History

The Tanunda Football Club was officially established in 1908, but teams representative of the town had been engaging in informal scratch matches for almost two decades by that time.

The club’s formation coincided with that of the Barossa and Light Football Association, of which Tanunda became a foundation member. For many years Tanunda struggled to make an impact in the competition and it was not until 1926 that it even managed to reach a grand final. Angaston proved too strong on that occasion, as would be the case six years later when the same two teams contested the grand final.

Tanunda’s breakthrough premiership finally arrived in 1934 thanks to a 15.6 (96) to 12.9 (81) grand final defeat of Kapunda.

Overall, the Magpies’ time in the Barossa and Light Football Association was moderately successful, but their tally of ten senior grade flags was eclipsed by four other clubs.

In contrast, since commencing in the Barossa Light and Gawler Football Association Tanunda has vied with Nuriootpa as the competition’s most successful club, earning five senior grade premierships to date, including the two most recent.

Moreover, the Magpies have also finished second on three occasions compared to Nuriootpa’s one, so a tentative argument could be made out for their being the competition’s pre-eminent force. Certainly that was the case in both 2008, when Barossa District was overcome in the grand final by 33 points, and 2009, when Tanunda defeated Angaston 13.12 (90) to 10.8 (68).

Source:

John Devaney – Full Points Publications