The flying instructor and test pilot,who had joined the RAAF at the outbreak of World War II, was aged 26 and recently married when he accepted the Wangaratta Magpies senior coaching job.

In the next four seasons, the Magpies would achieve a benchmark in the Ovens and Murray Football League only one other club had previously attained – four successive premierships.

St Patrick’s won their four in a row in the 1920s, but since the Magpies repeated the feat under Holten between 1949-52, the mark has proved elusive.

The modern-day O and M powerhouse Albury is lining up for its second shot at the magical mark after Yarrawonga stopped the Tigers’ first run in 2012.

Albury also won three flags in a row in the mid-1990s and the Magpies arch-enemy, the Rovers, also went close at the end of the 1970s, but were denied by North Albury.

Ironically the team standing in the Tigers’ way of a shot at O and M greatness in Saturday’s grand final is Wangaratta.

There are four surviving members of Holten-led premiership teams and Jack “Hopper” McCormick, Kevin “Wobbles” Allan, Bill Comensoli and Louis Cesa all plan to be at Lavington Sportsground today dreaming about the club winning another flag and stopping the Tigers’ entry into O and M rare air.

McCormick, aged 91 and the only member of the quartet to play in the four successive flags, was among the crowd last Sunday to witness the Magpies fight-back and claim a grand final berth.

His football path could have easily taken a different turn when he played for Wangaratta Rovers before they entered the O and M in 1950.

Allan, also aged 91 after a recent birthday, was inducted into the O and M Hall of Fame this year.

His career started in the Ovens and King league but he has bled black and white since joining the Magpies.

He played in the 1950, 1951 and 1952 triumphs mainly on the wing with Comensoli and Cesa late additions to the premiership club as members of the 1952 team which beat Rutherglen in the grand final.

McCormick, Comensoli and Cesa played in another Magpies’ premiership in 1957 when Holten had handed over the coaching reins to former St Kilda player Jack McDonald.

Opinions vary on the many star players of the era, but the Magpies’ living legends remain united on the impact Holten had on the club and league.

“He changed the whole game in the Ovens and Murray,” McCormick said.

“It was a man-on-man, kick to position type of game, but when Holten came we started to run and handball.

“It gave us the edge we needed.”

Allan remains equally in awe of the Magpies’ leader.

“We had really good players, but we had the top coach,” he said.

The Magpies premiership run started with a win against Wodonga in 1949.

They beat O and M newcomers North Albury the following season and recorded another win against the Bulldogs in 1951.

Cesa had to bide his time before breaking into the senior side in 1952 when they beat Rutherglen at Albury in the grand final and in an early baptism of fire found himself playing on Redlegs’ new coach and former Essendon rover, Greg “Spudda” Tate.

“The ferocity of the Wangaratta team was the thing I remember so well,” Cesa said.

“At one stage Holten came from nowhere and burst straight through the two of us and said, ‘Tatey, every time one of our little blokes go down, you’re going down too’.”

Comensoli’s family moved to Wangaratta from Rutherglen in search of work and he also broke into the team in 1952 as an understudy to Ken French in the ruck.

The 84-year-old said the Magpies were tuned to perfection by the coach.

“You only had the ball for a split second, but you had to have your mind made up what you were going to do with it,” he said.

Other Magpies to play in the four successive flags were Holten, French, Ken Nish, Bill Parkinson, Norm Minns and Tim Lowe.

Star forward Minns left the Magpies at the end of 1952 and coached Benalla to a flag the following season

He also coached Corowa before making his way back to the Magpies and leaving a lasting legacy as an administrator.

Lowe spent his childhood years in Melbourne during the Depression before his family moved to Wangaratta after World War II.

The talented rover also overcome polio to be an undisputed O and M star by winning three of his five club best and fairests in premiership years and also the 1953 Morris Medal.

Other players from the Holten era also came from many and varied backgrounds.

A favourite, key defender Lionel Wallace, milked cows at Greta and could only train one night a week, but rarely played a bad match.

Full-back Jack Ferguson operated a shoe store in Murphy Street with team-mate Doug Ferguson, no relation, but a one-time employee.

Ruckman Graeme Woods was a farmer at Boorhaman and died a decade ago in the lead-up to the Magpies’ first of back-to-back premierships in 2007.

Nish also overcame a disability to play in four flags.

Max “Shiny” Williams booted eight goals in the 1951 premiership win which Holten widely regarded as his best team of the era.

But Williams didn't play again after a serious motorcycle accident in the lead-up to the 1952 season when the Magpies completed four flags in a row.

At the end of the 1951 season, the Magpies challenged Wimmera league club Ararat for the title of the unofficial best team in country Victoria.

Wangaratta was the visiting team and a convoy of 20-plus cars made the long trek to western Victoria for the match.

Players and supporters of the era loved a bet with an estimated 1500 pounds wagered on the outcome with Holten ensuring his players secured the most lucrative odds on offer from the confident hosts.

“It was the only time I came home from a football trip with more than I went with,” Allan said.

The Magpies won 15.15 to 11.7 and earned rave reviews from the Sporting Globe newspaper for their efforts.

It was widely regarded as the forerunner to the creation of the Victorian Country Championships which the O and M won three times in the first four years.

Magpies’ premierships have flowed down the generations with McCormick’s son Ian and grandson Jon both playing in flags as did Comensoli’s grandson Luke Mullins.

Today another chapter in club folklore could be written if Wangaratta can upset the team which has been a constant on grand final day since 2009, but still to win the elusive four in a row.