Council allows CAFL footy comps back to Alice Springs after three-month dispute

Alice Springs Council has backflipped on its decision to ban football from town ovals with one CAFL comp set to play at Traeger Park this weekend.

The Central Australian Football League competitions will return to Alice Springs, following high level of negotiations between the council, AFL and AFLNT.

The council banned the community comp from playing at any of the Red Centre capital’s grounds, concerned hundreds of fans coming from remote communities would create more anti-social behaviour issues.

The dispute took another turn ahead of Round 1 of the CAFL town competition when the council banned matches from being played at the premier ground, Traeger Park.

However, a pivotal meeting between AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan and Mayor Matt Paterson earlier this week allowed the parties to come to an understanding.

The council has since backflipped on their decision and has allowed both the community and town competitions to play in Alice Springs, including at Traeger Park.

Head of AFLNT Sam Gibson was pleased with the reversal of the ban on community footy. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

The community competition will recommence on May 20, with four rounds at Traeger Park and four at community grounds.

The Round 16 AFL match between Melbourne and GWS Giants will also go ahead as planned, with match details still to be confirmed.

AFLNT chief executive Sam Gibson called the ban reversal a “fantastic outcome” for the more than 1300 participants who took part in these competitions and programs.

“We’re pleased to have announced the community comp has recommenced and the town comp can return to Traeger,” Gibson said.

“It was a disruptive period for everyone and the uncertainty around all football wasn’t ideal, but in the end we’re just pleased to have a path forward.

“The community teams have made it very clear it’s importantly logistically and from a motivational point of view to play on grounds in Alice Springs.”

The CAFL town competition will return to Traeger Park for Round 3. Picture: Charlie Lowson / AFLNT Media

Alice Springs mayor Matt Paterson has called for a special meeting next Thursday to put through a notice of motion for the return of football at Traeger Park.

Mr Paterson said the change in decision followed negotiations with AFLNT that confirmed a new model where an eight-round competition would go ahead.

“The model that has been put forward and proposed is that four weeks in town and four weeks out bush with those being alternate weeks so there are no back-to-back weekends in Alice Springs,” Mr Paterson said.

“And I think we can cater for that resource wise to know that we are going to have teams come into town but also work with stakeholders to make sure the return to country is put in place.

“I think there is less of a bottleneck on Alice Springs when we know we’ve got four weekends rather than the 11 weekends previously put forward.”

Gibson also said AFLNT had committed to investing $50,000 towards developing facilities and infrastructure plans in Alice Springs and Central Australia to benefit local communities.

“The infrastructure in remote communities is severely lacking and doesn’t enable competition football in most communities,” he said.

“It’s important to have the plans, which we’re putting in place, to increase the capability of communities to host football, which we’re committed to.”

CAFL breakthrough after Alice mayor meets with AFL chief

Some divisions of the Central Australian Football League could return to Traeger Park later this week following top level discussions in Melbourne between the local council and the AFL.

Alice Springs Town Council effectively barred all CAFL football from Traeger Park last month, citing a claim peak body AFLNT had breached its licence agreement for the ground.

The council had initially banned the CAFL’s community competition from all its grounds, concerned hundreds of fans coming from remote communities would add to the town’s recent spate of anti-social behaviour and rising crime.

AFLNT then deferred the start of the community comp last weekend with several Round 1 matches scheduled to be played at Alice Springs grounds.

Alice Springs mayor Matt Paterson met with the AFL CEO on Monday. Picture Mark Brake

The potential breakthrough comes as Red Centre mayor Matt Paterson met with AFL chief executive officer Gillon McLachlan on Monday in Melbourne.

Mr Paterson told this publication he was hopeful “that the issue is resolved”, following discussions with Mr McLachlan and other executives, and was keen to negotiate “in good faith” with AFLNT about returning football to the town’s main sporting oval.

However, it is understood all CAFL divisions bar the community comp are poised to return to Traeger.

The big league had threatened to take away Alice Springs’ annual AFL fixture, a Melbourne v Greater Western Sydney match, unless the council reconsidered its stance of banning the CAFL community comp footy from all of its local grounds.

AFL chief executive officer Gillon McLachlan met with the Alice Springs mayor on Monday. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Mr Paterson said his chief aim was to help the AFL understand the council’s stance but also find a solution to the impasse.

“I’m pretty confident footy will be played there this week,” he said of Traeger Park.

“The AFL game will happen in July. They understand our stance on the community footy but we’ll wait and hear if they’ve got anything else to offer.

“They understand the complexities in Alice Springs and surrounding regions, and we will continue to work with AFL and AFLNT to progress this stalemate we find ourselves in.

“Ultimately we still want people to play footy … we want people to access … the best parts of Alice Springs and that’s Traeger Park.

“It was a worthwhile discussion. It was more of an explanation, making sure the AFL knew both sides to the story.”

Both the AFL and AFLNT have been contacted for comment.