By JESSE GRAHAM
THE HISTORY of Yarra Glen’s Football Club will be permanently on display, following the opening of specially-made boards to showcase the club’s 120-year-old stories and photographs.
The two large boards, which feature numerous historic photos from the club, detail the story of the Yarra Glen Football Club from its beginnings in 1888 through until present day.
Club life members Barry and Jennifer Smith helped to put together the boards with the help of Yarra Ranges Regional Museum staff, and the work was funded by a $5500 Yarra Ranges Council grant.
Yarra Ranges Council deputy mayor Maria McCarthy, Seymour MP and Eildon Candidate Cindy McLeish, Yarra Glen Football Netball Club current president Vinny Erickson and former president Mark Mays all attended the opening, with representatives of the Yarra Ranges Regional Museum.
Mr Erickson said he didn’t know how the history of the club would look being condensed onto two large boards, but added that he was happy with the result.
He congratulated Mr Smith and Yarra Ranges Regional Museum’s Megan Sheehy for their work on the boards.
“I’m sure there was a lot of debate about what was going to be up there, but you’ve worked amazingly well to get these on the boards,” he said.
The Yarra Glen Football Club has a rich history, starting out as the Yarra Flats Football Club – and playing some of its first games in a paddock – before changing its name in 1900.
The club won its first premiership in 1908, and took a recess with other sporting clubs in the area from 1939-1946, due to a number of members fighting in World War II.
In 2004, the club was renamed the Yarra Glen Football Netball Club.
Mr Erickson said that having the history of the club on display would be heartening for members new and old, and help in making future decisions for the club.
“It’s alright to make some big decisions going forward, but you need to have some sense of history,” he said.
“We’re very excited to have these.”
