Despite early efforts to bring the game to the Latrobe Valley, largely spearheaded by local pastor Norman Minor, the only confirmed team to have been in the region was that belonging to
Yallourn SC, who commenced playing in 1923. Minor was later awarded the very first life membership of the
Latrobe Valley Soccer Association in 1953. Mentions of a "Morwell United" team exist from 1923, but detail remains scant as to their consistency of matches, organisation and affiliation. Victory to the nearby Wonthaggi Magpies in the 1931 Dockerty Cup – three years after the Magpies lost the final to
Navy – spurred curiosity to soccer across
Gippsland during the intra-war years. Morwell Soccer Club began to grow in a more formal capacity from 1933 onwards, as interest in the game began to develop in the region. The club formally convened to enter two teams in the CGSA and also entered the statewide
Dockerty Cup. Ahead of a high-profile friendly match in 1934 against
Navy – then one of the leading teams in Australia – Norman Minor (at that stage Morwell SC's treasurer) wrote a lengthy letter to the Morwell Advertiser, explaining the rules of the game to the expected large crowd.
Navy had knocked Morwell out of the Dockerty Cup earlier that year with a 6–1 victory at the
Crib Point Naval Depot. The club was well-supported in its early years but suffered from finding suitable facilities, much to the chagrin of Minor, who believed the game was being deliberately excluded from town planning and that a "small minority of Councillors do not want us to start". However, a rent-free offering from one sympathetic local farmer, Reg Davey, gave the club its first home on Latrobe Rd, Morwell – despite the facility requiring plenty of "spade work" to be ready for matches. With the development of the local power industry, including the development of the nearby Morwell Coal Mine and the Hazelwood Power Station, football began to grow in popularity as more immigrants arrived in the area, especially from post-war Europe. Former Australian international
Frank McIver moved to Morwell in 1948 and whilst initially playing and coaching at
Yallourn SC, he would finish his career with Morwell SC in 1952 at the age of 48. Arguably the club's most memorable season was 1952, when the senior side won their first Battle of Britain Cup, the Walter Ingram Cup and also defeating a talent-laden
APM Maryvale side 5-0 in the final of the Advertiser Shield. By 1954, 12% of Morwell's population was Dutch (increasing to 15% by 1961), and the club was effectively "taken over" by the local Dutch community, with all office bearers newly-arrived immigrants from the Netherlands and the coach,
Kees van der Zalm, a former Dutch Olympian who represented the Netherlands in the
1928 Olympic Games. The influence of such highly-talented players had an instant impact as Morwell claimed the LVSL championships in 1954, 1955 and 1957, as well as Advertiser Shield triumphs in 1955 (6-1 v Red Triangle Yallourn) and 1957 (3-2 v
Newborough). At the end of 1957, the Dutch diaspora decided to form Werkspoor, which entered into the LVSL Reserves in 1958 and then ultimately evolved into
Fortuna '60 in 1960 - meaning Morwell's championship-winning 1957 season was its last in existence. == Club colors and badge ==