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Gumeracha was founded in 1839, just three years after the first colonists arrived and became an important staging post en-route between Adelaide and Mannum.  Its early sporting fortunes reflected its prominence in the colony. Australian football commenced in Victoria in the late 1850s and in South Australia within a few years. The South Australian Football league was established in 1877 but church, ploughing competitions and cricket consumed Gumeracha residents in its first fifty years!

The Gumeracha Football Club played its first match against Kensington on the Queen’s Birthday weekend in May 1887.  The match was probably played at the old cricket ground at the intersection of what is now John Fisher Avenue and Wellington Street.  It was reported that it was ‘… a very exciting game, [and] resulted in a draw slightly in favour of the home town, the result being Gumeracha 1 goal 6 behinds; Kensington, 1 goal 2 behinds.’ This was a tremendous first-up effort considering ‘… the majority of [the players] had never played before.’

Gumeracha quickly adopted black and white as its colours with the ‘Magpies’ emblem becoming common in the 1930s.

Football appears to have quickly taken a firm and enthusiastic grip on the local community and regular matches were played against country teams such as Mt Barker, Blumberg, Tanunda and Woodside while matches against city teams featured for many years.  There was no formal association or premiership trophy to play for.  Rather, a regular series of matches was played each season and reported on with great aplomb.

During this period in the late 19th century, a new playing field was established to the north of the original site and then, in about 1905, regular matches commenced at the ground which is still in use today.

These arrangements continued for the next two decades broken by World War I in 1914 when almost all football competitions in the country ceased.

Gumeracha did field a team in the Hills Football Association in 1907 but withdrew at the end of the season.

After World War I players returning from France and Palestine moved to create a formal competition.  Six teams (Birdwood, Gumeracha, Houghton, Tweedvale (Lobethal), Mt Pleasant and Kersbrook), established the Torrens Valley Football Association in 1921. Gumeracha immediately made its mark by finishing runners up to the inaugural premiers, Houghton. 1922 saw a reversal of fortunes with Gumeracha winning their first premiership and the J Hynes Trophy, donated by the local identity and long-standing President of the club. A win against Tweedvale at Birdwood in 1925 was the club’s second premiership.

Fierce rivalries were established with Tweedvale and Birdwood over the years.  Gumeracha’s first ‘golden era’ was in the 1930s with premierships in 1930-33 and 1935.  This included an undefeated run in 1931-32. 

Gumeracha commenced its first B grade teams in 1930 and, despite playing in many grand finals, won its only B Grade premiership in 1932.

World War II again temporarily stopped competition with a number of players serving their country against the Axis forces in Europe, North Africa and the South Pacific.

The Torrens Valley competition recommend in 1946 and Gumeracha achieved premiership success in 1947 to commence a lengthy run which saw the club compete in finals every year until 1959.  During this time premierships were achieved in 1949, 1951, 1956 and 1957 as part of the second ‘golden era’.

By the 1960s the lack of younger players to replace many key retiring players put pressure on the club to the extent that no team was fielded in 1965. Due to the efforts of a few determined individuals and the return of some players due to work, the team returned in 1966 and found immediate success by getting back into the finals that year.

The Torrens Valley Football Association merged with other associations to form the Hills Football League in 1967 which the club has competed in since that time.

After grand final losses to the very strong Pleasant Valley club in 1968 and 1969 a breakthrough premiership by a new generation of ‘Magpies’ occurred against Williamstown in 1970.  The club remained strong during the 1970s on the back of a flow of very talented junior players to the senior ranks into the early 1980s.  Senior Colts commenced in 1967 and Junior Colts in 1973 with considerable premiership success achieved over many years.

A Grade premiership success in 1982 and 1984 reflected the demographics of the time with football still strong backed up by a group of loyal younger players.

Things waned somewhat into the 1990s and 2000s.  The numbers of junior players decreased, the demographics of the district changed and other lifestyle pressures affected the club.  Very lean times existed in 2006-08 when the club collected the wooden spoon.

A group of passionate club and community supporters sought to return the club to its successful days and, after some challenging times, Gumeracha won the 2019 premiership against arch-rivals, Kersbrook - a gap of 35 years.

Since its formation in 1887, the club has been blessed by the quality of its players and administrators and the passion of its supporters.  Several players have gone onto prominent roles in various clubs in the South Australian National Football League.  These include Ivan Moore, Vic Stephens, Bill Guthrie, Ken Cornish, Dudley Bell, Ian Hanna and Sam Hanna.  Individual success in the Mail Medal has also come the way of a number of Gumeracha players including Ray Von Einem, Brian Teakle, Ben Hanna and Sam Hanna

The Gumeracha Football Club has displayed throughout its history passion about its community, pride in its heritage and a determination to be a thriving successful club which is enjoyed by players and supporters of all ages.

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Community. Heritage. Team.

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