Weekly Times |
THE amalgamation of two proud football clubs is rarely a straightforward procedure, but in the case of the newly formed Natimuk United Football Club, the merger process was as difficult as they come.
By the end of last season, the spirit of the Horsham United Football Club had all but perished. Three wins in four seasons, including a winless campaign last year, had culminated in four consecutive Wimmera Football League wooden spoons.
Crippled with a lack of support at player and supporter level, the Diggers were on their knees on and off the field.
The recent history of their co-mergers Natimuk was no less dire.
By president Andrew Carine’s own admission, the Rams were a “basket case” at the back end of last decade, but seven wins last year was a marked improvement on the four seasons prior.
“Four or five years ago the Natimuk Football Club was really struggling,” Carine said.
“Six wins in four years was really tough and everyone has made an extraordinary effort just to keep the club in existence, let alone winning games.”
Nevertheless, it was clear that the future of both clubs was still on unstable footing.
For Horsham United, it all came to a head at the end of last year when the Diggers made the tough decision to leave the stronger Wimmera league in search of an alignment with a Horsham and District league club.
Talks with another recent cellar-dweller in Pimpinio fell through and by the new year the Diggers were faced with the thought that their once proud club might be no more.
“They (Horsham United) were decimated,” Carine said. “By merger time all their players had left and all their officials and supporters had gone.
“I wouldn’t say the whole situation was shot, but it was how the discussion of a merger with us came about.”
Although preliminary discussions between the Diggers and the Rams had begun in September, the merger talks never gained serious momentum until things became desperate at the start of 2014.
For Carine, who assumed the role of chairman of the merged club, the late developments heading into season 2014 presented a number of challenges.
“After spending a couple of weeks discussing the logistics like jumpers and where we would play the games and a bit of structure how it would work, we voted in principle in late January to merge,” Carine said.
“By the end of February we confirmed we would merge. Without being horrible on them, the talks they had with Pimpinio probably cost us about six weeks in time which really stalled the merger’s momentum.
“It was particularly difficult when all this was occurring over the summer when all the farmers and key people around the football club go on holidays.”
But despite all the hurdles, the Natimuk United Football Club was born just in time for the beginning of the season.
From the amalgamation, Natimuk maintained its guernsey, home base at the Natimuk Showgrounds and its moniker of the Rams, while the Diggers retained their traditional Anzac Day fixture.
Natimuk United will also play up to six matches in Horsham United’s yellow and black jumper and have already used the Diggers’ old ground at Horsham City Oval for a night fixture against Edenhope-Apsley.
Despite the less than ideal preparations for the season, the Rams sit at two wins and four losses and have been more than competitive, according to coach Tim Friend.
“We had a really good win last start against Noradjuha-Quantong and we’ve been able to match it against all the top sides we have faced in the first four rounds,” Friend said.
“The scoreboard hasn’t always been reflective of how well we have played.
“Having said that, I’ve told the players there is no such thing as an honourable loss, and we need to change the mindset of the playing group from being accustomed to getting flogged against the better sides to winning those games.”
For Friend, the merger has meant more to him than most.
“For me the merger has been a real positive,” he said. “I grew up around the Horsham United Football Club.
“I played all my junior footy at Horsham United, and it was good that my brother Josh came across as part of the merger after becoming a life member there.
“Having spent my last two years at Natimuk, I can definitely see the positives for both clubs.”
Friend admits the merger will take time for diehard Diggers supporters to accept.
“We’d love to see them back at the club,” he said. “Probably a main reason they struggled in the past was the lack of crowd support when times were tough.
“People like to jump on board a winning culture and they are much more likely to stand in the cold and watch us when we are winning rather than being beaten by 20 goals.”
Carine agrees that the transition will be a drawn out process, but is optimistic the best result for both sides will be reached.
“There are a lot of good things happening at the moment, but it is going to take us at least another 12 months to sort ourselves out,” he said.
“It takes a while for people to genuinely feel at home but we are on the right track.”
