Club history
On Saturday night, 3 June 1876, upwards of twenty gentlemen of the town of Albury assembled at Day's Commercial Chambers for the purpose of establishing a football club. The chair was occupied by Mr. M P Ryan. It was resolved on the proposal of Mr. John Day 'That a football club be established to be designated the Albury Football Club.' The following gentlemen were office bearers for the ensuing year – President – Mr. John Day, Treasurer and Secretary – Mr. Phillips. The committee agreed to adopt the Victorian rules of football.
It appears from newspaper reports that the first match that Albury played was against the Beechworth Football Club on the Beechworth Cricket Ground, on Saturday, 8 July 1876, with Dr. Duncan captaining the Albury side. [4]
There appears to be no newspaper records of the Albury Football Club in 1877.
On Saturday, 11 May 1878, a meeting was held at the Albury Hotel "to resuscitate the defunct football club....and that records of the original club were not extant". Dr. J C Duncan was elected president, John Wilkinson, Secretary and A Dawson, Treasurer. [5]
In April 1895 at an Ovens and Murray Football Association meeting, it was decided to let both Albury and Border United Football Club (Corowa based) join the O&MFA. [6]
In 1897 Albury had their team photo taken and can be viewed via this link. [7]
In 1910, the O&MFA had only three teams – Albury, Excelsior and Rutherglen with Rutherglen winning the premiership. [8]
Then in 1911, both Excelsior and Rutherglen applied to enter the Rutherglen and District Football Association. As a result, the O&MFA folded, with local teams attempting to apply to play in the Rutherglen & DFA. A ballot took place at a Rutherglen & DFA meeting on 29 April at Mackay's Hotel, Rutherglen which resulted in Balldale, North Albury, Rutherglen, South Albury and Wodonga being refused admission to join the association. Corowa, Excelsior and Lake Rovers were clubs that were admitted. [9] In 1911, the Albury Football Club was planning to divide the club into South Albury and North Albury teams, but as they were not admitted into the Rutherglen & DFA, the club went into recess in 1911. [10]
Albury FC and Rutherglen FC were admitted into the Rutherglen & DFA in 1912. [11]
After a three-year break due to World War I, the O&MFA reformed for the 1919 season with only four clubs, Border United Football Club (Corowa based), Howlong, Lake Rovers and Rutherglen. [12] Albury Football Club was reformed in early 1919 and played in the Albury Senior Football Association with two teams – South Albury and North Albury, [13] with St. Patrick's FC defeating South Albury Football Club in the grand final on the Albury Sportsground. [14]
In 1920 the O&MFA did not reform; "It seems strange that the O&MFA has apparently been allowed to die a natural death" with only two club's present at the O&MFA – AGM, [15] [16] with some clubs moving to play in the Chiltern & DFA and Coreen & DFA.
In 1920, Albury lost the Albury Senior Football Association semi final to Diggers. [17]
In March, 1924, Albury FC and the Diggers FC decided to amalgamate and apply for admission into the Ovens and Murray Football League as Albury Football Club. [18]
In 1927, Albury appointed former West Adelaide Football Club captain/coach and 1922 Magarey Medallist, Robert "Bobby" Barnes as coach. [19]
On 5 March 1929 at an O&MFL meeting, most club's were very much opposed to the professionalism and paying of players payments to Albury, Hume Weir and St. Patrick's FC footballers, in which the financial resources required were out of reach for the existing clubs - Beechworth, Corowa, Rutherglen and Wangaratta. These clubs were also opposed to the pooling of gate takings too. These clubs demanded that the Albury clubs must have certain restrictions imposed on them so the other clubs could be competitive, basically to restrict the number of imported and paid players and coaches by imposing strict residential qualifications. [20]
On 17 March 1929 at an O&M meeting it was proposed that three Albury club's be formed on a territorial / residential basis, [21] which meant that both the Albury and St. Patrick's football decided to disband and form a local Albury competition, [22] but both clubs later decided to form both East and West Albury football club's based on strict residential boundaries and apply for admission to the O&MFL. [23]
Both Albury and St. Patrick's did not disband due to religious tension or because of sectarian lines as reported at Ovens and Murray Football League, but due to pressure and new rules placed on them by other O&MFL club's to weaken their strength and to halt player payments by these two Albury teams. [24] These are actual documented facts as per the references/citations in the above two paragraphs. [25]
East Albury Football Club and Weir United Football Club merged in 1933 to become the Border United Football Club (Albury based) and wore green and white jumpers. [26] In 1933 West Albury Football Club changed its name to the Albury Football Club and remained in the West Albury colours of maroon and blue. [27]
At the 1934 O&MFL Annual General Meeting, the Albury FC requested to change it football jumpers to black and yellow, which was granted. [28]
Triple Brownlow Medallist and triple Sandover Medallist, Haydn Bunton senior played with the Albury Rovers Football Club in 1926 and 1927, then Albury Football Club in 1928 and 1929 [29] and then with West Albury Football Club in 1930 and 1931. The 1936 Brownlow Medallist, Denis Ryan actually played with the Albury Rovers Football Club, in the Albury & District Football League prior to joining Fitzroy Football Club in 1935.
In 1936, Border United Football Club (Albury based) would merge with the Albury FC when both clubs were short of players and both in debt and took on the name of Albury Football Club! [30]
Between 1927 and 1935, Albury Football Club and its affiliated club's participated in nine consecutive O&MFL grand finals: 1927 and 1928 – Albury; 1929, 1930, [31] 1931 and 1932 – West Albury; 1933, 1934 and 1935 – Border United. Albury FC then played in the 1937, 1939 and 1940 grand finals. Then immediately after the World War II recess, Albury played in the 1946, 1947 and 1948 grand finals, thus playing in 15 out of 17 grand finals, missing out in 1936 and 1938; a remarkable achievement!
This club history is a continual work in progress.
