But next to the old railway line, just off the Henty Highway between Beulah and Hopetoun, once existed a passionate community - and within it, a passionate football club.

Founded in 1894, the Rosebery Football Club had a proud 75-year history with memories of premierships and strong camaraderie.

Rosebery's final season was in the Southern Mallee League in 1969. A 50-year reunion was held at Beulah at the weekend, coinciding with the Wimmera league contest between the Southern Mallee Giants and the Warrack Eagles.

Peter Biggins grew up at Rosebery in the 1960s. His parents Clyde and Barbara owned the Rosebery hotel from 1959 until it closed in November 1970.

Biggins said he still has fond memories of his time growing up in Rosebery, but the area now hardly resembled the place he once knew.

"It's a bit sad to see old Rosebery," he said.

"(My brothers) Robert and Graeme and myself spent half-an-hour there on Saturday, walking around the old hotel and the tennis courts.

"But because it's been bulldozed, there is absolutely nothing there.

"Just about all that's left is an old urinal next to the Henty Highway, from the old hotel."

The hotel always had a strong connection with the football club. In the club's early days, Rosebery players used to get changed in the hotel before the game.

But by the late 1960s, Rosebery had a population problem many other football clubs would face in the subsequent years.

Rosebery's last senior coach John Healy said the major factor contributing to the club's demise was the decline of small farms.

"Rosebery was a fairly established farming community back then," Healy said.

"Everyone had 460 acres and there was a farmhouse every two kilometres down the road. Now, one bloke owns 20 of those places. That's just the times."

The club finally reached its end before the 1970 season, officially disbanding in March. Healy said Rosebery was one of the earliest clubs to fold in the Wimmera.

"I think Rosebery Football Club might well have been the first," Healy said.

"Everything went all at once for the town.

"The primary school shut down, so the kids went elsewhere. The footy club goes and then the pub closes, and you've got no meeting place.

"They had a rifle range that was quite popular, too, and that folded. The general store, the post office as well ... and that was sort of the end of town."

Before its end, the football club had a rich history, winning 11 premierships including in 1950, 1959 and 1962.

Rosebery spent most of its history as a standalone reserves side in the Southern Mallee football league. But club stalwart and former player Bill Clarke remembers a period where Rosebery tried their luck in the firsts.

"I started playing in 1950 - the year I left school," Clarke said. "At that stage we were playing in the seconds comp, and we won the premiership.

"They decided that we were too good for the reserves, so we had three years in the top league, in which time we only won about three games.

"One of them was particularly memorable - we lost to Yaapeet 36.24 (240) to nothing. We got the ball into the goal square twice, I reckon."

The club returned to the reserves competition where it was consistently a finals contender. Even toward the final years of its existence, when playing numbers were dwindling, the club attracted players not named in the senior or reserves sides from Hopetoun, Beulah and Brim to top up and put a competitive side together.

Healy coached the side in 1966 and in their final year in 1969, for a price not quite equivalent to contemporary coaching fees.

"I lived in Hopetoun at the time and just travelled down there to coach. I was paid a drum of fuel and $10 a week," Healy said.

"Fifty years ago, $10 wasn't too bad. You could definitely buy a beer or two for that.

"But nobody got paid to play in those days. Everyone just played for the club."

Healy remembered a town and community passionate about football.

"We used to go around to Ivan Kelly's, who owned the general store in Rosebery at that stage, to pick the side, then go to the hotel to announce it," Healy said.

"Ivan was a funny guy - whether we had hot or cold showers after the games depended on how many wines Ivan had.

"He used to have to fire up the old chip heater to get the showers going - but if he got on the turps too early, we'd have to have cold showers."

But with the declining population, the writing was on the wall for some time for Rosebery.

Speaking to the Hopetoun Courier before the 1968 season, then Rosebery president Colin Mitchell said the club's future appeared uncertain.

"We have lost valuable players over the years to senior clubs," Mitchell said.

"We haven't a great number of young ones coming on, but can we deny them the opportunity of playing with a club which has played their fathers?

"Will our little oval and buildings become a haven for white ants?"

Despite the best efforts of staunch locals, the club would last just two more seasons - but it left a lasting impression on anyone who was ever involved.