC played its home matches at Yarra Junction and wore the Junction colours of green and gold. Yarraburn won the YVFL premiership at its first attempt in 1955 when it defeated minor premier Marysville by one point in the grand final. Yarraburn had not got within six goals of Marysville all season, but won 13.11 to 12.16, in a grand final where the margins at the four changes were 2, 4, 2 and 1 point(s). Yarraburn remained reasonably strong until 1962, when the club decided to re-instate the Yarra Junction name.
Last Modified on 08/09/2011 09:22