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FOOTBALL GROUND ISSUES
ACADEMY of Football Australia director Gary Scott is making no secret of his desire to make the Italo-Australian Club a fulltime base in a move that could end the Merrimac resurrection dream.
As revealed by the Bulletin this week, Italo-Australian Club committee member Bruno Tomasov has been charged with bringing football back to Tony Cecco Field following the withdrawal of Oak Tree Group’s development application for a 94-unit retirement village at the Clear Island Waters site.
The collapse of the deal, signed by the previous ItaloAustralian Club board, has opened the door for a Merrimac return in 2019 after withdrawing all teams this year.
But the AFA could yet be a roadblock.
Based at Nerang, the academy struck a deal with the Italo-Australian Club in October to use Tony Cecco Field while its Glennon Park home is out of action.
Tomasov said he would meet with AFA officials “ASAP” to discuss their intentions beyond the current agreement, which will end on December 20, with Scott keen to make it a permanent arrangement.
“I’ve spoken quite openly about it, I’d love (the ItaloAustralian Club) to be AFA’s training centre,” Scott said.
“We would love to stay there, that’s for sure, because it’s a great venue and it’s got tremendous potential.
“(But) like anything, it’s small steps at the moment and the reason I’m saying that is because, and it’s no secret, the Italian club has got a bit of a sordid history and I just don’t want to jump with the AFA and it all blows up in our face.
“I’m not sure of things as far as Merrimac go and maybe the Merrimac committee might get a taste of it and basically get their own people (to rebuild the club), which is fine because it’s a fantastic facility.”
IT’S A GREAT VENUE AND IT’S GOT TREMENDOUS POTENTIAL
AFA DIRECTOR GARY SCOTT
Tomasov said earlier this week his sole objective was to get football back up and running at the club.
“At the moment, AFA are using the fields. As soon as I have a meeting with AFA, we will take it from there,” said Tomasov, who joined the committee five months ago.
“There’s many possibilities. Even though football (and Merrimac) is very, very close to my heart, I have to consider how the (Italo-Australian) Club will benefit the most.
“My main concern at the moment is for the football fields to be used by players … juniors, seniors, it doesn’t really matter. I want the facilities to be used what they were made for.”