The Ovens and Murray Football League was formed in 1893, but was known as the Ovens and Murray Football Association until 1926 when it changed to the present name.
Beechworth and Rutherglen were the big powers to be reckoned with during the early years. Up until the O&M went into recess for World War 1, Rutherglen had an outstanding record and won 13 Premierships. The Rutherglen teams were well represented by members of the King family with brothers, Jim, Jack, Bernard, Frank and Chris, all playing in the clubs 1907 premiership team. Another brother Dan also played for Rutherglen. In a remarkable achievement, Jack King played 457 matches for Rutherglen in a career spanning 28 years and figured in no less than 11 premiership teams. Rutherglen regularly played and defeated VFL clubs including South Melbourne, Geelong and Carlton in the early days. The Hiskins family was another prominent part of the Rutherglen tradition with Fred Hiskins going onto play for Essendon, Arthur and Stan Hiskins making their way to South Melbourne and Rupert Hiskins joining Carlton. Beechworth was also prominent and won three premierships along with Albury. During these formative years the O&M also consisted of the following teams: Lake Rovers, Excelsior, Chiltern, Howlong, Corowa, Barnawartha and Border United. During this period gold-mining was extremely active in the district and many of the players were trying to win their fortunes.
After the cessation of hostilities of World War 1, officials had some difficulty re-organising the league and it was not until 1921 that the O&M was back in full swing. Corowa returned to its original name after being known as Border United. St.Patricks was the outstanding team of the 1920s with champion rover Maurie Hunter, who played in four Premiership teams in the decade, later going onto play for Richmond. The club was only in existence for eight years and they won the Premiership on six occasions including four in a row from 1921.
Benalla joined the O&M in 1922 and left after the 1930 season. Albury re-joined the O&M in 1924 and added further colour to the then flourishing organisation. In 1928, Albury forward Snowy Osborne kicked a league record 23 goals and another bag of 19 in the same season. Hunter also kicked 19 goals for St.Patricks in 1928. In 1929, St.Patricks (Catholic) and Albury (Protestant), which were largely divided amongst sectarian lines, were disbanded after much tensions and West Albury and East Albury were formed with players drawn on geographically. In the same season, Yarrawonga joined the O&M. In 1933 West Albury and East Albury merged to re-form Albury and Border United also joined the League, while Wangaratta rejoined after a brief two year stint in the O&K. Wodonga joined the O&M in 1936 after being a highly successful club in the Chiltern and District league where the club won Premierships in 1926, 1933 and 1935 and finished runner-up on seven occasions.
The O&M had another recess from 1941 to 1945 due to World War 2. Benalla re-joined the O&M from the GVFL in 1945 and remained in the O&M until 1997, winning Premierships in 1953, 1962, 1963 and 1973, when the club applied successfully to join the Goulburn Valley league again. North Albury joined the O&M in 1947 from the Chiltern and District league after winning the Premiership the previous season. North Albury won its first O&M Premiership in only its second season under the coaching of Keith Shea. Wangaratta, which was coached by Mac Holten, emulated the feats of St.Patricks in the 1920s in winning four successive Premierships from 1949 to 1952. In 1950, Holten challenged the Wimmera league premiers with the match played at Ararat won by the Magpies. Tragedy descended on Wodonga in 1949. Returning home after a fantastic win against Wangaratta, the players bus was involved in an accident and brilliant young player Ted West and club officials Mr R. Howlett and Mr H. Phefley were killed along with other serious injuries. The Bulldogs best and fairest award, which has been won a record five times by one of the O&Ms greatest players, centre half-back Brian Gilcrist, is named in West's honour.
In 1950, the O&M welcomed Wangaratta Rovers and Myrtleford from the Ovens and King Football League. The Rovers recruited Collingwood champion Bob Rose as coach and his appointment signalled the start of a stunning run of success in the ensuing decades. Rose coached Wangaratta Rovers to their first Flag in 1958 and their second in 1960 and also won two Morris Medals with the Hawks. In 1959, Yarrawonga defeated Wangaratta Rovers by eight points in one of the classic O&M Grand Finals to hand the Pigeons their first flag under former Fitzroy and Victorian Captain, Bill Stephen. The O&M introduced Reserves in 1953 and Corowa was the first reserve grade premiers. Rose handed over the coaching reins at the Rovers to another high-profile former VFL player, South Melbourne ruckman Ken Boyd, who coached the club to back-to-back Premierships in 1964-65. Both Grand Final victories were at the expense of arch-rival, Wangaratta. The O&M had become a popular destination for many former VFL players who would leave their mark on the league including Jim Deane who won two Morris Medals playing for Myrtleford in 1958 and 1961.
After five successive Grand Final defeats, Wodonga broke through for its first premiership in 1967 under the coaching of Mick Bone and followed up two seasons later for another Flag with the former Collingwood back pocket player at the helm. In 1968, Wodonga also made the Grand Final, but was beaten by Corowa which was wooden-spooners the previous season. Wodonga had established an O&M record of 27 successive wins and was seemingly destined to win another flag in 1970, but the Bulldogs failed to make the grand final. Wodonga lost to eventual premiers Myrtleford in the preliminary final with the Saints going onto beat Wangaratta Rovers in the Grand Final by 17 points and win their first and only O&M Flag to date. In 1969, Cleaver Bunton stepped down as O&M secretary after 32 years in the role.
The 1970s belonged to Wangaratta Rovers as the Hawks won an unprecedented seven flags in the decade - 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978 and 1979. Neville Hogan coached Wangaratta Rovers to the 1971, 1972, 1974 and 1975 premierships and Darryl Smith coached the club to 1977, 1978 and 1979 triumphs. Remarkably, champion full-forward Steve Norman played in all seven premiership winning teams in the 1970s. Norman kicked three centuries of goals in the 1970s, including 118 in 1975, as well as kicking 97 and 90 goals on two other occasions in the decade. Wangaratta Rovers also played off in the 1976 grand final, but was beaten by arch-rivals Wangaratta. The O&M introduced an under 18 or thirds competition in 1973 and Albury defeated Benalla to become the first under 18 premiers. The O&M was zoned to North Melbourne and the Kangaroos benefited greatly from the region during its rise up the ladder in the mid-1970s under the coaching of Ron Barassi. Among the players from O&M clubs to feature in North Melbourne Premiership teams included Sam Kekovich (Myrtleford), Peter Chisnall (Corowa), Mick Nolan and John Byrne (Wangaratta Rovers), Gary Cowton (Benalla), Ross Henshaw (North Albury), John Longmire (Corowa-Rutherglen) and Xavier Tanner (Wodonga). The O&M remained remarkably stable until 1979 when the Corowa Spiders and Rutherglen Redlegs merged to become the Corowa-Rutherglen Roos. Lavington joined the O&M in the same season to ensure the league remained as a 10-team competition. But, the O&M’s reluctance to admit Lavington before 1979 had resulted in the league being disaffiliated by the Victorian Country Football League in 1973, which had voted for the clubs admission.
Lavington soon became a force in the O&M and played in six Grand Finals in the 1980s for two Premierships in 1983 and 1986. Lavington also played off in the 1990 Grand Final against Wodonga with Premiership deciding match becoming infamously known as The Bloodbath. Television footage of players from both teams engaging in a succession of brawls early in the match played at the Albury Sportsground was beamed around the world. Wodonga defeated Lavington by 20 points to present coach Jeff Gieschen with his second Premiership in charge of the Bulldogs before going onto coach West Perth and Richmond. In 1983 the O&M was ignited by the arrival of Gary Ablett. Ablett, who had departed Hawthorn at the end of the previous season, had literally walked into Myrtleford and wanted to play for the Saints. The Saints marched all the way to the preliminary final with Ablett getting better and better as the season progressed. His heroics late in the first semi-final win against North Albury are firmly entrenched in O&M folklore. The following season he returned to the VFL to play for Geelong and became one of games greatest ever players. The Hoppers won a fairytale premiership under Martin Cross in 1984 when rover Rudy Yonson, who won the Morris Medal in the days leading up to the Grand Final, kicked the match-winning goal against Wodonga in the dying stages of the final quarter in an absolute nail-bitter. Wangaratta Rovers re-emerged as a force in the late 1980s and early 1990s under Laurie Burt who would join Mac Holten and Neville Hogan as the only men to coach four O&M Premiership teams. The Rovers won Premierships in 1988, 1991 and 1993-94 with Rob Walker emerging as one of the O&M's finest players. The Rovers won a record 36 successive matches spanning the 1993-94-95 seasons and Walker won the first of five Morris Medals in 1991 with a record 31 votes. In 1989 the fairytale premiership went to the Pigeons as they defeated Wodonga in a classic Grand Final encounter before a record attendence. Under coach Neil Davis, Yarrawonga took the flag after being decimated in the off season by senior players leaving the club, only to complete an amazing rags to riches run to the finals with a bunch of young new faces. The 1989 season was also the year the O&M admitted an 11th club, Wodonga Raiders. The Raiders didn't win a match in their first season, but nine years after being admitted they beat Lavington to win their maiden premiership with Darren Harris at the helm.
The Raiders victory in 1998 ended three successive premierships won by Albury under Paul Spargo (1995-96) and Michael Buchanan (1997). The first leg of the Tigers premiership trifecta was played out in the worst conditions imaginable after the heavens opened and torrential rain bucketed down for the entire match. Albury's final score of 5.13 (43) equalled the record lowest winning Grand Final score of 6.7 (43) kicked by Lake Rovers in 1919. Clever Bunton stepped down as treasurer at the end of 1993, completing a 63-year association with the O&M as an administrator, an Australian (and most likely World) Record for Sports Administration. Netball was introduced into the O&M in 1993 with A and B Grade. Albury defeated Wodonga in the 1995 Grand Final by four points with the result being the Bulldogs third successive loss in a Grand Final under Ernest Whitehead, who had tasted instant success in 1992 when he replaced Jeff Gieschen. Whitehead stepped down at the end of 1995, but returned to coaching with rival club North Albury in 1997. Two years later, Whitehead became only the second coach in O&M history to coach two different clubs to premierships when North Albury defeated Albury in the 1999 Grand Final. Martin Cross also achieved the feat in charge of Myrtleford (1970) and North Albury (1984).
In 1996, the O&M appointed its first full-time general manager, Ron Montgomery. After winning premierships in 1953, 1962, 1963 and 1973, Benalla successfully applied to join the Goulburn Valley league at the end of the 1997 season. The O&M won a record fourth successive Victorian Country Championships title in 1999 with a thrilling victory over Gippsland-Latrobe at Moe. The O&M had fallen off the pace as an inter-league force in the early 1990s before being resurrected under the coaching of Peter Tossol. The O&M won the division two title in 1994 before going onto win four in a row from 1996. Tossol stepped down as coach after the thrilling 1996 victory against Geelong at Wodonga. Tossol was replaced as coach by Bob Craig who ensured the O&M remained an inter-league force with three more titles in a row. In an unforgettable Grand Final played at Birallee Park in 1998, the O&M again defeated its arch-rival Geelong in extra-time after a 50m goal after the final siren from Lavington's Tim Sanson levelled the scores. The grand final victory will also be remembered for the brilliant individual performance of North Albury's Brett Kirk. Kirk had returned to North Albury after being cut by Sydney, but the Swans offered him a second chance at the highest level at the end of 1998 which he seized with both hands. In 2004 he finished fourth in the Brownlow Medal and in 2005 he played in the Sydney Swans' premiership team which beat West Coast in the grand final. After playing in three Premiership teams for Wangaratta Rovers, Peter Tossol had joined Corowa-Rutherglen as coach in 1999 and guided the Roos to a record 108-point Grand Final win against North Albury the following season which was the clubs first flag since merging 21 years earlier. Damien Houlihan kicked a record 10 goals in the massive victory which was highlighted by the performance of young centreman David Teague, who would go on and win Carltons best and fairest in 2004.
In 2000 the O&M awarded retrospective Morris Medals to players who had been denied the honour in years gone by the count-back system. Among the recipients were Corowas Jim Sandral who joined Rob Walker (Wangaratta Rovers) and John Brunner (Yarrawonga) as three-time winners at the time.
Leigh Elder became the O&M's second general manager during 2001 before departing late in 2005 and being replaced by Steve Harrison. Myrtleford reached only its second grand final in 2001, but was overpowered by Lavington in the final quarter despite full-forward Dustyn McKenna kicking seven goals in a losing team. Four years later Lavington and Myrtleford would meet in the Grand Final again. Corey Lambert joined a select group of coaches to win a premiership in his first season at the helm when North Albury raced away from Wangaratta Rovers in the final term of the 2002 Grand Final. Corowa-Rutherglen emulated North Albury in 1980 in coming from the Elimination Final to win the 2003 premiership. The Roos won the preliminary final by a record 106 points over Wodonga Raiders before going onto beat Wodonga in the grand ginal by 35 points with full-forward Ricky Symes sealing best-on-ground honours with seven goals. The 2003 season was also significant for Rob Walker's fifth victory in the Morris Medal. Walker didnt play a match the following season due to a serious neck injury caused by wear and tear during a 307-game career with Wangaratta Rovers and would ultimately never play again.
Wodonga ended a run of four successive Grand Final losses since their last flag in 1992 by downing North Albury in the 2004 grand final. Bulldogs coach Richard Bence became the first man to coach a reserves and seniors premiership when Wodonga won by 41 points. Wodonga won seniors, reserves and thirds grand finals in 2004 to emulate the same feat the club achieved in 1981 and 1987. The Bulldogs remain the only club to complete the clean sweep of flags and just for good measure also won the A grade netball premiership in 2004. The 2005 season culminated in dramatic fashion when Lavington captain Darryn McKimmie, in his 200th senior match, kicked a goal on the siren to hand Lavington a one-point win over the unlucky Saints. Myrtleford claimed the wooden spoon in 2004 and was the first team into the grand final after downing Wangaratta in the second semi-final and looked set to break its premiership drought until the last seconds of the game. The O and M introduced a Hall Of Fame in 2005 with Cleaver Bunton inducted as the league's first legend. Other inductees were Bob Rose (Wang Rovers), Norm Minns (Wangaratta, Benalla), Neville Hogan (Wang Rovers) and Jim Sandral (Corowa).
In 2006 Yarrawonga made a stunning surge up the ladder to claim its first premiership in 17 years. The Pigeons lost only two games during the season, both to grand final opponent, Myrtleford, including the second semi-final. But under the coaching of Bob Craig the Pigeons unleashed a record first quarter blitz of 10.7 to effectively subject the Saints to three grand final losses in five years. In a remarkable season of success for Yarrawonga, champion rover Craig Ednie won the Morris Medal and Norm Minns Medal for the O and M's best playing during the country championships, Tim Hargreaves won the Doug Strang Medal for the O and M's leading goal-kicker, captain Jason Wild won the Did Simpson Medal for best player on the ground in the grand final. And 15-year-old Steph Tyrell took out the inaugural Toni Wilson Medal for the A grade netball best and fairest. Wilson was one of the architects of the formation of the netball competition in the early 1990s. Her three sons Mick, Joe and Andrew also played in premiership teams for Wang Rovers. The O and M also staged a stunning fightback to win the country championships played at Lavington. The O and M came from more than 40 points down to beat Ballarat in the final pool game to claim the title.
2007 saw the inroduction of legal betting on the O&M Premiership with Sportsbet. The year began with the reigning premier, Yarrawonga, a raging favorite. The second legend of the O&M Hall of Fame was inducted, Rob Walker, along with inductees Ron McGann, Martin Cross, Ray Thomas and Brian Gilcrist. The footy season started as expected with Yarrawonga recording good wins and Wangaratta looking like making a resurgance up the ladder after their disappointing 2006. Great crowds again flocked to the footy, in particular over the Easter weekend and Anzac Day. Wangaratta Rovers made their worst start to a season in their history losing their first six matches in a row. By the time the finals came around the form teams of the competition were Wodonga and Wangaratta Rovers who were drawn to play in the Elimination Final. Yarrawonga thumped Wangaratta in the last round to just miss out on top spot on the ladder. Unfortunately the Pigeons went out in straight sets and the quiet achiever, North Albury, moved into the Grand Final after a good win in the Second Semi Final. Wangaratta's momentum had stalled after a shoulder injury to their star midfielder, and 2007 Morris Medallist Jon McCormick. Jon was surprise inclusion for the Preliminary Final against Wodonga after only being on the sidelines for four weeks but, in a master stroke by coach Jason Lappin, remained on the interchange bench for the entire match while his team proved too strong and moved into the Grand Final. In a one sided affair the Magpies went on to win their first premiership since 1976. After knocking on the door for the past couple of seasons, Wangaratta Rovers took out the Reserves premiership by accounting for Albury. In the Thirds, Wodonga won their fourth premiership in a row. North Albury took out the A & C Grade netball premierships while Wodonga recorded their second premiership in B Grade. The Toni Wilson Medal for the Best & Fairest in A Grade netball saw joint winners in Rebecca Morrison from Myrtleford and Stacey Emms from Wangaratta Rovers, who took out the award for the second time in three years.
Following the end of the 2007 season, General Manager Steven Harrison resigned and after an exhaustive search Tom O'Connor was appointed in March 2008. Before the commencement of the 2008 season a historic vote was taken to merge the football and netball competitions under the one banner and the Ovens and Murray Football Netball League was born. On the playing front, with strong recruiting Wangaratta Rovers were installed second favourites behind the reigning premiers Wangaratta. The Magpies showed their considerable strength during the season to finish on top of the ladder after the home and away matches, while Corowa-Rutherglen, Lavington, Wodonga and Yarrawonga made up the top five. In an absorbing second semi final Wangaratta survived a strong performance by Lavington to make it through to the grand final and attempt to defend their title. The preliminary final was undoubtedly the match of the 2008 season with Lavington coming from behind to snatch a thrilling victory over Wodonga. In a tight grand final Wangaratta achieved back-to-back premierships with Sam Higgs being named the Did Simpson Medalist. After dominating for most of the season, Albury took out the reserves premiership by 2 points over Lavington while in the thirds, Yarrawonga, playing in only their second grand final, could not overcome the strength of Wangaratta Rovers. In a stunning result, Corowa-Rutherglen's Jake Ryan equalled the most number of votes polled (31) to take out the Morris Medal from Wangaratta Rovers Jamie Allan with Xavier Leslie and Matt Shir finishing equal third. Lee Schmidt capped off a terrific season by winning the Doug Strang Medal for the leading goalkicker in the competition. The seonds best and fairest was won by Carl Norton from Wangaratta for the third successive season while Albury's Jack Stean won the thirds best and fairest. At another gala evening five more greats of the O&M were inducted into the Hall of Fame: Neil Davis (Yarrawonga), Neil Hanlon (Benalla), Jack King (Rutherglen), Merv Holmes (Wangaratta Rovers) & Ralph Aalbers (Lavington). The O&M finished runner-up at the VCFL Championships with wins over Hampden and Ballarat but a one-point loss to Goulburn Valley proved to be the difference at the end of the carnival. Yarrawonga proved the benchmark of the netball competition going through the home away matches with only one loss. However North Albury won an enthralling second semi final final to advance to the grand final while the Pigeons progressed following a preliminary final win over Lavington. In a high-scoring affair, North Albury took out their second A grade premiership in a row. Wodonga's Chrissy Greve won the Toni Wilson Medal in an exciting count from Albury's Adelle Gormly. It was a watershed year for the O&M Open representative team winning the VCFL Championships and Netball Victoria Association Championships for the first time.