Sport
27 May, 2024
Maryborough FNC investigating possibility of moving leagues or merging to preserve club
The Maryborough Football Netball Club is ready to investigate the possibility of ending its 33-year stint in the Bendigo Football Netball League (BFNL) at the conclusion of the 2024 season. An email sent to club members over the weekend revealed...
The Maryborough Football Netball Club is ready to investigate the possibility of ending its 33-year stint in the Bendigo Football Netball League (BFNL) at the conclusion of the 2024 season.
An email sent to club members over the weekend revealed that the club was investigating two particular moves for the end of the season, resolving to look to move to another league as they seek to regain competitiveness both on the football field and the netball court.
The club’s move has not been forced by the BFNL, who are understood to be happy to continue accommodating the Magpies in 2025 and beyond should the investigation not proceed into a serious move.
A decision on whether the club will continue to stand alone or look at merging with another club will be mooted to club members, with no clear merger partners or leagues that the club could potentially play in made clear at this stage, with the club beginning its process of investigation.
It comes amidst a 51-game losing run for the club’s senior footballers which has seen the club prove to be at its most uncompetitive at BFNL level in 2024 since moving from the Ballarat Football League at the conclusion of the 1991 season, which yielded football premierships in the 1998 and 1999 seasons.
The club was forced to pull out of the A grade netball competition this season, citing a lack of players who were able to compete at the level, instead dropping down to A reserve, where they currently sit in fourth position with three wins, a loss and a draw after six rounds.
On the football field, the club has not been able to field a reserves side in its past three games, while the senior team currently sit on the bottom of the ladder with a percentage of 17.
Losses by 258 points to Gisborne in round three, 333 points to Sandhurst — a BFNL record — in round four, and 184 points in their most recent encounter against South Bendigo last week has forced the Magpies’ hand in exploring their options.
The investigation also follows the decision of Royal Park and Maryborough Rovers deciding to merge at the conclusion of the 2023 Maryborough Castlemaine District Football Netball League season, becoming the Maryborough Giants.
The potential move, or perhaps merger, is the most crucial juncture in the club’s 152-year history after their formation in 1872.
For much of their history, the club has been a major league club, serving both Ballarat and Bendigo leagues at their Princes Park base.
However, should the club succeed in their quest to move leagues, it would mean the town, with a population of 8000 people, would not have a major league football and netball club for the first time since the 1945 season, in the aftermath of the Second World War.
The Magpies’ decision to explore moving leagues or exploring a merger continues a torrid run for the BFNL, as well as AFL Central Victoria, who manages the league, over the last 12 months.
Kyneton departed the league at the conclusion of the 2023 season, moving to the Riddell District Football Netball League, while rumours linking Gisborne to a move to Ballarat continue to hover, although it has been categorically denied by Gisborne club officials.
A move by the Magpies would reduce the Bendigo competition to eight teams for the 2025 season.
That has followed a disastrous meeting at the conclusion of the 2023 season between AFL Central Victoria, BFNL clubs, as well as clubs from the Loddon Valley Football Netball League and Heathcote District Football Netball Leagues to determine a way forward for football in the area to thrive, with the meeting creating significant tension between AFL Central Victoria and the BFNL.
Further tension was created when Maiden Gully’s application to join the BFNL’s under 18 competition, with a view of becoming the BFNL’s newest club in the long term, was denied on multiple occasions throughout the off-season.
The AFL Central Victoria commission was disbanded last month, with the region moving to a council model.
The first significant test for the new council will undoubtedly be supporting Maryborough, alongside the BFNL, over the next few months as they seek to explore all their options as a club.
The email sent to Maryborough supporters over the weekend reads:
“Dear Members and Supporters, there has been much discussion and concern about the state of the club, specifically with regard to player numbers and our capacity to compete in the Bendigo Football Netball League.
“We have continued to see a decline in our senior football performance this season and we were not able to field an A grade netball side this year. The club has been trying to correct this situation for more than a decade, to no avail.
“Our juniors remain strong and has resulted in some of our players achieving representative honors and entering pathway programs. Unfortunately, this does not transcend to senior performance and retention of this talent has been an ongoing issue.
“The committee has determined that our current situation is unsustainable and failure to act will be severely detrimental to the sustainability of the club.
“It has been resolved to investigate moving to another league. This would take one of two forms. Stand alone or merge with another club. Either way, we can't continue to sustain our current position in the BFNL.
“Once the club has fully investigated these options, we will communicate with members, with a view to voting on the way forward.”
The email also states the generic benefits of moving leagues, stating that all games would be played on the one day, a drop in standard would make the club more competitive, a reduction of operating costs and reduced travel.
It also highlights the positives and negatives of standing alone and merging.
Below stand alone, the ‘positives’, as identified by the club, read:
Combining junior and senior resources
Larger crowds (juniors on same day)
Better atmosphere
Retain club identity
Junior netball integrated
The club’s identified ‘negatives’ read as follows:
We likely lose juniors from the Bendigo Junior Football League (BJFL)
Reliant on resources from within the club to sustain operations
Town loses major league pathway
The club also identified positives and negatives from the ‘merge’ option.
The ‘positives’ on the email reads:
Combine junior and senior resources
Larger crowds, larger supporter base (joint club supporters)
Better atmosphere
Likely retain juniors in BJFL
The ‘negatives’ read:
Overflow of netballers
Loss of identity
At this stage, no clear date is set for club members to potentially vote on the options presented to them, with the club continuing to map out its options.
The club, in the meantime, will continue to play out the season, with the club’s next game to be played against Golden Square this weekend, in what will be their past players’ day, with a reunion held for the club’s 50-year anniversary of their 1974 premiership, and 25-year anniversary of their last premiership in 1999.