THE CSU Mungoes celebrate the 40th anniversary of their formation this afternoon and this evening as they hold their annual Old Boys Day at Diggings Oval along with a Centennial Coal Cup double-header.

In the time since the club was established by lecturer Col Billington in 1974, the Mungoes have been through a fair amount of ups and downs across a variety of competitions.

An undefeated campaign in what was then known as Mid-West Cup, title wins in the NSW Tertiary League first and second division competitions, and most recently a Centennial Coal Cup premiership in 2012 have all been highlights.

For a time they also served as a Group 10 reserve grade side in the absence of a team from Oberon in 2004-05.

Seemingly settled in Centennial Coal Cup, the club has established a strong identity for itself and stepped out of the shadow of the CSU Rugby Club which has generally had a bigger player base and following.

“I think the guys who set up the club would be pretty proud of where we are today,” Mungoes co-president James Dunston said.

“It took a while to get established, there was to-ing and fro-ing from Mid West into Tertiary League and back again a number of times, there was a bit of success there along the way.

“In the last couple of years things have picked up further and having a title win two years ago and another grand final appearance last year has helped that.

“It has always been a club that is more about brotherhood than winning. Yeah it is great to get a win but no-one worries too much if they don’t, it is just about playing footy and having a good time with your friends. That’s how it has always been.”

Dunston said that the club is at the point where it offers a viable alternative to rugby union for new students who want to play football but don’t have a background in the 15-man code.

“In the four years I have been here it has definitely been noticeable how much it has changed. When I arrived league was just the second option – if you were a footballer at CSU, you came to play union,” he said.

“Now I think that if we’re not on par, we are even ahead of rugby in a lot of areas. That’s not to try and ignite a rivalry or anything like that, but I think the success and culture of the club has made it a lot more inviting now.”

Today’s action kicks off at 1.30pm with CSU Blue taking on Blackheath while Kandos will meet CSU Yellow at 3pm.

From there present and past players will get the chance to catch up at the Uni Bar where a dinner will be held.

“From what I’ve heard, there are about 20 or 30 guys who I played with coming back to get involved, and hopefully a lot of the guys they played with going back before that will be along as well,” Duntson said.

“There are some of the original founders of the club still around town and we would love to see them. It is very hard to get in touch with everyone, but if we could get anywhere between 80 and 100 ex-players up there to cheer the boys on and give a few rev-ups, it would be fantastic."