The original Rutherglen FC was established in 1877, with the first recorded match being against Wahgunyah Football Club on Wednesday, 3 June 1877.[1]
Football was played intermittently in the club's formative years against other local towns and districts in the late 1870s and 1880s before it joined the Ovens And Murray Football Association in 1893 as one of four original teams.
The club was based at Rutherglen's Barkly Park, located just off Reid Street and just north-west of the town's center.
It was a powerhouse in the Ovens And Murray Football Association during its early days competing in many finals.
The birth of the Cats (1979)
Following the establishment of the Corowa-Rutherglen Roos in 1979, after the merger of the Corowa Spiders and the Rutherglen Redlegs, a number of surplus players decided to form the Rutherglen-Corowa Cats (known in some record books as the Corowa-Rutherglen Cats). Wearing a navy blue and white hooped jersey along with navy blue shorts and navy blue and white hooped socks for the majority of its history, the club was based at Barkly Park. It joined the Coreen & District Football League, based around the farming districts north of Corowa, New South Wales. The club enjoyed 13 short but successful seasons in the Coreen & District Football League, winning a total of 16 Premierships across the three respective grades, including three senior premierships from eight grand final appearances.
After the 1991 season the club left the New South Wales-based Coreen & District football League for the Victorian Ovens & King Football League, based around the greater Wangaratta area and encompassing many former gold-rush communities. It spent 11 seasons in the Ovens & King Football League, where neither the senior side nor the reserve side contested a grand final. However, the Under 16s contested four grand finals from 1999 to 2002, claiming the club's sole premiership in 2001 over Bright by 29 points at the Tarrawingee Rec Reserve. The club officially changed its name to the Rutherglen Football Club in 2002, dropping the Corowa name 23 years after the merger. At the end of the 2003 season, the Beechworth Football Club and the Rutherglen Football Club applied for an application to join the Tallangatta & District Football League, but were refused by the Ovens and King board. The clubs took an appeal to the Victoria Country Football League and won the right to join the Tallangatta & District Football League for the 2004 season.
The Victorian Tallangatta & District Football League is based around the small towns and farming districts near Tallangatta with every finals match being held at the Sandy Creek Oval, locally referred to as the "MCG of the Bush". Since joining, the club's jersey has been varied slightly to re-introduced the white monogrammed "RFC" of the Redlegs along with keeping the navy blue and white hoops of the Cats. While the club still hasn't tasted premiership success at senior or reserve levels after playing a number of final series, the club won its first Tallangatta & District Football League Premiership in 2007 when the Under 14s defeated Yackandanda by three points. Traditionally, the club does not play on the Queen's Birthday Weekend as the town hosts the annual Winery Walkabout. However, in 2016 the Corowa-Rutherglen Roos moved their OMFL and Round 11 match against the Wodonga Bulldogs to Barkly Park.
The club's numbers have continued to grow each season, including club staff, supporters and sponsors.
1 G. Tobias was named in the Team of the Century for his career with the Corowa FC. He was also a foundation player for the Corowa-Rutherglen FC in 1979
^The original "Rutherglen FC" had been founded in 1893. In 1978 this club merged with Corowa Spiders to form "Corowa-Rutherglen FC". Additionally surplus players formed the "Rutherglen-Corowa Cats" in 1979
