The rise & fall of the 'Manchester United of Victoria' who 'rescued' Aussie football. and then dropped 6 tiers
Sorry Matt (and Ed) … A Welcome to Wrexham rise through the football pyramid has already happened in Australia, but no one knew about it then and many still don't. A little-known outer suburban club climbed from obscurity out of Victoria's lowest division to the national league in almost even time.
It began before streaming services, YouTube, the internet, VHS and even colour TV, when soccer was definitely called soccer. Had this happened in American sports, it would be a movie starring Gene Hackman.
But this is Australia, where football history is lucky to rate a footnote amongst fans and foes alike. That club is my club: Mooroolbark.
WATCH SEASON 1 EPISODE 3 OF BREAKING BARRIERS BELOW OR ON FOOTBALL360 YOUTUBE FULL EPISODE: Breaking Barriers S1E3 Even though I should be searching for jobs, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to pen a tome to the club that has stolen my heart. How Mooroolbark ended up in the Philips Soccer League, as the NSL was initially known for sponsorship reasons, is folklore.
But as Matt said last week, it's a cautionary tale for clubs with big aspirations, don't overextend yourselves, otherwise the fall could be as big as the ascent. Mooroolbark plays at Esther Park, a compact ground in the shadow of Mt Dandenong and its TV towers.
Some 34 kilometres from Melbourne's CBD, the outer eastern suburb sits near the gateway to the Yarra Valley, a region famed for its wineries and viticulture. The name was initially thought to mean 'red earth' in the Wurundjeri language, but that interpretation is now open to debate.
What's undisputed is that the pronunciation of Mooroolbark is a tongue twister for those from interstate. When I lived in NSW, for some reason most people pronounced it 'Moo-roola-bark'.
Mooroolbark should be famous for its soccer club. Nevertheless, its main claim to fame is the Five Ways, a series of cojoined roundabouts that defy description and confuse the uninitiated driver.
The club was founded as Mooroolbark United in late 1962 by Tony van der Ploeg and Rinus de Visser, two soccer enthusiasts from the Netherlands. Initially playing invitation and friendly matches, the Barkers became affiliated with the Victorian Soccer Federation in 1964.