Adelaide Footy League club Smithfield to return to the competition in 2022
A northern suburbs football club is set to return to the Adelaide Footy League and is confident of a bright future – but first it will need to rebuild its playing list.
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One of the northern suburbs’ oldest football clubs will return from its one-year hiatus to rejoin the Adelaide Footy League.
Smithfield Football Club, which elected to sit out this season, will re-enter the competition in division seven in 2022.
The Panthers suffered a drain of players and a lack of volunteers on the back of the Covid-19 shortened 2020 season, forcing it to pull the pin in March.
Although it’s been more than a year since a men’s team took to the field in a Smithfield guernsey, president Ryan Hocking said the 109-year-old club made the right call to sit out.
“It was a tough decision that was hard to take at the time but we’ve been able to build up to a bigger and better club to what we were in 2020,” said Hocking, who took the role on in March.
“I put my hand up because I don’t want to see this club fold.
“It’s probably one of the biggest clubs in the northern area and I didn’t want to see 100-plus years of heritage go down the drain.
“But the morale of the club is unbelievable compared to where it was.
“We’ve got our biggest member numbers this year that we’ve had for probably 10 years and more life members coming back through the club as well.”
The Panthers have appointed David Walters as senior coach and their next battle will be to rebuild their playing list.
Hocking said the club would speak to previous players, who left on permits this season and will be cleared back to Smithfield, in the coming months.
“David brings 30, 40 years of footy experience in the northern suburbs and we’re really happy to have him on board,” Hocking said.
“Our focus is on culture and club people, bringing in the right people.”
Smithfield finished sixth on the division five ladder in 2020.
The Panthers still fielded seven junior and two female sides this season.
Football development manager Dwayne Nisbet said it would have done more harm than good to try and play in the men’s competition in 2021.
“We were going to be in a very competitive division five after having an exodus of players, B grade would have been playing A grade and C grade playing B grade,” Nisbet said.
“Having the opportunity to come back through a lower division will hopefully bring success, which brings supporters, players and get the club back up and about.
“Good culture is contagious and there’s a real buzz about the club now.
“We were down and out but now we’re heading in the right direction.”
Smithfield is still on the search for more volunteers, committee members sponsors and trainers ahead of next season and urged any interested locals or former members to contact the club.
Adelaide Footy League chief executive John Kernahan said the league was happy Smithfield had been able to regroup and was confident in the Panthers’ plans to rejoin the competition.
“They will need to work hard to bring the nucleus of their former players back together,” Kernahan said.
“But they’ve followed our advice and we think they are well placed to make a real go of it and bring their community back together again.”
Kernahan said no other new or former clubs would join the league in 2022.
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