Stories

YALLOURN FOOTBALL CLUB 1945-65

60 YEARS AGO ~ 1953 IN REVIEW
& KEVIN FANNING

1953 was a momentous season for the Blues. It started with the tragic death of Simon Shaw. The news of Simon’s death, in February that year, reverberated far and wide and had a dramatic effect on all in the district (see the Virtual Yallourn story regarding Simon Shaw). It was only eight years after the end of World War II . The Latrobe Valley was a region in rapid transition and Yallourn was at the centre of that industrial and social change.
Prue McGoldrick wrote…
“Yallourn… more

My love of AFL and country football has never diminished and my research and writings about football never fail to throw up surprises and interesting
stories of the lives of men, country clubs and towns.

The Virtual Yallourn website carries several brilliant photographs of former Yallourn Football Club teams. The photos bring back strong memories of the great players who played for Yallourn and, of course, the personalities who made our club such an important part of our lives.

Some of the readers of Virtual Yallourn maybe interested to know that the photograph of the… more

YALLOURN FOOTBALL CLUB 1954 ~ BERNIE NAIRN

Bernie Nairn won the Yallourn Football Club’s trophy for the Best and Fairest Player in 1954. It was the culmination of an exceptional season for Bernie. He had also polled well in the LVFL Rodda Medal with 13 votes. Sale’s champion ruckman Bob Mason (20 votes) won the medal that season.

The club trophy was a just reward for Bernie who had been a key player for Yallourn since the late 40’s. “Nairn is giving Yallourn his best season at centre half back.” Morwell Advertiser 10th June 1954

Press reports between 1949-… more

SEASON 1965 …. MIKE, GEOFF & JACK COLLINS

PART: I SEASON 1965

Although Yallourn FC finished well outside the Final Four in 1965, the club had been successful in bolstering the list and building upon the foundations laid by Garry Butler and John Hutchinson. Fostering the development of young players is the best recipe for success in country football and Yallourn FC was definitely on the right track in 1963 and 1964.

Despite a long list of injuries in 1965 the team had shown, at times, real potential to take the club forward in LVFL football. The crop of… more

THE 1948 PREMIERSHIP

PART: I ‘THE COACH ~ TED HILL'

This story for Virtual Yallourn is more about the man Ted Hill than the Yallourn Football Club. Ted was the last premiership coach of Yallourn and is one of the most successful and intriguing football coaches in Australian country football in that era.

Ted was born in about 1918. The first documentation that indicated Ted was a footballer of some ability can be found in 1935. At only 16 years of age, Ted played with Coburg (affiliated with the VFA). It seems he was a centre half back and caught the eye of onlookers.… more

YALLOURN FOOTBALLERS WHO PLAYED VFL~ 1945-65

Yallourn Football Club was formed in 1922 and there is a possibility that some Yallourn footballers may have played VFL without the early club records actually acknowledging that fact.

The history of many early country footballers is elusive and open to conjecture. Anecdotal evidence can be unreliable and often early written records were incomplete, inaccurate or simply non-existent. In earlier times the coverage of country recruiting lacked the resources and in-depth details that are apparent in today’s intensive media scrutiny… more

YALLOURN FOOTBALL CLUB 1945-65

SEASON 1960

JIM DORGAN & NORM HALL

Jim Dorgan (born 1930) was appointed as the coach of Yallourn Football Club in 1960. He took over the role from Vic Lawrence (ex-North Melbourne) who had coached the Blues in 1958-59.

Jim Dorgan’s senior career commenced with Williamstown FC in the VFA. In 1949 Jim was recruited to the Melbourne Football Club and he made his debut,
as a teenager, for the Demons in Round: 6 against St Kilda.

It is interesting to note that Yallourn’s champion rover Jimmy Shaw also played his… more

YALLOURN FOOTBALL CLUB 1945-65

NEVILLE LINNEY & OTHER NOTABLE YFC GOAL KICKERS

Yallourn Football Club full forward Neville Linney won the ‘The Advertiser Shield’ for the leading goal kicker in the Latrobe Valley Football League in 1963.

In all the years that Yallourn was affiliated with the LVFL, Neville was the only player to top the list. It was a notable achievement and should be placed on record.

Neville Linney (born in 1933) was somewhat of a ‘boy wonder’ in VFL football. He was recruited from Malvern Grammar to St Kilda. In his first season of… more

YALLOURN FOOTBALL CLUB 1945 -65

50 YEARS AGO ~ SEASON 1964…GARRY BUTLER & TED HEESOM

1964 was a season of ‘lost opportunity’ and several narrow defeats proved frustrating and indeed costly for YFC that year. During the season YFC had beaten Moe in Round:10 and had also defeated a powerful Maffra team in Round:12. Such wins indicated the team’s potential to match it with the ‘best in the competition’ but the club ‘paid the price’ for a slow start to the season.

After nineteen home and away games the LVFL Ladder in 1964 looked like this:-
TEAM W D L For Agst… more

YALLOURN FOOTBALL CLUB 1945-65

60 YEARS AGO

1954 ~ A NEW ERA & CHALLENGE FOR THE BLUES.

YALLOURN FC AGM IN 1954
1954 was one of the most significant seasons in the history of the Yallourn Football Club and the changes brought about by the formation of the new league were to have ramifications far and wide across Gippsland.

At the AGM in late March 1954, the following members of the Yallourn Football Club were elected as office bearers:-
President: Vic Johns
Vice Presidents: Harry O’Bern, George Lynch, Col Webster
Secretary-… more