Historical information

Emerald Football Club was formed in 1905, one of the first teams in the Mountain District Football Association (renamed the Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League in 1967). The club has changed its official colours three times, playing firstly under blue and white colours, then green and gold before adopting the red and black colours shown in the photograph and still used today. The club has also been known variously as the 'Emites', the 'Redlegs' and the current 'Bombers.'

Emerald Football Club won the Senior Premiership three times under the auspice of the Mountain District Football Association, in 1931, 1945-46 and 1955-56; implying that this photograph is of the team that retained the Premiership in 1946. The team (in combination with the Netball team) has also won Senior Premierships four teams as part of the Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League/Yarra Ranges Football Netball League Division Two in 1981, 1983, 1997 and 2015.

A joint Australian Football League (AFL) and La Trobe University Centre for Sport and Social Impact study discusses the importance of local football teams for fostering community cohesion and relationships and distributing information and health and social issues to local people. Local football and other sporting teams are integral to the economic and social development of an area and are therefore significant far beyond the immediate players or families associated with the club.

Significance

The photograph is significant for its insights into the history of sports and recreation in the Emerald region. It depicts a key moment in the history of the Emerald Football Club (the 'Bombers') as it depicts members of the winning Premiership team of 1946. Australian Rules Football has a long history in the region and played a fundamental role in community life.

Physical description

Black and white rectangular photograph printed on photographic paper. The photograph depicts nineteen men and one boy facing the camera in three main rows. The people depicted are wearing dark sports jerseys with a stylised logo containing the letters 'EFC (Emerald Football Club)'. The sleeve of a man in an overcoat can be seen at the left-hand side of the photograph, two cars of 1940s design and a grove of trees can be seen in the rear.

Inscriptions & markings

Obverse:
2. /

Reverse:
VEMUP0810 /
PREMIERS 1946 /
2 /