History
A Town is built, a pioneering club is born (1921-)
Yallourn Soccer Club is widely credited as being among the catalyst for the success of soccer in the Latrobe Valley, [3] and for emerging as the Gippsland region's first truly powerful club.
Work on the Yallourn township began in 1921 to house employees of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SECV), who operated the nearby Yallourn Power Station complex - and within two years, the Yallourn Soccer Club was formed. [4]
The club's first president was a pioneering figure of sport in Yallourn, W. H. Brewer. Nicknamed "Dad", [5] not only was Brewer the first president of Yallourn Soccer Club, he was president of the Central Gippsland Soccer Association for two years. His reputation as the "father of Yallourn's sporting bodies" was cemented by being president of Yallourn Football Club for 12 seasons, president (and founding member) of the Yallourn Cricket Club for 16 season and the first president of the Yallourn Oval Trust - and a founding member of the Yallourn Bowling Club, serving as both president and vice-president. [6]
Initially, Yallourn Soccer Club was made up of various teams: 'White Rose' and 'Thistle' played against each other in the first known soccer match in Warragul on October 25, 1924 [7] 'Wanderers' and 'Rovers' were soon added and then 'Celtic', 'Swifts' and 'Milita' followed. Yallourn was part of the first known soccer match in the Latrobe Valley, on July 12, 1924, [8] when a side combined of Hill Rovers and Yallourn White Rose played a combined side of Moe Rangers and Morwell United, the latter side winning 2-1. The match took place in Moe, prior to an Australian Rules football match between Moe and Longwarry. [9]
The club made headlines when they signed former England international John Elvey for a single season in 1925. Having played for Luton Town, Bolton Wanderers and Arsenal, Elvey was arguably the most credentialed footballer to set foot in Australia at that point. In 1920, Elvey had moved from Luton to Bolton for the then-record fee of GBP £2,500, but by 1925 had accepted an offer to come to Australia and be engaged as a bricklayer in the construction of the boilers in the Yallourn 'A' Power Station. [10]
In one match against Sale United on 13 August 1925 - played on a makeshift field on a farm at the rear of the Turf Club Hotel in Sale - the Gippsland Mercury described Elvey's remarkable display: "The best players for the visitors were Elvey, McGregor, Dewey and House. Their consistency and systematic method of passing was splendid, and enabled them to win the day. Elvey's footwork was superb, and his technique showed himself a professional, for we are informed that he is an ex-Bolton Wanderers player (one of England's leading first Division teams) and was bought by that club from Luton from the sum of 3,500 [sic] pounds."
In 1926, Yallourn Thistle became the first Latrobe Valley side to play in the Dockerty Cup. After receiving a bye in the opening round, Thistle drew their first match 2-2 against Newport, [11] before bowing out 3-2 in a second round replay. [12]
From 1933, the club took part in the Central Gippsland Soccer Football Association - which featured two teams from Yallourn SC ('Wanderers' and 'Rovers') and a team from Yallourn North, 'Brown Coal Mine' (the former name of the Yallourn North township).
Rise to state and national prominence (1945-50)
Following a hiatus due to Second World War, the Association eventually evolved into Latrobe Valley Soccer Association, giving birth to the Latrobe Valley Soccer League in 1951. Yallourn was one of the four founding clubs (along with Morwell, Heyfield and A.P.M Maryvale SC) and hosted Maryvale at Yallourn in the league's opening match on Saturday, July 15, 1951. The LVSL side was often described as Yallourn 'A', given the club's top two sides played seniors and reserves in the metropolitan competition at the time.
In 1947, Yallourn SC was granted entry into the Men's State League, and were granted permission to join 'Section B' of the metropolitan league's highest division., [13] commencing their State League journey away to Coburg on April 19, 1947. [14] After three years in the State's top tier, Yallourn were relegated to Division Two in 1949 after finishing second last. [15]
However, the team finished as runners up behind Western Suburbs in 1950, earning direct promotion back to the top flight as the game began to flourish beyond all expectations in what was still a relatively small town of just 5000 residents. [16]
By 1950, Yallourn had as many as 15 teams, including 12 schoolboy teams [17] - and smaller clubs, such as Red Triangle Yallourn (composed of workers from the town's East and West Camps) and the Yallourn YMCA. [18] [19]
Such was the strength of Yallourn's junior development programs that the club's youth team went through the 1950 Metropolitan season undefeated - then defeating champion NSW champions Charlestown United and South Australian team Norwood, with had three players picked for Victoria. [20]
Yallourn SC also made the quarter-finals of the Dockerty Cup - twice - losing at that stage to Park Rangers in 1948 and eventual champions Moreland City in 1950.
Yallourn's reserves side not only won the 1950 Division Two championship (losing only once) [21] but also made the 1950 Reserve Cup final. In front of 4000 fans at Olympic Park, Yallourn came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 against first division side South Yarra, only to lose the replay. [22]
'Miracle men': First country team to win an Australian state league title (1951)
After winning promotion in 1950 to the highest division in the Victorian State League, Yallourn was crowned Victorian Champions in 1951. Yallourn won the league title by four points, losing only once all season - a 6-0 hammering at home to Prahran. [23] However, Yallourn won their last five matches to finish four points clear of Sunshine United and five points clear of Brighton. [24]
1951 Yallourn team Starting XI vs South Yarra (A) (Aug 4, 1951)
[25] The Championship was secured on the final day of the season (Saturday, August 4, 1951) when the side travelled to Melbourne to play South Yarra. Despite losing captain Charlie Pyke to injury just before the interval, a "glorious shot" by G. Campbell three minutes after half-time gave Yallourn the lead, before the title was secured with a majestic free-kick - described as "one of best goals was scored that anyone would ever see" - by Ray Rowe on 65 minutes. Whilst South Yarra scored soon after, Yallourn would run out 2-1 victors and become the first regional team to win an Australian state league championship. [26]
However, the club was unable to celebrate becoming champions on the day, for they would have to wait until their appeal against a two point fine for an incorrect team sheet entry against Box Hill in May was heard on August 13. The appeal was successful, with Box Hill officials defending Yallourn and persuading the Victorian Amateur Soccer Football Association Council to drop the points deduction. Yallourn were instead fined £3, and second-placed Sunshine United - who still had a match to play - were now four points behind, officially handing Yallourn the title. [27]
Arrival of migrant-backed power clubs makes State League life harder (1952-64)
Yallourn would finish fifth in 1952 but were relegated in 1953, and while they were promoted again in 1954, they suffered relegation in 1955 - spelling the end of their period as a top tier club. [28]
In 1955, Yallourn's standout young goalkeeper Phillip Blunt was called up to represent an Australian XI [29] against Hong Kong (then known as South China) at the Melbourne Showgrounds. [30]
Blunt became a leading player for Yallourn and later became a well-known goalkeeping coach in the Gippsland region, right up until his death in 2015, by which point he was still assisting at Gippsland Soccer League club Trafalgar Victory. [31]
Yallourn joins LVSL, soon returns to Metropolitan leagues (1964-1994)
As part of a controversial plan to boost regional soccer by the newly formed Victorian Soccer Federation, all non-metropolitan clubs were eliminated from the State Leagues from the start of 1964, meaning Yallourn were forced back into the Latrobe Valley Soccer League. [32]
They immediately won league championships in 1964 and 1966 and a hat-trick of Battle of Britain Cups (1964, 1965 and 1966) before being allowed to re-enter the Metropolitan leagues, albeit at the bottom tier - winning the 1967 Victorian Metropolitan League Division Four at the first attempt. [33] Yallourn would also win the 1968 Victorian Metropolitan League Division Three [34] and 1970 Victorian Metropolitan League Division Two, [35] making it three promotions in four years.
Preparing for the end: Yallourn town closes for good (1978-1994)
Yallourn spent three years in the State's second-highest league before suffering back-to-back relegations, as houses began to be moved from Yallourn in preparation for the town's closing - a decision made by the SEC in 1968 which was being gradually undertaken throughout the 1970s. [36]
The club was the highest ranked of any Gippsland team until the 1978 season, when the Morwell Falcons were promoted to the Victorian Metropolitan League Division Three, finishing 3rd, three places ahead of Yallourn. [37]
In 1980, with the decommissioning of Yallourn almost complete, the club moved to WH Burrage Reserve in Newborough, where the club still plays today. Many Yallourn residents relocated to Newborough, as did many of the actual homes. [38]
Whilst the club remained in the third division for 14 years from 1976 to 1989, four relegations in six years between 1989 and 1994 saw the club fall away as a major force.
Newborough-Yallourn United Soccer Club (1995-)
With the township of Yallourn raized and the Yalloun Open Cut mine sitting in its place - including the No.3 Oval where the club played for more than 60 years - Yallourn Soccer Club would merge with Newborough Soccer Club, co-tenants at Burrage Reserve, in 1995.
The club was highly competitive in the Victorian Provisional League Division 3 and Division 2 during the 1990s, never finishing below fifth from 1995 to 2000. But relegations in 2002 and 2004 appeared to snuff out hope of a return to higher grades, and the decision was made to re-join the Latrobe Valley Soccer League in 2005.
The club achieved notoriety in 2015 when it fielded four sets of brothers in its men's senior league match against Trafalgar Victory - the first known instance of its kind in Australia. [39]
Far from finding life easy in the LVSL - one of the strongest regional leagues in Australia - the merged entity had to wait until 2019 for their first league title, when they stunned the competition to emerge as runaway league champions, sealing the championship with a 4-1 victory over Moe United. [40]
