Clubs go through peaks and troughs throughout the course of their history, which for some totals more than 100 years.
Which is why the high points, especially for a smaller town such as Mathoura, are celebrated appropriately.
That will be the case ahead of the round seven clash against Katunga, with the club’s 1973 and 1993 flags, and its coterie of local legends from that time, to be celebrated at Mathoura Recreation Reserve on Saturday.
The 50th anniversary of the ’73 triumph will see members from both the senior and reserves premiership teams come together once more while Mathoura’s most recent successful senior side, the ’93 team, will recognise 30 years since the win over Waaia.
A winning premiership player in 1993, current coach and reunion organiser Tim McCormick said it would be exciting to look back at some of the most crucial days in the club’s history.
“We’ve got them coming from as far as Noosa (for the reunion) and it looks like we have the majority of the remaining players,” McCormick said.
“It’s going to be a great day.”
Formalities will get under way at 1pm at the Legends Shed while current players fight for supremacy over the Swans.
Mathoura were nine-point winners over heavy favourites Echuca South back in the old Echuca Football League, toppling Terry Stockton’s men at Victoria Park in the 1973 decider.
It was a special day made better by the fact that the reserves were 26-point victors over South, rounding out a premiership double and sparking mad celebrations among the town’s 440-strong population at the time.
Twenty years later the class of ’93, also the underdog coming into its grand final against the dominant Waaia, managed to trounce the Bombers at Katunga Recreation Reserve.
The reunion won’t just be an opportunity for past players to reminisce about the good old days, but also the spectators and family members of the time who were on hand to witness those games.
McCormick, Russell Maloney, Les Bates and Stephen O’Callaghan recounted what were two historic days for the Mathoura Football Netball Club on page 17 of today’s edition of the Riverine Herald, and why the stories of those successes might hold the key for Mathoura as it embarks on a rebuilding stage.
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