Adelaide Footy League clubs confident coronavirus will not force them to close doors
Community football clubs are confident they can weather the storm of the coronavirus as the Adelaide Footy League braces for the possibility of a season wipeout in 2020.
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Community football clubs are confident they can weather the storm of the coronavirus as the Adelaide Footy League braces for the possibility of a season wipeout in 2020.
The competition has been suspended until June 13 but there are growing fears among clubs and the league executive that playing this year is becoming more unlikely.
Clubs are now calling on local councils to provide rent relief to help them deal with costs and stay afloat.
Mitcham and Salisbury councils will waive fees for sports clubs in their districts, while Charles Sturt will negotiate, offer or grant reductions in charges for clubs and businesses.
Adelaide Footy League chief executive John Kernahan said councils and utility providers would play a key role in assisting clubs by either reducing or waiving fees for 2020.
But he also said the league did not expect any funding to filter down from the AFL or SANFL, aside from relief from registration payments.
“Do we want to lost any clubs? Absolutely not,” Kernahan said.
“But we’re very conscious that there is likely to be some relative collateral damage in football as there is in the wider community and industry.”
Kernahan said the he remained hopeful of a nine-round competition starting in June but added the league was also preparing for no football this year.
“But we’re also at the mercy of higher authorities and not necessarily confined to football,” Kernahan said.
“If you were partial to a flutter, you’d be questioning football at community level being played in 2020 anywhere in Australia.
“As a matter of course we’re preparing budgets for both outcomes.”
WHAT THE CLUBS ARE SAYING
Tea Tree Gully president John Curley said the heavyweight district club would “find a way”.
“I’ve still got expenses and things like that, but as a club I think we’ll be okay,” Curley said.
“Not saying that we’re flush with money but we’re in an okay position.
“We’ll need to sit down with sponsors and see what they want to do. If they all want their money back then we may be in a bit of trouble.
“My gut feeling is the season won’t go ahead at all, which would be the worst thing but it’s out of our control.”
Walkerville Football Club chairman Ryan Curry said he was concerned for the finances of the Cats, who operate under the Walkerville Sports Club.
“I have some real concerns about that, we really need the council to freeze our rent or give us some relief from it,” Curry said.
“From the footy club’s point of view a lot of our costs are tied to actually playing footy.
“So if we’re not playing games of footy we don’t have a lot of outgoings apart from rent, electricity and those overhead type things.
“If we’re lucky enough to get away on the 13th of June, which I think every day that goes by looks more and more unlikely, in terms of the on-field stuff I’m very confident.”
Division one stalwart Goodwood Saints president Craig Scott said the silver lining of the tough situation was that the club was due to spend 2020 without a home base.
The Saints are expected to move into a new $3.6 million building in September and would have lost money during the season through hiring alternative venues as clubrooms.
“The logistics of that were going to be very difficult and costly … we were definitely going to lose money,” Scott said.
“We’re working on not having a season, we’re working towards that.
“We’re contacting sponsors at the moment and I’ll be sending something out next week to all our junior parents.
“I’m pretty confident we’ll be offering refunds for all the junior subs but it’s not great for the players.
“We’re in a good, strong financial position and we’ll ride through this no problems.
“But there will be some SANFL clubs that this will definitely hit big time.”
Division five club Lockleys president Greg Butler said it was disappointing with the club setting itself for a big year with a new women’s team and fourth men’s side.
The Demons were also set to move into new two-storey clubrooms this season.
“Moving clubrooms we had already set ourselves up financially with a bit of a buffer, so we can probably ride this out if the season doesn’t happen,” Butler said.
“We spent some money already but we’ll be able to cover that, once we pay what we owe.
“Going into the new building we were lucky in that we weren’t going to have to pay any bills for a while anyway.
“It would be good to have a season but I can’t see it happening at the moment.
“Until they can get the curve on this disease on a downward spiral, I don’t think much is going to happen at all.”
Salisbury Football Club president Liam Short said the Magpies would continue to provide support and be an outlet for the community.
“There’s the financial aspect but also the social and mental wellbeing of the whole thing,” Short said.
“We’re looking at ways we can keep on top of that and check in with everybody just to make sure everyone’s okay.
“Financially, we’ll take a hit. There will be a small loss if the season didn’t go ahead but nothing that’s going to cause our club long-term grief, which is a positive.
“The council is waiving out lease fees up until June 30 and then will reassess after that, so there is some financial relief coming through.
“Sponsors is probably the biggest one because there’s obviously a lot of small businesses that are really struggling at the moment.
“Some of our sponsors have said ‘sorry guys, we just can’t do it’, which we totally understand.
“Others have said they’ll see how it goes or have agreed to a half payment.”
Division three club Plympton, which runs under a larger sporting club, faces uncertainty and challenges, according to president Jamie Morgan.
But Morgan said the Bulldogs’ main focus was to provide support for its players and wider community.
“The physical connection can’t occur but the group connection can still happen in other ways,” Young said.
“Video chats, online fitness training and things like that.
“It’s more about providing a level or support if guys have lost work or their jobs we can come together to help them.
“From a club point of view it’s really hard to plan what the financial side of things look like. And that could be this year or next year.
“Although there’s uncertainty, everyone’s staying positive. We’ll keep taking it short term and just continue to reassess.
Greenacres president Duncan Tilley described the situation as a “holding pattern”.
“Personally I think Greenacres will be okay,” Tilley said of the division seven club.
“For us, thankfully we’ve got money in the bank and with no footy we’ve got no expenses.
“Everything’s just sort of stopped. We’re not making any money but we’re not spending any money either.
“I think the word holding pattern is what we’re all currently in.
“In terms of the council, we’re not using the oval not because we don’t want to but because the government has told us not to.”