IT would be fair to say a love of soccer courses through Jim McGuire's veins.
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Having helped to build Oxley Vale Attunga from the ground up, McGuire used his coaching prowess to help the club claim its first silverware, just three years into its existence.
The Scottish native turned Attunga local has done it all since arriving in the region in 1968 and recently was honoured for his achievements.
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McGuire became the club's first life member, saying it was "a great honour to be recognised by your peers like this".
"The club has come a very long way, and I am really proud to have played a part in it."
OVA president Chris Fenton said no one deserved it more than McGuire.
"Jim was the founding member of our club, and our first coach," Fenton said.
"He's a club stalwart by any definition and laid the foundation to what our club is today."
OVA has become a powerhouse of the Tamworth soccer scene, but McGuire said the origin of the Mushies moniker had a more humorous backstory.
"I began coaching an under-13 North West team until they were under-16 and went on to win the state championship," he said.
"On the bus ride back from that tournament, I put it to the guys to start our own club and compete at senior level.
"That's how the club was born and we decided to call the team the Mushies, because we came up overnight and I jokingly fed the boys nothing but bullshit."
After the junior state championship, senior success did not take long for McGuire: OVA claimed their first premiership in just their third year in the competition.
"I knew those first couple of seasons were going to be pretty tough and we did get flogged pretty regularly. But I knew if we were able to stick together and build that culture, we would find success," he said.
"It was a really good group of guys from Tamworth, Armidale and Gunnedah. The side even included my then 15-year-old son, who needed special permission to play seniors. I have a lot of great memories from those early days."
Despite those fond early memories, McGuire said the formation of the club also had its challenges.
"The club was based out of Attunga because that's where I live. I used to have to cut the grass for the field with a push lawnmower and I tell you, I used to get it looking like Wembley Stadium.
"We also used to have to stoke the fires to ensure we had hot showers for the players.
"All we had was a corrugated iron shed and I'm told, after games, you could hear us singing in the shower all the way down at the Attunga Pub."
McGuire said he would continue to support the club from afar.
"They had asked me to coach, but I think my time for that is past. My wife Mary and I are looking to travel more, so that will be our focus. It's a great club and it's great to see how strong it's become."
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
