First formed in 1885 the club remained a junior club in their district, their senior club being Ballarat Imperial Football Club.
The upheaval of the 1930s in which the Ballarat competition merged with the Wimmera league for three years resulted with the dissolving of the Imperial. Reformed during the WWII the club in 1944 was promoted to the top level BFL competition. They won six premierships in 1949, 1950, 1964, 1989, 1990 & 1993.