Murchison-Toolamba Football Netball Club

Murchison-Toolamba Football Netball Club, nicknamed the Grasshoppers, is an Australian Rules Football and Netball club that plays its home games in the small north eastern Victoria town of Murchison. Its name also recognises the initial 1952 merger with nearby town of Toolamba.^[1]

Murchison-Toolamba FNC
Names
Full name	Murchison-Toolamba Football Netball Club
Nickname(s)	Grasshoppers
Club details
Founded	1881; 144 years ago (1881)
Colours
Competition	Kyabram DFNL
Premierships	10 (1897, 1904, 1910, 1914, 1945, 1964, 1966, 1982, 2013, 2024)
Ground(s)	Murchison Recreation Reserve
Uniforms
Home

It now competes in the Kyabram District Football League, where they field four teams in four grades of football (Seniors, Reserves, Under 18's & Under 12's), and 13 teams across 10 grades of Netball (KDNL; A-Grade, B-Grade, C-Grade, C Reserve, Under 17's, Under 15's, Under 13's and Under 11's. TNA Div 1 - Murchison Green, Murchison Gold, TNA Div 2 - Murchison, Toolamba Pink, Toolamba Black).

History

The Murchison FC was established in 1881 and began in the Goulburn Valley Football League in 1895,^[2] then went to the Upper Goulburn Football Association in 1897.^[3]

Toolamba, which has a population of about 900, had its own football club for the first half of the 20th century. But the club, which played in various district leagues, ended up merging with nearby Murchison. The merged entity was initially known as Murchison-Toolamba, and evidence of this, in the form of a team photo, still hangs in the Junction Hotel in Toolamba.^{[citation needed]}

However, the Toolamba name was dropped when the club joined the Kyabram District league in 1964. For the next five decades the club was simply known as the Murchison Grasshoppers. The name Murchison-Toolamba was reinstated following a member vote on 14 April 2016^[4]

The club's current colours are bottle green with a gold sash, with some white highlights being added in 2012 to reduce the clashing with opposition clubs Rushworth and Lancaster.

The green with gold sash have been the colours of the club since 1910, before that the club wore black & white stripes with a green sash (1908–1909), Green & Gold Stripes with a Red Sash (1895–1907) and a Navy Jumper with Navy Knickerbockers, Red hose & Cap (1881–1894).

The 2018 senior football coach was Nick Iorianni,^[5] A Grade netball coach was Jenni McCluskey^[6] and the 2018 President was Craig Thompson.^[7]

The 2022 season saw Murchison-Toolamba FNC entered every possible KDL grade and all teams made finals. The Senior team went down in the decider by 10 points to Lancaster in torrential conditions.^[8]

Football Premierships

1st XVIII

• Upper Goulburn Football Association
  • 1897 - Murchison: 5.8 - 38 d Nagambie: 5.7 - 37^[9]
• Waranga Football Association
  • 1904 - Murchison: 1.3 - 9 d Rushworth: 1.1 - 7^[10]
• Goulburn Valley Football League
  • 1910 - Murchison: 13.9 - 87 d Echuca: 3.7 - 25^[11]
• Waranga North East Football Association
  • 1914 - Murchison: 7.5 - 47 defeated Nagambie: 4.8 - 32^[12]
• Euroa District Football Association
  • 1945 - Murchison: 26.17 - 173 d Euroa: 9.9 - 63^[13]
• Kyabram & District Football League
  • 1964 - Murchison: 14.14 - 98 d Merrigum: 3.7 - 25
  • 1966 - Murchison: 10.15 - 75 d Nagambie: 8.15 - 63
  • 1982 - Murchison: d Avenel
  • 2013 - Murchison: 16.19 - 115 d Stanhope: 12.12 - 84
  • 2024 - Murchison-Toolamba 13.13 - 91 d Shepparton East 6.8 - 44

Premierships 2nd XVIII

• Kyabram & District Football League
  • 1967, 1972, 1982, 2001, 2024
  • 2024 - Murchison-Toolamba 9.9 - 63 def Stanhope 3.3 - 21

Premierships 3rd XVIII

• 1970, 1980, 2010

Netball Premierships

• A Grade
  • Nil
• B Grade
  • Nil
• C Grade
  • 2012, 2013, 2014
• C Reserve
  • Nil
• 17 & Under
  • Nil
• 15 & Under
  • 2024
• 13 & Under
  • Nil
• 11 & Under
  • Nil