Back in for 2018

Thunder women make cut for NPL Qld

The South-West Thunder have been given the tick of approval by Football Queensland to compete in a revamped women’s National Premier Leagues Queensland competition next year.

The Thunder will be joined by eight new clubs in the NPL Qld, as well as six outfits currently competing in the competition this season in a shake-up to the state’s second tier of women’s football.

With two teams dropping out of the league for the 2017 season, the Thunder were expecting major changes to how the competition would shape up next year.

The Thunder men’s NPL Qld licence was renewed in May, with the women’s squad finally receiving news yesterday it made the cut and will join them in the NPL Qld.

While the club was never on the chopping block, women’s assistant coach Anthony Bigby said his team would now focus on 2018 without the burden of not knowing about their future.

“There was always a level of the unknown and it is always a sigh of relief when you see the confirmation,” he said.

“Saying that, I was pretty confident with our application because the women’s program has been going quite well.”

Eight new rivals for a top four spot await the Thunder and Bigby is confident of his chances against the new contingent.

“It will be interesting to see how well the new clubs go given the strength of the existing clubs in and around Brisbane,” he said.

The Thunder’s good news came on the back of another announcement by Football Queensland confirming that Toowoomba Football League clubs Warwick and St Albans had each been fined $1000 for their involvement in a melee during their June 25 fixture in Warwick that caused the referee to abandon the game.