SFL down to nine teams after cellar-dweller Marion’s move to the Adelaide Footy League
THE Southern Football League will be reduced to nine teams next season – two years after having 15 – following Marion’s departure to the amateurs.
THE Southern Football League will be reduced to nine teams next season – two years after having 15 – following cellar-dweller Marion’s departure to the amateurs.
Rams officials this week voted unanimously for the club to join the Adelaide Footy League in 2018, mostly likely in division seven.
Marion becomes the fifth club to make the move from the SFL in the past two years after Edwardstown (2015), Brighton, Morphettville Park (2016) and O’Sullivan Beach earlier this month.
Hackham also left the SFL’s A grade this year, dropping to the league’s third-tier competition.
SFL president Craig Warman said the league was content play with nine teams and a bye next season.
Warman said the SFL now required clubs to field juniors in their Saturday competitions but Marion opted to keep its underage teams in the SANFL.
“We don’t like losing clubs but we’re a league that concentrates on junior football ... and Marion was unable to field junior teams within our competition,” Warman said.
“The other sides that we currently have here, they want to play Saturday footy so I don’t see that we’ll be losing anyone else in the future.”
Warman said he would not be concerned if the SFL was reduced to eight clubs at any stage because other leagues played with that amount.
He said the SFL would likely have 16 rounds next season with teams playing each other once home and away.
Marion president Jack McCallum said his club, which has been winless since 2015 and had an average losing margin of 171.93 this season, was looking forward to a fresh start.
“It’s a clean slate,” McCallum said.
“Obviously we’ll be more competitive in a division where some of the sides are not quite the quality the SFL has got.”
McCallum said winning games again could help the club attract recruits.
“Anybody that is around footy knows that people generally want to play for a club that is having some success in seniors – that’s just a fact,” he said.
Marion, which was formed in 1891 as Sturt Football Club, has never been in the amateurs.
Before joining the SFL in 1987, the Rams were in the Southern Metropolitan Football League.
Ben Porter will remain as Marion’s senior coach next season.
Adelaide Footy League chief executive John Kernahan was pleased to have the Rams on board.