Woy Woy Leagues Club closed for good and Roosters seniors lose key backer
Easts Group has confirmed the permanent closure of Woy Woy Leagues Club, citing the financial impacts of COVID-19 as the final death knell.
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Coronavirus has forced the immediate and permanent closure of Woy Woy Leagues Club, leading to an uncertain future for one of the coast’s oldest senior rugby league clubs.
Easts Group chief executive officer Joe Kelly confirmed the news on Wednesday, after the Woy Woy Roosters rugby league club released the news online on Tuesday night.
“It was a really difficult decision in the current climate we’re all enduring,” he said.
The decision to close the club’s doors includes the cessation of financial backing of the Woy Woy Roosters senior rugby league club, which received the bulk of its overall funding from the Easts Group.
The group has approved an annual grant of $20,000 for the Woy Woy juniors for the next three years, with a further two year option.
A representative from the Woy Woy seniors informed the Central Coast Division Rugby League of the development on Wednesday. It is understood they expressed concern as to whether the club could take to the field in 2020, should the season be given approval to start at some point.
An Easts Group spokesman said, from its amalgamation with Woy Woy Leagues Club in December 2012 until the end of October last year, it had lost about $1.4 million. In an effort to eliminate the continued trading losses, the Easts Group had aimed to redevelop the site and in turn “revitalise our Easts Woy Woy Leagues Club for the benefit of our members” but their site compatibility certificate proposal was rejected by the NSW Government’s independent committee in January 2019.
The development would have included over-55 style accommodation, commercial office space and a new Leagues Club premises on the ground floor.
Woy Woy Leagues Club was experiencing a further declining in its trading position in 2020 before the pandemic struck.
Easts Group Sports Director Brien Samphier said they would liaise with other local licensed clubs in an attempt to transfer the memberships of their close to 3900 members. He also said they would help staff members gain other employment “wherever we can to the best of our ability”.
Central Coast Division Rugby League president Gerard Andrews said he was “disappointed” for the Woy Woy club and said the division would help where possible.
“We can assist Woy Woy if they need to limp through this year and I don’t think other clubs would mind if we did that,” Andrews said.
The Roosters were optimistic about the future of their rugby league club, posting online: “It doesn’t mean the end of the footy clubs just a refocus and some new beginnings”.
There is still no certainty of a local competition in 2020 and if it does take place, Andrews said all stakeholders would need to concede some ground for it to be viable.
“We’ve got to financially sacrifice some ground for the good of the game,” he said.
“If we can’t come to an agreement on that, it might be best to put a hold on the season for 2020.”