# Gippsland United FC

Gippsland United FC is a soccer club based in Warragul, Victoria, Australia. The club was founded in 1963 and currently competes in Victorian State League 1 South-East.
Since 2018, GUFC have been the highest-ranked club in the Gippsland area, overtaking Morwell Pegasus, who withdrew from Metropolitan competition and returned to the Latrobe Valley Soccer League that same season.
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, leading them to join the Victorian State Leagues, where multiple promotions led them to the brink of NPL Victoria.
In November 2022, Warragul United SC would become Gippsland United Football Club following an amalgamation of itself, Gippsland Football Club and Latrobe Women’s Football Club.

## History
### Early Years (1963-1982)

While the Latrobe Valley emerged as one of Australian soccer's regional hotbeds in 1950s, West Gippsland was slower to embrace the game. An 1914 attempt to start a league "...between the two railway lines from Koo Wee Rup to Lang Lang and Garfield to Longwarry, to include Longwarry South and Yannathan on the east, and Yallock and Iona on the western side" failed to materialise, despite the presence of a team at Modella.
While there was an invitation from the Latrobe Valley Soccer Association to join the inaugural Latrobe Valley Soccer League in 1951, and growing interest from newly settled immigrants from Europe, Warragul's representatives could not organise a team to compete competition.
It wasn't until 1963, 12 years years after the formation of the LVSL, that Warragul United was born.

### Breakthrough title and rise to prominence (1983-2001)

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.
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 behind Moe United 1988 and 1989.
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.

### Metropolitan period and more success (2002-)

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.
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.
That brought the club to the State League Division One South-East, where they still play as of 2025, one division below the NPL Victoria leagues.
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".
Ahead of the 2023 season, Warragul United would evolve into Gippsland United following an amalgamation of itself, Gippsland FC and the Morwell-based Latrobe Women’s Football Club.

## Club colors and badge

The club plays in red, white and black jerseys.

## Stadium

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.
To meet Football Victoria's licensing requirements, the club holds some of its National Premier League Junior matches at Falcons Park in Morwell.

## Club achievements

* Men's State League Division Two South-East
    Runner's Up (Promoted) (1): 2014
* Men's State League Division Three South-East
    Third (Promoted) (1): 2013
* Men's Provisional League Division One South-East
    Champions (1): 2012
* Men's Provisional League Division Two South-East
    Champions (1): 2004
* Men's Provisional League Division Three
    Champions (1): 2002
* Latrobe Valley Soccer League
    Champions (7): 1985, 1987, 1990, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001
* Battle of Britain Cup
    Champions (3): 1987, 1990, 1999.

## Notable former players

* Luke O'Dea
* Baley Row

## Rivalries

As the only club in West Gippsland always in the top division of the Latrobe Valley Soccer League, Warragul United often lacked a natural geographical rival - except for the Drouin Dragons, who were rarely as strong as Warragul.
The club's surge to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s was matched by the rise of would-be rivals Moe United and the Traralgon Olympians. From 1975 to 1995, the three clubs claimed a cumulative total of 16 titles. The Morwell-based Fortuna '60 emerged as a genuine challenger to Warragul in the late 1990s, as the two sides dominated the competition.