Lorna Banfield's Green Pastures and gold: A history of Ararat states that the club was formed on May 19, 1871.

A week later, then the Ararat and Pleasant Creek Advertiser, reported on an inter-club match.

"A football match was played on Wednesday afternoon on the cricket ground between two sides selected from all comers by Mr Morres and Mr Cook," the report read. "The first goal, after a spirited contest, was kicked by Morres. The second trial was contested even more vigorously than the first and was not finished when the shades of evening put an end to the sport. Football is likely to become a popular game in Ararat during the ensuing winter."

In 1972, the club entered a netball team into the Wimmera Netball Association.

READ MORE

Ararat and Horsham would face off in all 21 Wimmera Netball Association grand finals between 1974 and 1994, with Ararat winning 13 of them.

The club has several events planned to celebrate its 150th anniversary. But club president David Hosking said most had been postponed until 2022 due to COVID-19.

"Rather than be in a situation where we can't do them justice and having to tell people they can't come because we can only have so many people, we're going to postpone most of the major celebrations until next year," he said.

"It's really unfortunate, and it's no one's fault; it's just the way it is. We'll invite as many people that we can still place their whereabouts either directly or through social media, so we can celebrate the club and what it means to the community."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:

Did you know you can receive updates straight to your inbox? To make sure you're up-to-date with news from across the region, sign up below.