Local footy 2020: Former chairman Brett Scott hits out at EDFL board

A man who spent almost two decades on the Essendon District Football League’s board has taken a swipe at the suburban competition following its decision not to cancel junior football.

Brett Scott was the EDFL’s chairman for six seasons. Picture: Jamie Morey

Former Essendon District Football League chairman Brett Scott has taken aim at the suburban competition after it refused to rule a line through its junior age groups at Tuesday night’s board meeting.

The EDFL has opted to scrap senior football for 2020 after leaving the door open for a review of that decision, but it has not cancelled the under-18.5, junior and netball competitions.

As of Tuesday, 177 of Victoria’s 321 active coronavirus cases — amounting to 55 per cent — were in Hume (64), Brimbank (36), Moreland (33), Moonee Valley (31) and Melton (13).

Several suburbs in the north-west are also set to be placed on a four-week lockdown from Wednesday night, meaning a truncated season could not start until August.

Oak Park president Scott, who stepped down in 2018 after a six-year stint as the EDFL’s chairman and 19 years on the board, accused the league’s heavyweights of lacking leadership.

“Due to the EDFL boards (sic) inability to make a strong, decisive decision, the OPCSA executive is left with no option other than to withdraw from competitive competition in 2020,” Scott said in a message on the Oak Park Community Sports Association’s Facebook page.

“This applies to senior men’s football, junior boys and girls football and netball. At all times, the health and wellbeing of the OPCSA will always remain our main focus.

“We are facing extremely challenging times that we have never experienced before and in times of uncertainty we crave strong leadership.

“Unfortunately our governing body is not providing what we crave.”

Scott’s post has since been removed.

Glenroy, Craigieburn, Essendon Doutta Stars, Hadfield, Roxburgh Park, East Sunbury, Keilor Park, East Keilor and Pascoe Vale have also pulled their junior teams, citing health and safety concerns. More clubs are likely to follow.

Craigieburn president John Perrone said: “We think it’s harder with juniors – you’ve got a lot more teams, a lot more people required.

“You might not have the expense of paying coaches, but dealing with it in club land is a lot harder because there are more numbers and you’ve got to run two or three grounds.”

The EDFL canned its senior grades last Thursday before informing clubs on Sunday that the decision could be re-considered.

“The league will now further investigate the implications of the Victorian Government’s new COVID-19 restrictions that have been placed onto several local areas within the EDFL region and the significant difficulties they will present in our ability to conduct a junior football and senior netball season,” the EDFL said in a statement.

“All previous provisional start dates for the 2020 EDFL season will be amended, pending further advice and clarification on the implications for our league of (Tuesday’s) Victorian Government announcement regarding COVID-19 restrictions.

“We continue to urge all EDFL participants to practice good hygiene and adhere to all government and AFL Victoria guidelines to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our community.”

MORE LOCAL FOOTY NEWS

WHICH LOCAL FOOTY LEAGUES WILL PLAY ON IN 2020

HOW 100K SALARY CAP WILL CHANGE LOCAL FOOTY

WHY LOCAL FOOTY IS FACING LOSING BATTLE TO RETURN

AFL GREAT DEPARTS GREENVALE IN COACHING SHOCK

LEADER LOCAL FOOTY’S TOP-50 SUBURBAN FOOTBALLERS

MCGUANE’S ADVICE FOR LOCAL CLUBS TO SURVIVE, THRIVE

WHAT A LEADER LOCAL FOOTY SUBSCRIPTION GIVES YOU ACCESS TO

— Match reports, features, player and coach movements and analysis of all the leagues across Melbourne.

— Unprecedented AFL coverage.

— All the latest football news from across the country including Herald Sun, Daily Telegraph and Courier-Mail.

— Latest news and videos from the world’s leading leagues.

— Exclusive digital stories and videos before they go to print.