Omeo & District Football League - History

History

The first recorded football competition in the upper Tambo Valley region, often referred to as the Omeo District, dates from 1893, and some type of official competition has continued essentially uninterrupted from this time. In 1923 the competition was renamed the Omeo District Football League (ODFL), and it has continued with this name until the present day.

Throughout most of its history the ODFL and its precedents has contained teams from the four main towns of the Omeo District, namely Benambra, Ensay, Omeo, and Swifts Creek. In earlier days, during the times of gold rushes and shortly thereafter when the population of the region was significantly higher, a team from the now minor locality of Cassilis (originally known as Long Gully) was also regularly involved, and records indicate other historical localities also fielded teams.

The league was named for Omeo, the largest town and traditionally the administrative centre of the region. The area was commonly referred to as the Omeo District, and existed as the independent local government Shire of Omeo, or Omeo Shire, until it was amalgamated with several other shires into the newly formed Shire of East Gippsland in 1994.

In historical times the region was relatively isolated, with the remote 52 km section of the Omeo Highway (now the Great Alpine Road) between Ensay and Bruthen mainly unsealed and regularly impassable, especially during the winter months. This made the road slow to navigate, especially before readily available motorised transport became common. This was the reason for the historical governmental separation of the region despite its low population, and explained the need for the small isolated football league.