‘A History of the Stawell Football Club’ was launched at the Stawell Football and Netball Club clubrooms with former Essendon and Port Adelaide premiership player Gavin Wanganeen in attendance.

The launch was sponsored was Espresso Essential and it was a successful night, with Wanganeen giving away coffee machines to audience members as well as conducting a question and answer session.

Written by Stawell historian, Jim Melbourne, the book is a chronological timeline of football in Stawell and the district from 1874-2011.

It details how the first Stawell Football Club committee was formed in 1874 and in the same year two matches were played against Ararat, both resulting in nil-all draws.

Low scoring was a feature of the game for many years until the game slowly changed as new rules were introduced.

Stawell’s first club colours were introduced in 1877 and the uniform consisted of a blue and white guernsey, red cap, blue knickerbockers (long shorts) and red stockings.

The current club colours, red and black, started in 1883 and although they have remained unchanged, the design of the guernsey has altered a number of times over the years.

Umpires were not used for several years and captains of both teams controlled the matches.

The first fence around Stawell’s home ground, Central Park, was erected in 1894 and this stopped spectator invasion onto the playing area which had been a very annoying problem for many years.

A dressing room was first made available for visitors in 1923.

A round (or spherical) football was used for the first 30 years in the Stawell district before an oval ball was introduced in 1904.

The book highlights how matches were played with two halves before changing to four quarters in 1886, 22 years after Stawell Football Club was established.

There is a lot of information about not just the Stawell team, but the Wimmera Football League (WFL).

Wimmera football was first played in 1888 when a competition was formed between Stawell, Murtoa, Ararat, Rupanyup and Horsham.

The Wimmera District Football Association started in 1903 and from that year, four points were introduced for the winning teams and two points for a draw to enable a ladder to be introduced.

Nine years later, Wimmera District finals were introduced.

Prior to 1912, the team with the most wins over the season was the winner of the season’s competition and percentages were first used in Wimmera matches in 1929 to determine the position of teams on the ladder.

Wimmera District Football League commenced in 1921 - this was a forerunner of the Wimmera Football League which commenced in 1937.

There are now nine teams in the WFL - Stawell, Ararat, Horsham, Horsham Saints, Horsham RSL Diggers, Minyip Murtoa, Nhill and Warrack Eagles.

‘A History of the Stawell Football Club’ is now available at Stawell Football and Netball Club clubrooms, Stawell Drycleaners and Foster’s Mensland for $25 (non members) and $20 (members).

Key facts mentioned in ‘A History of the Stawell Football Club’ include:

* Stawell welcomed the appointment of their first senior coach in 1913, replacing the captain as being in charge of the team.

* The first non-playing Stawell coach was former Hawthorn player and premiership coach John Kennedy who took charge in 1965.

* Stawell’s seconds (now called reserves) started in the early 1950s and became an established fixture in 1969.

* The thirds (under 16s and later under 17s) started in 1977 and fourths (under 14s) in 1999.

* Stawell participated in their first WFL night match in 1995.

* The Stawell Football and Netball Club commenced and became incorporated in 1999.

* Stawell Football (and Netball Club) seniors have won eight premierships and have been runner up 15 times (including four in a row) since the WFL began in 1937.