The YVMDFL will have a few marquee rounds in 2014, one of those being the Indigenous Round 12 on July 5. There is a sizable history to indigenous football in the Yarra Valley, due largely to the population that has existed near Healesville since the creation of the Coranderrk Aboriginal Reserve in 1863 (Coranderrk station was closed 60 years later in 1923).
The area has produced VFL/AFL players such as Jim Wandin (St.Kilda), David Wirrpanda (West Coast) and Sean Charles (Melbourne)
There have been 2 teams that have represented this community - Coranderrk in the pre-WW1 era and more recently Worowa. Coranderrk FC was formed in 1894 and was captained by Alex Rowan who had tried out with South Melbourne in 1892. Due to logistical issues they did not often compete for premierships but usually played matches amongst themselves. On one of the few occasions they did enter, they won the Yarra Valley premiership of 1911.
As a collector of various paraphernalia linked to football history, I recently found a postcard from around 1905 showing a game being played at Coranderrk. This would be the oldest action photo of football in the Yarra Valley that I know of and may be of interest to others. The "action" photo is clearly staged for the photographer but is an interesting image of football in the valley from around 110 years ago.
The area has produced VFL/AFL players such as Jim Wandin (St.Kilda), David Wirrpanda (West Coast) and Sean Charles (Melbourne)
There have been 2 teams that have represented this community - Coranderrk in the pre-WW1 era and more recently Worowa. Coranderrk FC was formed in 1894 and was captained by Alex Rowan who had tried out with South Melbourne in 1892. Due to logistical issues they did not often compete for premierships but usually played matches amongst themselves. On one of the few occasions they did enter, they won the Yarra Valley premiership of 1911.
As a collector of various paraphernalia linked to football history, I recently found a postcard from around 1905 showing a game being played at Coranderrk. This would be the oldest action photo of football in the Yarra Valley that I know of and may be of interest to others. The "action" photo is clearly staged for the photographer but is an interesting image of football in the valley from around 110 years ago.
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