The history of football and netball in the Woodside region is indeed complex.
While some clubs may have changed locations over time, it is unlikely any have shifted to the extent Woodside has.
Somewhat ironically, despite all the changes, Woodside is back to where it all started … sort of.
It is playing football and netball in the town of Woodside itself – which hasn’t always been the case.
Woodside was a single football club until merging with nearby Won-Wron in 1982.
The Woodside Blues were a dominant force in the late 1940s and early 1950s, taking six consecutive Alberton Football-Netball League premierships back to Woodside Recreation Reserve from 1947 to 1952.
Won-Wron didn’t fare nearly as well, struggling for years without once saluting on Grand Final day.
As Won Wron-Woodside however, they enjoyed success, with a premiership in 1994.
Future AFL number one draft pick Anthony Banik played his first senior game as a 14-year-old for Won Wron-Woodside in 1987, kicking three goals against Yarram.
Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester even played in a reserves flag for WWW the year before.
In and around all of this was a club known as Devon-Welshpool, itself a merged entity.
Devon merged with Welshpool in 1995, and at the end of the next season, Devon-Welshpool and Won Wron-Woodside combined.
Amazingly, four clubs became one.
Even more amazingly, the new team took in a catchment of 50 kilometres and two municipalities, from Welshpool in South Gippsland Shire to Woodside in the local Wellington Shire.
Originally known as East Coast Allies, the name was changed to Devon-Welshpool-Won Wron-Woodside to incorporate and recognise all four clubs.
DWWWW won three flags, the most recent of which was remembered with a 20-year reunion earlier this year.
The changes didn’t stop there, however.
In a dramatic situation, the mostly Won Wron-Woodside section of DWWWW, advocated for a move out of Alberton and into the NGFNL. Another section of the club relented, and in an extraordinary move, part of DWWWW broke away to form Woodside District which currently competes.
DWWWW has been in recess since 2017, while Woodside District has prospered.
While there is still some conjecture about whether or not premierships won by DWWWW can be counted as Woodside flags, the Wildcats include them as part of their history.
As Devon, Welshpool and Devon-Welshpool existed without the assistance of Woodside or Won-Wron Woodside, the history of those clubs is set aside.
Home grounds of the former clubs were Alberton West Recreation Reserve (DWWWW and Devon), Arthur Sutherland Reserve (Welshpool) and Won-Wron Rec.
Remnants from a time past are still visible at those grounds.
Woodside & District FNC
Formed: 2008
History: North Gippsland Football-Netball League (2008-present).
Premierships
Senior football: None (as Woodside District), 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1957, 1974 (as Woodside), 1994 (as Won-Wron Woodside), 1998, 1999, 20003 (as Devon-Welshpool-Won Wron-Woodside).
A Grade netball: 2008, 2009, 2016, 2022 (as Woodside District).
