Attendance limits for country and community footy increased

Crowd limits at community and country footy matches will be increased when the season kicks off, with local games returning to relatively “normal” conditions.

Community footy matches will be played in front of crowds of up to 5000.

Country and community footy crowds have been given a free kick on the eve of the grassroots season with the state government to relax attendance rules.

AFL Victoria has confirmed crowd limits will be increased from 1000 to 5000, in a win for clubs and leagues that had the 2020 season wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic.

It comes in the wake of anger among some community clubs faced with the prospect of turning away fans from games due to the previous crowd cap and other strict COVID-safe restrictions.

AFL Victoria head Brad Scott said community footy would be “as close as possible to ‘back to normal’ when the season starts’’, thanks to the change.

“This is a really positive development for community football across the state, especially clubs and leagues expecting large crowd numbers,’’ he said.

“We are continuing to work closely with the Victorian Government on a daily basis and advocate for community football, and the situation has been evolving quickly since we were in a lockdown only a few weeks ago.’’

The Herald Sun recently revealed clubs were being forced to fill in up 20 pages of paperwork and allow four to six weeks for special permission to host crowds of more than 1000.

But the government has changed its COVID-19 Public Events Framework, with community clubs and leagues no longer required to go through the same red tape.

Community matches with expected crowds of under 5,000 will be designated ‘Low Risk’’ status.

Players had previously also been told to avoid hand shakes and high fives, spectators banned from stepping on grounds during breaks in play and just one parent was urged to take their child to training.

Those rules were overturned last week.

“It will be great see big crowds at community football matches while kids will be high-fiving and can have parents, grandparents and family watching their junior footy games,’’ Scott said. “These are all parts of community football that Victorians love, and it’s fantastic to have the season nearly here after the year we had.”

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