Since 1909, football has been played within our district. It has taken many amalgamations, club name and home ground changes to arrive at the United Yeelanna Football Club. Following is a brief history of each of the clubs that have formed the back bone of the United Yeelanna Football Club. 

Shannon/Yeelanna Football Club

In 1909 the Shannon/Yeelanna Football Club was formed with the home ground being at Yeelanna. In 1909 to 1925, it was known as Shannon until 1926 saw it called Yeelanna Football Club. 

In 1946, Yeelanna and Karkoo combined to become Shannon Football Club. 

In 1953 the club split to form the Yeelanna and Karkoo teams. 

Throughout they remained strong in the club colours of blue and gold, and won eleven premierships. 

In 1964, Yeelanna combined with United (Karkoo Football Club and United - which was Murdinga) to become the United Yeelanna Football Club. 

Karkoo Football Club 

In 1931 the Karkoo Football Club was formed and Karkoo was used as the home ground. They began with a guernsey of chocolate with a wide blue band around the girth.

In 1938 they played in the B Grade competition and wore a blue guernsey with a white V front. They were successful in winning the B Grade premiership in 1939.

1946 saw Yeelanna and Karkoo come together to from the Shannon Football Club. In 1953 the two clubs (Yeelanna and Karkoo) went their separate ways. Karkoo changed colours once again to green with a gold sash.

In 1957 the Karkoo football club and United (Murdinga) amalgamated to become the United Football Club with club colours remaining green and gold.

Shannon Football Club

1946 to 1952 saw the amalgamation of the Yeelanna and Karkoo Football Clubs to become the Shannon Football Club. The guernsey they wore was blue with a gold “V” and their home ground was at Yeelanna. No premierships were forthcoming during this period. 1953 saw the two clubs form separate identities.

United (Murdinga) Football Club

1946 saw the formation of the United (Murdinga) Football Club, with Murdinga as the home ground. The Murdinga club colours were maroon with a white collar and some with a white V. This club was named United as it incorporated the Tooligie, Tooligie Hill, Murdinga and Warrachie districts, playing in the Central Areas Football Association, and in 1947 United won the premiership. 1956 saw Lock join the Le Hunte Association which left three teams to compete in the Central Areas Football Association, therefore in 1957 it was decided to disband this association. During 1957 two clubs joined the Cleve association and United (Murdinga) combined with the Karkoo Football Club to become the United Football Club, playing in the Great Flinders Football League. As a part of this amalgamation the name United was retained along with the Karkoo guernsey – green with a gold sash.

United Football Club

1957 saw the newly formed United Football Club (Murdinga and Karkoo) introduced into the league. They wore the Karkoo guernsey and the home ground was shared between Murdinga and Karkoo. 

United Yeelanna Football Club

In the early 60's the football teams in our district were struggling, with player numbers lacking and good old fashioned thrashings the order of the day. The Yeelanna players of this era remember playing Kapinnie with the aim of keeping the opposition down to a score of less than 50 goals!! The Yeelanna and United teams would often turn up with only 15 players, and anyone around would be asked to fill in as 16th or 17th player. 

Discussions were held regarding the Port Lincoln and Great Flinders Leagues combining, with Lincoln players of the time being envious of the camaraderie that existed in Great Flinders. There was talk of Lincoln teams coming out to play matches by bus. This just didn't seem to be the Great Flinders way, and amalgamation of the leagues was not pursued at that time. Recruiting was difficult as it was not easy to recruit players out of Port Lincoln where the standard was said to be more akin to playing Mortlock Shield each week. 

Despite the struggle to field two full teams there was a serious rivalry between the Yeelanna and United teams as they fought for supremacy in the home derby. However, in the end the decision in 1964 to amalgamate United (Karkoo and Murdinga) with Yeelanna was easy and everyone looked forward to a more successful 'local team'.