Upper Murray Football Netball League

Establishment (1892-1893)

During the 1892/1983 summer three of the regions cricket clubs agreed to the establishment of a competition in order to keep their players fit during the winter break. The three founding clubs were Corryong, Cudgewa, and Mount Elliot, and in early 1893 the Corryong Football Association was officially established.

The league is one of the oldest Football Leagues in Victoria. It was established 16 years after the first Victorian Football Association (VFA/VFL) season, the same year as the first Ovens & Murray Football Association season, 4 years before the first Victorian Football League (VFL/AFL) season, and 10 years before the first Ovens & King Football Association season. Additional the league was established almost 1 year before the Corryong Courier newspaper was first published on January 25, 1894.

Corryong Football Association (1893-1899)

During the first five years of the association only the three founding clubs competed in the competition, and the premiership was awarded to the club that finished in 1st position on the ladder. The only exception was in 1896 when Cudgewa FC defeated Mount Elliot FC in the first grand final played, unfortunately the details of this occasion are now lost. The other early premiers included Corryong FC (1893, 1895, 1899) and Mount Eliot FC (1894, 1897, 1898).

At the start of the 1898 season the competition expanded for the first time in its short history to include a fourth football club, the Walwa FC , representing the township of Walwa, Victoria. The addition of the Walwa FC to the competition was seen as a success, and during their second season they finished in second position on the 1899 Ladder.

The same season, 1899, the competition expanded to include a fifth football club, Khancoban FC representing the township of Khancoban, New South Wales. However the addition of the Khancoban FC to the competition was less successful. Only lasting two seasons, they finished in third and fourth respectively.

Upper Murray Football Club Association (1900-1901)

At the start of the 1900 season the competition renamed itself to the Upper Murray Football Club Association , and after the 1900 season the Khancoban FC went into recess for the first time.

In recognition of the Federation of Australian states in 1901, the Mount Elliot FC was selected as the Victorian club to renamed itself to the Federal FC . This happened in most states and today there is no evidence of any other Federal FC still being active.

Upper Murray Football Association (1902-1903)

At the start of the 1902 season the league name changed again, to the Upper Murray Football Association .

Corryong District Association (1904-1906)

At the start of the 1904 season the league name changed again, to the Corryong District Association , also the Federal FC relocated from Mount Elliot, Vic to Corryong, Vic.

The Khancoban FC relocated from Khancoban, NSW to Towong, Vic in 1904 and became the Towong FC before renaming to Towong Wanderers FC in 1905. Then in 1906 they relocated again to Thowgla, Vic and became the Thowgla FC, this move would result in the clubs first premiership success, Thowgla 4.6 (30) defeating Corryong 2.8 (20).

Upper Murray Football Association (1907-1936)

The historic "Corryong Grandstand" was built around 1907 by Tom Greenhill, this beautiful old grandstand is an icon of the Upper Murray community and was built around the same time and done in a similar style to the grandstand at the Towong Turf Club.

In 1907 Cudgewa won the right to challenge the minor premiers, Corryong, in the grand final, but Corryong refused to play because an umpire for the grand final was not sourced from Albury, NSW.

By 1908, with a re-found form of success, Thowgla FC relocated back to Khancoban, NSW and renamed back to Khancoban FC and were runners-up in 1908, this was to be the last grand final match for the club. By 1910 the Corryong FC won its fourth straight premiership; 1907 (tied with Cudgewa FC), 1908, 1909, 1910.

From 1912–1913 Khancoban FC relocated to Tintaldra, Vic and became known as Tintaldra FC.

After the 1914 season the premiers of Tallangatta and Mitta Mitta Football Association, Federated Railways (a merged club formed by "Tallangatta FC" & "Tallangatta Valley FC"), traveled to Corryong Park to play the Combined Corryong team of both the Corryong & Federal football club's. As reported in the Corryong Courier on Thursday August 20, "The ground was in excellent order , and there was a large attendance of spectators." The Final scores were, Combined Corryong 9 goals & 12 behinds, Federated Railways 6 goals & 10 behinds. As far as records indicate, excluding Inter-League matches, this is the only time that players from the arch-rival football clubs of Corryong & Federal have played together as one club.

In 1916, with a lack of players in the region due to the First World War the Upper Murray Football Association went into recess.

In 1918 the association restarted but the 1918 and 1919 seasons were restricted to half seasons still due to a lack of players after the First World War

By 1920 the competition was now representing only three townships, with four competing clubs Corryong, Cudgewa, Federal and Walwa.

Upper Murray Football League (1937-2000)

In 1950 the round 5 match between Corryong and Cudgewa seen a then record gate takings of £30.

The UMFNL was also a part of the former recruiting zone known as VFL Country Recruiting Zone no.11, which from the 1960s to the 1980s was controlled by South Melbourne. However no players were ever recruited from the Upper Murray under the zoning rules to play for South Melbourne.

The Upper Murray Football League won the North East Riverina Leagues Championships in 1976, & 1977 with Kevin Mack as Captain-Coach & John Cornish as Vice Captain. Also in 1977 John Cornish (from Tumbarumba FC) winning "Best player from all leagues in series", Kevin Mack (from Corryong FC) winning "Best player on ground against Hume League", & Craig Whitehead (from Corryong FC) winning "Best player on ground against Ovens & King".

Upper Murray Football Netball League (2001-Present)

The 2001 season saw a lot of changes for the league including the resumption of the Reserve Grade football competition after it folded in 1995, and the junior football competition changed from Under 18s to Under 16s. The introduction of a netball competition being run in conjunction with the football competition, sharing the same club names, colors and playing venues. The largest change seen the Bullioh Valley Football Club reforming in late 2000 as Bullioh Football Netball Club. In 2001 both the VCFL & UMFNL admitted the club into the competition for the 2001 season, despite protests of concerns that Bullioh would pinch players from both the Cudgewa FNC & the Tallangatta Valley FNC.

Unfortunately, since the 2002 season there have currently been no official Inter-League matches, the only exceptions are a handful of Junior Carnivals the last one attended was a AFL North East Border carnival in 2009, & the senior Netballer's since 2006 have regularly attended the Albury Indoor Carnival, normally held in October, after all the regions competitions have ended. The AFL North East Border other league's, the Ovens & Murray Football League, the Ovens & King Football League, & the Tallangatta & District Football League, along with AFL New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory league, the Hume Football League, have agreements with either The AFL Victorian Country Championships or other leagues across Victoria & New South Wales leaving the Upper Murray without the option for an opponent for most years.

On September 2, 2014, it was announced that there were plans to demolish the historic 108-year-old Corryong Grandstand as part of plans to refurbish the Towong Grandstand at the Towong Turf Club. Sadly the Corryong Grandstand is not heritage listed either Nationally or with Victoria. After public backlash from the Upper After gathering submissions from members of the community, the group had a meeting with VCAT scheduled for Friday April 10, 2015, in Melbourne, but was later reschedule for Friday May 8, 2015, in Wodonga. An announcement regarding its fate was scheduled to take place on Monday June 1, 2015. In the Thursday September 10, 2015 edition of the Corryong Courier the grandstand made the front page with the headline reading "LAST STAND? Death knell sounds for grandstand."

In a first for the local area, the 2015 Round 13 (August 1, 2015) clash between Bullioh & Cudgewa at Tallangata Valley saw the match abandoned by the Umpire. During play in the third quarter Bullioh's Matt Tyrell was reported & requested to leave the ground by the Umpire. After five (5) minuets had past and Tyrell had refused to leave the field of play, a new rule allowed the Umpire officially abandon the match. As the incident has occurred after half time the scores were declared final and Cugdewa officially awarded the four premiership points, "Bullioh 2.1 (13) def. by Cudgewa 8.12 (60)." During that week's tribunal Bullioh's Matt Tyrell was cleared to play the following week after they took into account his excellent playing record, while teammate Taylor Fenton received a one-week suspension for abusive language from the same game.

As part of the AFL Victoria Country reforms to league operations a player point cap system will be introduced from the start of the 2016 season. Fellow league's the Ovens and Murray, the Tallangatta and District, and the Ovens and King will also see the introduction of a player point cap system while the Hume league introduced the change to their league for the start of the 2015 season. For the UMFNL the player points cap has been set at 46 for 2016 before it drops by four in 2017.

Current Finals System

The UMFNL currently uses the "Page–McIntyre system". The final series is played over four Saturdays, with the Grand Final traditionally being played on the first weekend of September. A home ground advantage is awarded to teams only according to the Senior Grade Football , with all finals for both Football & Netball are played at the one venue during each final day. Unlike other leagues in the local area, the Grand Final is not played at a natural venue (Like the TDFL) or traditional venue (Like the HFL), instead the winner of the 1st Semi-Final for the Senior Grade Football is awarded hosting rights for that season's grand final.

Senior Grade Honour Boards

Notes
1907: Cudgewa won the right to challenge the minor premiers, Corryong, who refused to play because an umpire for the grand final was not sourced from Albury, NSW.
1918–1919: Only a half season was played due to a lack of footballers during and after World War I.
1945–1946: Only a half season was played due to a lack of footballers during and after World War II.

Ladder

KEY: [?] = Details are still unclear or are missing.

Grand Finals

KEY: [?] = Details are still unclear or are missing.

National League Players

T.B.A.

Inter-League matches

T.B.A.