Salisbury West Football Club to enforce strict rules as part of bid to return to Adelaide Footy League
Security guards and video footage are part of measures by a banned club that wants readmission to the Adelaide Footy League — as it tries to change the culture of a club “on the brink”.
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Security guards, video footage capturing every game and club officials having the power to drag unruly players are among self-imposed measures at the centre of Salisbury West’s bid to gain readmission to Adelaide Footy League next season.
The proactive effort, introduced by Salisbury West’s new committee, is part of a bid to overhaul the Tigers’ image and turn around a culture that landed the club “on the brink” of collapse.
A year after its senior teams were banned from the Adelaide Footy League, the rejuvenated club – headed by new president Matthew Bates – has applied for re-entry to the competition in 2020.
Mr Bates said the sporting club’s eviction had left it financially crippled, and regaining senior football was critical to its survival.
“Our junior kids can’t even turn the lights on for training because we can’t afford it,” said Bates, a junior football parent who put his hand up for the president role.
“Right now the club is on the brink, we’re really bleeding.
“If senior footy isn’t back, the club shuts.”
Salisbury West was banned in August last year after its captain, Adam Jones, was suspended for 28 weeks following four separate incidents in the qualifying final against Trinity Old Scholars.
The Tigers had previously received warnings from the league for bad on-field behaviour.
Salisbury West, formed in 1965, also comprises junior football, cricket, softball, 8-ball and darts.
The club must submit a list of 55 players to the league by August 31 to launch its bid for re-entry.
Individual player histories and the competitiveness of the list will form part of the ruling on the Tigers’ application. But a date to consider the bid is yet to be determined.
The club has also introduced its own set of rules including filming every game, security guards at matches and the president and vice-president having authority over coaches to pull players from the field if they see fit.
“We’ll also do our own background checks on all the players as well,” Bates said.
“They’ll need to sign contracts and anyone with a bad record won’t be playing here.
“You’ll never be able to guarantee what a player will do, no club can.
“But we’re extremely confident we’ve got everything in place to minimise the possibility of it ever happening again.
“Every player will be warned before every game, every training it will be drilled into them.
“Everyone looks at the Salisbury West Football Club now as Adam Jones kneeing a guy in the jaw on the news – that’s not us.”
Integrity officer and player Anthony Brennan says there is no doubt the Tigers will be able to fill a 55-man list of players at the club for the right reasons.
“We carry the burden of what has happened in the past but we want to shake that and present ourselves to everyone as a good footy club,” Brennan says
“What we’re doing right now is putting those structures and processes in place.”
patrick.keam@news.com.au