The local SA footy clubs facing uncertain futures revealed
Multiple local SA footy clubs are facing the possibility of folding at the senior level as they continue to battle decreasing player and volunteer numbers. Here are the clubs up against it and the challenges they face.
Local SA footy clubs continue to face the major challenge of maintaining player and volunteer numbers ahead of 2026 and the effects have already been laid bare just months after the 2025 season.
Multiple outfits across the state have already shut up shop for the 2026 season or expressed intentions to explore a merger.
Murray Valley Football League club Blanchetown Swan Reach (BSR) will head into recession for next year, while Adelaide Footy League club Mawson Lakes has proposed a merger with Greenacres, an option Whyalla Football League clubs North Whyalla and Central Whyalla are also exploring.
Another club facing the possibility of eventually dropping out at the senior level is Yorke Peninsula FL side Ardrossan.
While the Kangaroos currently have good juniors and colts numbers and are secure financially, they have struggled to secure senior players and club volunteers ahead of next year.
“It’s no secret that it’s getting harder across the board,” president Jack Kuhndt said.
“At this stage we are struggling a bit, we’re still chasing two senior coaches after others left due to other commitments and obviously we’re trying to recruit diverse groups of players but we previously had one big group of mates who have all recently left to go back home to clubs in the city.
“We’re not making any drastic changes or decisions yet, we’re still endeavouring to get two senior teams on the park for next year but we’re looking at our options.”
While the challenge of keeping players and volunteers is nothing new to local footy clubs, Kuhndt revealed it had been increasingly hard each year as job opportunities in local areas decreased and increased in the city.
“The man challenge is definitely job opportunities around the area, and that’s even with trying to retain senior colts players too because they go off to university in Adelaide or to jobs in the city.
“Volunteers as well, you really need to dedicate a lot of time to a club but people need to work and have other commitments or restraints outside of sport.
“We have good help outside of the major committee roles but we’re missing a vice president and a treasurer as well.
“It is hard to think of solutions but at the moment we’ve got some young guys coming through who will play senior footy and we’ve leant on them.
“I think it would be a shame to see the Yorke Peninsula league go any smaller than an eight-team competition because more challenges come with running smaller leagues as well.
“These sporting clubs are the cornerstone of the community and if we don’t have senior teams out there then junior teams will fall away pretty quickly and that could mean kids are left with nothing to do on weekends or parents have to take them 40 minutes to an hour away.”
It is not just country clubs facing these challenges either.
Adelaide Footy League division seven club Mawson Lakes is set to not have any teams in the competition next year and will seek a merger with division five club Greenacres as a result.
League chief John Kernahan said the major issue at hand was inadequate volunteer numbers and “too few doing too much.”
“The really key issue that supports the position of where the threat lays is the number of participants playing the game is steady at senior level, it’s simply the number of volunteers putting in for them.
“It’s an unfair alarmist position to suggest it’s new – if we are to have a quick snapshot from 2005 alone, there are eight clubs not in existence in the AdFL alone and I’d hazard a guess that attrition is relative to all.
“The ‘Crawford report’ written in 1998 predicted volunteerism as the number one threat to community sport in Australia so it’s a stretch to suggest it’s a 2025 nuance, and it’s also not exclusive to footy in Australia let alone footy in South Australia.
“Having experienced different management ideologies at SANFL over the years, the current led by Darren Chandler and Matt Duldig have a far more broad church and caring approach to footy in SA.
“In fact, there has been a slowing of clubs in SA shutting the doors since the inception of the Player Points system (for recruitment) and more recently, salary cap by the SANFL.”
Head of football operations Sean Toohey said the SANFL would continue to work towards sustainability with local leagues and clubs.
“Football, along with all sports, faces a number of challenges in regional areas,” he said.
“However, footy clubs continue to be the lifeblood of country towns, bringing communities together.
“SANFL continues to invest in, and work closely with, leagues to ensure the stability and sustainability for clubs in the longer-term, with competition structures and, in some instances consideration of club mergers, central to these discussions.”
LOCAL SA FOOTY’S STRUGGLING CLUBS
A number of clubs are doing it tough around SA ahead of season 2026 and we’ve revealed those who are up against it.
If you would like to assist your local club in any way, contact details can be found at PlayHQ.
ARDROSSAN
(Yorke Peninsula Football League)
The Kangaroos have seen a number of departures from their senior sides following the 2025 season and are also in search of senior coaches and volunteers.
While president Jack Kuhndt said the club won’t make “drastic changes” yet and remains hopeful of putting multiple senior teams together for 2026, it will explore its options if it is in a dire position come January.
BLANCHETOWN SWAN REACH
(Murray Valley Football League)
BSR Redbacks have headed into a recession for season 2026, citing a major shortage in player and volunteer numbers.
“Financially we’re very stable but there were some challenges last season with overall numbers and we had about four volunteers total doing a number of jobs around the club while our committee consists of a few individuals who have been doing this for the last decade alongside their own commitments,” president Mitch Stalenberg said.
“We’re still positive, we went through a recession around a decade ago and managed to bounce back after more people put their hands up to help out.”
MAWSON LAKES
(Adelaide Footy League)
Dwindling player and volunteer numbers at northern suburbs club Mawson Lakes have led to a decision to seek a merger for the 2026 season.
An amalgamation with Greenacres has been presented to the Adelaide Footy League and will be voted on by members of both clubs.
CENTRAL WHYALLA
(Whyalla Football League)
Central Whyalla committee member Scott Collison revealed the club had been facing a number of challenges in recent years and had come to the conclusion it could not continue for much longer in its current situation.
“There are ongoing difficulties in recruiting and having enough volunteers to run not only the football department, but the day to day running of the club,” Collison said.
“And there is obviously the financial aspect, with increased running costs and a volunteer based club, we struggle to afford having paid positions and it has become a difficult model to sustain long term, and has placed severe workload and pressures on the few hardworking volunteers we currently have.
“Unfortunately, we just have to consider where we may be in five to 10 years time if we just keep trying to scrape by with what we have got.”
NORTH WHYALLA
(Whyalla Football League)
North Whyalla and Central Whyalla have reportedly discussed the possibility of a future merger.
“It is becoming increasingly clear both within North Whyalla Football and Sporting Club and across the wider Whyalla football landscape that our current operating model is no longer sustainable,” a North Whyalla spokesman said in a statement to members.
“In recent months, the club has begun initial conversations (regarding amalgamation) with other local clubs and we have now reached a stage where we must seek the direction of our members.”
