Nambour Yandina United Football Club has broken a 47 year drought to claim their first Sunshine Coast Premier League premiership. 

The Reds finished top of the table to claim the premiers’ plate with a 7-2 win over Kawana Force before beating Noosa 6-3 on September 18.

Now the challenge is to put the icing on the cake with the team hoping to complete a premiership/grand final double.

Technical director and midfielder Korey Nix said the league win went a long way to make up for all the club’s heartbreaking near misses.

“A couple of years ago we finished second to Noosa and narrowly lost the Grand Final so to actually get the title — it just means so much,” he said. 

The Reds were presented with the premiership trophy in the final round at home against Noosa Lions after finishing nine points clear of second-placed Noosa.

The finals series begins at Maroochydore at 6pm on October 9 in a 1v4 playoff against Woombye.

The winner plays the grand final at Maroochydore on October 16 against the winner of the 2v3, Noosa v Kawana match. 

It’s been an exceptional year for the club with all four Premier Men’s and Women’s teams in the finals.

“For me it’s always the league winners you should aspire to,” said Nix. “So it’s been special to win the premiership. 47 years is a long wait and for me it’s been so great to see how much it means to everybody involved with the club. 

Nix said the squad was determined to bring the grand final home for both grades.

“It’s a great spectacle and a great occasion,” he said. “I was fortunate enough to play in the finals a  of couple of years ago and it was surreal then, and I think it will be even bigger this time.”

This is a club that’s got heart and soul. — Korey Nix

NYUFC was a club that thrived on the back of its Red Army supporters who have been with the club through thick and thin, said Nix. 

“Our following is the best on the Coast and always has been,” he said. “Once people come and watch they tend to stick with us.

“It’s great to see the people who have been with us through the hard times, still here for the good times. 

“That, for me, is actually a proper club. Because you don’t just want supporters who only turn up when you’re winning. This is a club that’s got heart and soul.  It’s a great club and once people experience a game they became part of the family and they become part of the Red Army.

“We’ll always honour the core of the club and try to build on that. Now the challenge is to continue to build a disciplined, winning culture.”

The club, which  is  a 1997 merger of Nambour Reds and Yandina Eagles, had lost finals in 1977, 2000 and in 2019 before claiming this year’s premiership.