Australian Football

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KEY FACTS

Official name
Beechworth Football Club

Known as
Beechworth

Nickname
Bombers

Former name
Beechworth United (1936-1940)

Formed
1893: merger between Beechworth (Original) and Wanderers

Colours
Black and red

Emblem
Bushrangers

Affiliation (Current)
Tallangatta and District Football League (TDFL) 2004–2024

Affiliations (Historical)
Ovens and Murray Football Netball League (OMFNL) 1893–1915, 1922–1928; Ovens & King Football Netball League (OKFNL) 1919–1921, 1929–1935, 1936–1940, 1946–2003

Senior Premierships
Ovens and Murray Football Association (OMFA) - 1893-4, 1897 (3 total); Ovens and King Football Association/League (OKFA/L) - 1912-13-14, 1937-8-9, 1950-1, 1956, 1961, 1974, 1979, 2000-1, 2003 (14 total); Tallangatta and District Football League - 2010 (1 total)

Website
beechworthfc.vcfl.com.au/

Beechworth

In 1893, Beechworth District Wanderers was an inaugural member of the Ovens and Murray Football Association. The club was formed by the merger of the town’s two teams, Beechworth and Wanderers, which had been playing informally, both against one another and against teams from other nearby mining settlements, such as Chiltern and Rutherglen, since the 1860s. The merged club was initially quite powerful, claiming the OMFA’s first two premierships, and adding a third in 1897. The 1897 flag was won by means of a play-off after Beechworth (the ‘District Wanderers’ had fairly quickly been dropped) and Rutherglen had finished level at the head of the premiership ladder. There were no finals series as such in those days, but to all intents and purposes this was the fledgling association’s first ever grand final, with Beechworth edging home by 9 points, 3.4 (22) to 1.7 (13).

The early years of the new century saw Beechworth beginning to find the going tough. In 1905, the club left the OMFA and joined the Ovens and King Football Association, where the standard of football was somewhat lower. With the exception of a single season return to the OMFA in 1907 that was where Beechworth remained until after world war one. The club fielded strong sides during much of its time in the OKFA, and managed a then unprecedented three flags in a row between 1912 and 1914.

Beechworth returned for one last attempt at glory in the OMFA in 1923, but after six dismally inglorious seasons switched back to the Ovens and King, where it would remain until the end of the 2003 season. The club’s overall tally of fourteen senior garde OKFA/L premierships is surpassed only by Moyhu.

Since 2004, the Bushrangers have competed in the Tallangatta and District Football League, finishing fifth in their debut season, eighth in 2005, sixth in both 2006 and 2007, and seventh in 2008. The 2009 season brought a breakthrough grand final appearance but opponents Tallangatta Valley proved too strong. A year later the Bushrangers made amends with an 18.9 (117) to 12.5 (77) grand final defeat of Yackandah.

Subsequent performances have generally been less noteworthy with the side even slumping to a wooden spoon in 2013 after winning just 1 of their 18 home and away matches for the year. More recently the Bushrangers finished sixth (2015), ninth (both 2016 and 2017), eighth (2018) and ninth once more (2019) on the 12 team premiership ladder.

Source

John Devaney - Full Points Publications


 

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.