Soccer start date set
Football Victoria has announced their return to sport plan, which will see community football hopefully begin on June 28.
The government has permitted soccer clubs to begin training in groups of 10 or less, which Warragul United president Paul Sheehan welcomed when the side kicked off training last week.
“We started on Tuesday night, just 10 players per half of the pitch,” he said. “We have encouraged our senior players to come out and train, until the restrictions are lifted a little more to 20 players,” he added.
In a positive sign, Warragul have a date to aim at for a season start, with many other sporting codes still waiting on a season commencement date. However, there is still a lot to play out before the whistle is blown to kick off season 2020.
Warragul play in the State 1 competition, which includes mostly city-based teams, causing some issues when it comes to the financial side of things.
“I’ve already seen a memo from the Richmond club saying that they won’t be fielding a side due to the financial impact it would have on them,” Sheehan said.
Sponsorships have become scarce, with the league failing to start before the pandemic, leaving sponsors without any reason to back clubs in 2020.
Despite this, Sheehan said Warragul are raring to go if a season was to go ahead, whether it be a reduced one round wise and team wise.
“We are really just a little club out here in Warragul, we rely on locals, so we don’t face the issues like some financially. I’d like to think that they are itching to come back and play for Warragul,” Sheehan said.
“The reality is, our league is a business now at this level, so it’s not as viable and lots of teams may pull the pin,” Sheehan added.
FV CEO Peter Filopoulos said that he understands the reasons behind some teams choosing to opt out of the season.
“FV understands that the impact of COVID19 has meant that some clubs would prefer to voluntarily opt out of competition in 2020. This is understandable.”
“Whilst our team will work with all clubs to support their desire to play football this season, if this proves unachievable we will ensure the clubs who decide to opt out from competitions that their position in the football hierarchy is maintained and welcome them back in 2021,” Filopoulos said.
Warragul are optimistic that they will see a season and are buoyed by the proposed date, showing that Football Victoria are keen to get a season underway.
How that will look though, will be dictated by which teams consider 2020 a viable option going forward, with Warragul United waiting on more information surrounding the play in the State 1 competition.