Australian Football

Hepburn

There was a Hepburn football team as early as the 1860s, but it was not until after the first world war that the town was formally represented in an ongoing, organised competition. The competition in question was the Daylesford District Junior Football Association, in which the Burras compiled a highly respectable record, claiming premierships in 1930, 1934, 1938 and 1939.

After world war two Hepburn transferred to the Clunes Football Association, but in two decades in the competition proved unable to add to its flag haul. The closest it came to doing so was in 1949, when it went down by 31 points to Newlyn in the grand final.

In 1979 the Clunes Football League merged with the Ballarat and Bacchus Marsh Football League and the Burras were among the fifteen foundation members of the resultant new competition, the Central Highlands Football League. At first, they struggled, but after contesting the finals for the first time in 1985 they went from strength to strength, and their overall tally of nine senior CHFL flags is a league record. Their most recent premiership was attained in 2017 by means of a 15.15 (105) to 13.9 (87) grand final defeat of minor premiers and pre-match favourites Beaufort. A year later they finished seventh after losing their elimination final clash with Newlyn by a couple of points.