BULN BULN
Current Affiliation: Ellinbank and District Football League (EDFL) since 1949
Home Ground: Station Street, Buln Buln
Colours: Red and blue
Emblem: Lyrebirds
Senior Premierships: Neerim District Football Association (NDFA) - 1923, 1925 (2 total); EDFL - 1956, 1965, 1979-80-1, 1994, 1997, 2001-2 (9 total)
Senior EDFL Best and Fairest Player Awards: Ted Higgs 1957; Charlie Pierrehumbert 1961 & 1963; Ron Serong 1965; Bob Mason 1969; Alan Black 1981; Gary Nooy 1996; Matt Gray 2005 (7 Medallists/8 Medals)
The precise origins of Buln Buln Football Club are unclear, but there is evidence of football being played in the locality at least as early as 1880, just three years after the establishment of the VFA. According to the club's website, the earliest known references to Buln Buln engaging in competitive fixtures date back to the first decade of the twentieth century when the club was a member of the Warragul District Junior competition. Details of this competition are sketchy, however, and it is not really until after the Great War that the Lyrebirds picture starts to be fleshed out.
During the 1920s Buln Buln began competing in the Neerim District Football Association, where it would remain until the end of the 1948 season. On two occasions, in 1923 and 1925, it was successful in claiming premierships.
The 1949 season saw Buln Buln transferring to the Ellinbank and District Football League, commencing an unbroken involvement that has continued to the present day. At first, the club found life in the new competition difficult, and it was not until 1955 that it first managed to qualify for the finals. Once this initial breakthrough had been made, however, progress was swift: in 1956 the Lyrebirds made their first grand final, downing Noojee-Neerim Junction by the narrowest of margins, and thereafter premierships would be added at a steady rate, including three in a row between 1979 and 1981. (Only once before in the history of the EDFL had a club won more than two senior premierships in succession.)
Buln Buln's most recent senior flag success in 2002 was arguably also its most memorable. Not only did the side's 11.14 (80) to 7.4 (46) grand final defeat of Lang Lang secure back to back premiership triumphs, itself an extremely noteworthy achievement in the context of a competition that was more competitive than ever, it also came as the climax of a truly remarkable unbeaten season. Not that the seniors of 2002 were the first team in Buln Buln's history to earn the title of champions; that feat had already been achieved on no fewer than five previous occasions, by the reserves in 1998, the Thirds in 1976 and 2001, and the Fourths in 1995 and 1999.
Clubs like Buln Buln are the true lifeblood of football. In recent seasons, the Lyrebirds have steadfastly managed, week in week out, to fulfill their fixtures in five different competitions (twelve if you include the netballers) - no mean achievement for a town that "only has a population of about 200, and that includes the dogs, cats and chooks" (see footnote 1). Moreover, in almost six decades of involvement in the EDFL the club has never once been forced to forfeit a match in any grade.
In 2006 the Lyrebirds seniors experienced a mixed season, finishing with 9 wins and a draw from their eighteen home and away matches, not quite good enough for finals participation. They fared even worse in 2007, managing just 5 wins for the year to finish 11th (of 14).
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Footnotes
1. The official Buln Buln club website at http://bulnbulnfc.vcfl.com.au/extra.asp?id=10585&OrgID=588. Return to Main Text