| Full name | Gippsland United Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Red Devils | |
| Founded | 1963 | |
| Ground | Baxter Park | |
| Capacity | 500 | |
| Chairman | Peter O'Dea | |
| Manager | Dean Fak | |
| League | Victorian State League 2 South-East | |
| 2025 | 12th(Relegated) | |
| Website | gippslandunitedfc | |
| Active departments of Gippsland United | ||||||
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Gippsland United FC is a soccer club based inWarragul, Victoria,Australia. The club was founded in 1963 and currently competes inVictorian State League 2 South-East.
Since 2018, GUFC have been the highest-ranked club in theGippsland area, overtakingMorwell Pegasus, who withdrew from Metropolitan competition and returned to theLatrobe Valley Soccer League that same season.[1]
Despite a relatively barren start to their existence,Warragul United Soccer Club (as GUFC were originally known) emerged as a force in the mid-1980s and then claimed LVSL titles in 1998, 1999 and 2001,[2] leading them to join the Victorian State Leagues, where multiple promotions led them to the brink ofNPL Victoria.[3]
In November 2022, Warragul United SC would becomeGippsland United Football Club following an amalgamation of itself, Gippsland Football Club and Latrobe Women’s Football Club.[4]
While theLatrobe Valley emerged as one of Australian soccer's regional hotbeds in 1950s,West Gippsland was slower to embrace the game. A 1914 attempt to start a league"...between the two railway lines fromKoo Wee Rup toLang Lang andGarfield toLongwarry, to include Longwarry South andYannathan on the east, and Yallock andIona on the western side" failed to materialise, despite the presence of a team atModella.[5]
In 1924, the first recorded game of soccer took place inWarragul, with an exhibition match between Yallourn White Rose and Yallourn Thistle, played on October 25 at the Warragul Football Ground.[6]
While there was an invitation from the Latrobe Valley Soccer Association to join the inauguralLatrobe Valley Soccer League in 1951, and growing interest from newly settled immigrants from Europe,[7] Warragul's representatives could not organise a team to compete competition.[8]
It wasn't until 1963, 12 years after the formation of the LVSL, that Warragul United was born.[4]
Warragul initially found the standard of the LVSL difficult to compete with but found their feet in the league by the mid-1980s, giving a sign of things to come with their best ever finish - as runner's up - in 1983.[9]
The big breakthrough happened in 1985, when Warragul United were crowned LVSL champions for the first time. Further titles in 1987 and 1990 made up for the disappointment of twice finishing runner-up behindMoe United 1988 and 1989.[10]
After four years without a title, Warragul then embarked on a rise that would see them regarded as the league's strongest club, winning LVSL championships in 1995, 1998, 1999 and 2001.[9]
Seeking a higher level of competition, Warragul United moved into the metropolitan leagues but two promotions in three years showed they were vastly superior to the lower Provisional tiers, winning the Provisional League Division Three in 2002 and Provisional League Division Two South-East 2003.[3]
The club spent the next seven years in the Provisional League Division One South-East but eventually claimed the championship in 2012 - and then proceeded to win promotion from the State League Division Three South-East in 2013 before repeating the feat in 2014, finishing as runner's up in State League Division Two South-East.[3]
That brought the club to theState League Division One South-East, one division below theNPL Victoria leagues.[3] However, 2025 proved a challenging season, with the club parting with Lee Hobbs half-way through the season and installingDean Fak as the new coach. He could not prevent relegation and the club was relegated toState League Division Two for 2026.[11]
Until 2019, Warragul United fielded a women's team in theGippsland Soccer League, the local league ofWest Gippsland andSouth Gippsland. After the resumption of football following theCOVID-19 pandemic, Warragul United's women's team moved into the Women's State League 4 South.[12]
In October 2019, the popularity of the football in West Gippsland and the major population rise in the area led the club to applying for a NPL Junior licence under name of "Gippsland FC".[13]
Ahead of the 2023 season, Warragul United would evolve intoGippsland United following an amalgamation of itself, Gippsland FC and the Morwell-based Latrobe Women’s Football Club.[4]
The club plays in red and black jerseys.[14]
Gippsland United plays its home matches at Baxter Reserve in Warragul, which has a capacity of 500 (with a seating capacity of 100), with junior matches often held at the nearby Geoff Watt Reserve.[15]
The main field at Baxter Reserve was given upgraded to a FIFA certified synthetic playing surface, with new drainage, fencing, playing equipment and storage, accessible access ramp and stairs and compliant accessible car parking spaces added in 2021 as part of a $2.14 million upgrade.[16]
An upgrade pavilion at Baxter Park was opened in 2024 following a $3 million redevelopment, which included new female friendly player and official changerooms, club office/administration area and upgraded lighting.[17]
To meetFootball Victoria's licensing requirements, the club holds some of itsNational Premier League Junior matches atFalcons Park inMorwell.[18]
Dean FakManny GelagotisLuke O'Dea Baley RowAs the only club inWest Gippsland always in the top division of theLatrobe Valley Soccer League, Warragul United often lacked a natural geographical rival - except for the Drouin Dragons, who were rarely as strong as Warragul. Drouin now play in theGippsland Soccer League, a league formed of the remaining clubs inSouth Gippsland andWest Gippsland after the GSL's top 12 clubs departed in 2016 to reform theLVSL.[29]
Warragul United's surge to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s was matched by the rise of would-be LVSL rivalsMoe United and theTraralgon Olympians. From 1975 to 1995, the three clubs claimed a cumulative total of 16 titles. The Morwell-basedFortuna '60 emerged as a genuine challenger to Warragul in the late 1990s, as the two sides dominated the competition.[9]
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