North Albury Football Club
| North Albury | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Names | |
| Full name | North Albury Football Club |
| Nickname(s) | Hoppers |
| Club details | |
| Founded | 1943 |
| Colours | Green Yellow |
| Competition | Ovens & Murray Football League |
| Premierships | 6 (1948, 1955, 1980, 1984, 1999, 2002) |
| Ground(s) | Bunton Park (every home game) |
| Sarvas Park (preaseason training) | |
The North Albury Football Club, nicknamed The Hoppers, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Ovens & Murray Football League (O&MFL). They are incorporated as part of the North Albury Sports Club licensed club at Bunton Park in North Albury, Albury, where they play their home matches. The club has won six O&MFL premierships. The Hoppers currently play in forest green guernseys with a gold vee and the "Hopper" logo on the right side. Previous guernsey designs included a dark green and gold design similar to the West Coast Eagles' classic wingtip design (up to 2008) and a gold design with two dark green vees over the yoke. The club song is a version of "Join in the Chorus" with some words altered from the AFL Kangaroos version.
The club was formed in 1943, and for the first few years of their existence played in the Chiltern & District Football League, then moved to the O&MFL in 1947. For a short time in the early 1950s they also played a reserves team in the Hume Football League. Bunton Park was established during the post-World War II period in an area that was quickly becoming established with housing. Bunton Park is named after Cleaver Bunton, long-time mayor of Albury, rather than his famous footballing brother Haydn Bunton, although neither played for North Albury.
In the early 1980s the club was beset by financial difficulties causing it to fall in arrears in paying match payments to its players. In the meantime the club committee was endeavouring to establish a licensed club at its ground, which would allow it to serve alcohol outside of match times and house poker machines. With the establishment of the licensed club in 1984, the club's future in the O&MFL was secured.
A large number of North Albury players have gone on to play in the VFL/AFL, such as 1984 Morris Medallist Rudy Yonson, who played a number of games with the Sydney Swans, and most famously Brett Kirk, who played with North Albury up to the 1998 season and then joined the rookie list of the Sydney Swans on trial the following year, later being elevated to the main list and being an integral part of the Swans' 2005 premiership-winning side.
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