Countryfootyscores.com website reaches major milestone
What started out as an idea to keep updated with the Boxing Day Test while overseas has become a labour of love for country footy tragic, Glenn McMahon.
Country footy’s online bible has clicked over a major milestone, with its creator forever indebted to the initial promotion of its existence from radio legends, Coodabeen Champions.
The countryfootyscores.com website, which had more than 1.5 million page views last year, originated when creator and primary school principal Glenn McMahon began exploring ways to keep tabs on the Boxing Day Test while travelling overseas in the 1999-2000 summer.
Later in 2000, his mind started ticking over harder when two Cobram football teammates explained they were going to rely on their parents faxing copies of the local newspaper to keep abreast of developments in the Murray league while they also travelled abroad.
“Given the internet was still relatively new at that time, and only sporadically available publicly in places, we found it hard to get updates on the Test,” he said.
“There had to be an easier way.
“At the time I was teaching a prep, grade one and two class, and just started teaching them how to make simple web pages that weren’t online.
“That night after football training, I thought maybe I could create a website that had the info for not only the Murray league, but multiple leagues.”
After teaching himself HTML coding, graphic design, registering a domain name and finding a hosting service, the website went live in May 2000, covering 15 leagues.
“It was pretty basic,” he said.
“The focus was on fixtures, results and ladders, but I did start collecting and archiving grand final winners from the first season to create a reason for visitors to keep coming back.”
The Coodabeen Champions turned their microphones off after more than 40 years on air this year, but discovered countryfootyscores.com around 2005 when internet access began to improve.
Every league had a presence on the site by this stage.
“This was the time I had my first on-air chat with the Coodabeen Champions,” McMahon said.
“Since that time I would chat to them once or twice a season.
“I am forever grateful for their love of country footy and the support they have given my site over that time.
“Also the amazing support I’ve had from country leagues’ administration over that time
too, in not only providing information, but seeing the mutually beneficial aspect of countryfootyscores.com in supporting and promoting their leagues.”
The Coodabeen’s Ian Cover said the website provided a “great service’ for country footy followers.
“During our 43 years it was our go-to country footy resource,” he said.
“It is a reflection of Glenn’s great passion for country footy.
“We marvel at his output given it’s a hobby that has grown, much like the Coodabeens.”
Last year there were 312,966 unique visitors to the site with increased coverage of netball since the pandemic leading to it having its own web address: countrynetballscores.com.
McMahon grew up in a footy family at Yarram.
His dad, Ian, was a trainer and when the family moved to Warragul he began playing, firstly in the Warragul and District junior league before stints with Hallora, Drouin and Warragul.
After attending university in Melbourne, his first teaching job was at St Joseph’s Primary School in Cobram.
After a short stint with Katandra, McMahon joined Cobram in 1997 where he played the rest of his career, mainly as fullback, before succumbing to ongoing injuries in 2006.
As the current principal of St Mary’s Primary School in Corowa, he said the website was “a great way to clear my mind and tune out from the stresses of work”.
“It’s something that I tinker with on and off during the week,” he said.
“It allows me to follow a bit of a passion for creativity, research, data and going down the fun rabbit holes that country footy news, stats and history can lead me down.
“I was fortunate as the years progressed to have had a connection with Interact Sport, who helped me automate the site in many ways to make the time required to update the site less and less.
“Now instead of having to manually update the scores each Saturday night it is fairly automated, which means I spend more time on creating and curating content.”
It was recognised with a gong at the AFL Victoria community football media awards last year.
In addition to the seven to eight hours he spends weekly working on the website, McMahon has an unashamed love of country football and the people who make it tick.
“I’ve experienced how in small towns and rural communities it is an essential and central hub for people,” he said.
“The health of a community can be diagnosed pretty quickly by the culture around a footy-netball club.
“They are places that we need to protect from the challenges they are facing at the moment around volunteering, additional governance requirements and the like.
“Even now as I visit a new town, I’m still drawn to locating where the footy ground is on the off chance there is a game or an opportunity to check out the honour boards and photos in the rooms.”
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