Melbourne University Women’s Football Club at risk of folding amid player exodus, disastrous season
Melbourne University Women’s Football Club is one of the oldest and most influential women’s clubs in the country – but yet it may have folded if not for unprecedented intervention from the league.
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The oldest and most influential women’s community football club in Victoria feared it would have been forced to fold if not for unprecedented action from the league.
The Melbourne University Women’s Football Club, responsible for producing some of the AFLW’s top players and administrators, has lost its opening three games by a cumulative margin of nearly 400 points.
In a plight that’s caught the attention of AFL football boss and former Melbourne University president Laura Kane, the club is calling on the Victorian Amateur Football Association to step in and approve a mid-season regrading.
The side has been outscored 369-1 in the opening three matches this season against opponents St Kevin’s, Fitzroy and Old Scotch.
The league this week told Code Sports it was considering the request to be regraded in what would be a historic mid-season move.
A player exodus is behind the club’s fall from grace with Melbourne University retaining just five senior players from last season. Several players have retired, left to pursue success at other clubs or continue to recover from injury, resulting in inexperienced reserves players being forced to step up to senior football.
President Maddy Noack said the consequences of not getting regraded would be severe. Melbourne Uni has already forfeited its reserves team this year due to low player registrations.
“If we don’t get regraded, we won’t exist next year,” she told this masthead.
“I cannot see a group of reserves players and players in their first few years of playing sticking out an 18-round season getting beaten by 150 points every game and having to go up against ex-AFLW and VFLW players.”
Melbourne University was pivotal to the foundation of the AFLW with players such as North Melbourne premiership captain Emma Kearney, league best and fairest Mon Conti, No. 1 pick Isabel Huntington, Western Bulldogs captain Ellie Blackburn, Ash Riddell, Alicia Eva and Kaitlyn Ashmore all calling themselves ‘Mugars’.
AFL Executive General Manager of Football Kane served as president for five years while Essendon AFLW coach Natalie Wood is a three-time Melbourne Uni best and fairest. Uni was one of the VFLW’s six foundation clubs in 2016 before its license was overtaken by North Melbourne three years later.
Noack said that Kane had been in contact to offer her support.
“I was speaking to her a few weeks ago about how we ensure the legacy of the club,” she said. “Sometimes you aren’t always remembered for the things you want to be remembered for.
“She was the president of the club when we removed ourselves from the VFLW and that’s a decision she made when she was in my seat. We had a bit of contact prior to that but we’ve definitely become a lot closer when I stepped up as president. We speak pretty regularly.
“She’s such an inspiration for women in footy. But she’s always had her finger on the pulse with the ‘Mugs’ and she cares so deeply about the club.”
WHERE THINGS WENT WRONG
It’s been three years of hardship for Melbourne University. In 2023, the club finished second last after winning three games.
Subsequently, Uni overhauled its program ahead of the 2024 season but the club still won just three games and finished second last.
“At the end of 2023, we decided as a committee to reinvigorate our approach with the view of remaining in Prem A and to see if we could do any better,” Noack said.
“We brought in new coaches, new strength and conditioning staff, we did a recruitment drive and it made bugger all difference.
“If anything, our culture took a hit because of it. We put an emphasis on performance and tried to run the club like a VFL club because we thought it would boost results. But all of it sudden, it felt like all we cared about was on-field performance.
“A lot of people who were there for the club and the vibes, it felt like the club wasn’t the right fit for them anymore and we struggled to retain players.”
The club expected to be regraded ahead of the 2025 season but were told they’d be remaining in A-Grade. Noack reached out to the VAFA in March voicing her concerns about the team’s ability to be competitive but it was too late to regrade the Mugars and no B-Grade teams were willing to move up a division.
THE PATH FORWARD
Amid fears the team might not last the season and would be forced to fold, the VAFA is set to include the William Buck Premier Women’s division in its regrading process for the first time.
VAFA chief executive Jason Reddick said that the league was aware of Melbourne University’s struggles this season and was determined to help the club bounce back. It’s understood that Uni is all but certain to be dropped down at least one if not two divisions.
“Melbourne Uni has traditionally been a really strong women’s club in our competition,” he said. “We were notified of that (player exodus) fairly late in the piece on the verge of the start of the season.
“What we’ve done as a league is we’re now including our premier women’s competition in our regrading process. Previously, Premier Women’s was set and forget and fixtured before the Christmas break.
“They’re certainly on our radar to move into a grade they’ll hopefully be a lot more competitive in. It’s in everyone’s best interest to have a competitive competition and a competitive Melbourne Uni team.”
Clubs have been notified that regrading and refixturing will take place after round four has concluded.
“We look at all of the results,” Reddick said. “We look at the number of players taking the field in each game.
“We look at the fixturing to see who their opponents have been. We look at whether they’re hitting the scoreboard. There’s a multitude of factors we look at to determine the competitiveness of a team.
“We also need to look at the divisions below because it’s one thing to remove a side from a competition but then do we replace them with a side from a lower grade and how competitive would they be?”
CAN THEY GET BACK TO PRIOR HEIGHTS
Melbourne Uni will have to earn its spot back in the premier league. Noack said the Mugars are up for the fight but it’s also important to acknowledge how much the club has changed.
“It’s definitely a long-term goal of ours to fight our way back into Prem A but we don’t want to rush that process,” she said. “With our history in mind, we need to come to terms with what the club looks like now to make sure it’s sustainable for the next 20 years.
“It can be really easy to get caught up in what the club used to be. We’ve had 65 players drafted to the AFLW from our program and we used to have a VFLW side and we used to have one of the largest junior programs in the state but we’re not that any more.
“It’s actually not attainable to get ourselves back into the same position we were 20 years ago because women’s football has changed significantly. If we say we want to get back to what we used to be, that club doesn’t actually exist anymore.
“For us it’s about how we can continue to lead the way and set new standards for women’s football even if we’re not doing so well ourselves.
“I could rattle off a list of 45 things that would help us – more players, more coaches, more money – things that would make it easier for us to get to the end of the season.
“But ultimately what we need is support from the men’s clubs around us. Often we’re pitted against each other because we’ve historically done things differently but we’d love the men’s clubs to look and ask how can we stand with you and how can we support you. That’s not what’s happening here but it’s part of the solution.”
CALLS FOR HELP
Women’s football pioneer Chyloe Kurdas is a life member and premiership captain at Melbourne University.
The AFLW commentator is pleading with the football community to help the once-mighty club get back on its feet.
“The true measure of your character shows in adversity,” Kurdas told this masthead. “This is an opportunity for the football community to stand up and support a club that has gifted the football community some great football players and great football people.
“You always have to honour your history. When you have a club with a nearly 30-year history that’s proven itself to be a strong and viable club, you put your arms around them. You don’t just let them drown.
“Alongside the likes of Darebin, St Kilda City, Diamond Creek and others, Melbourne Uni has been a champion of women’s football.
“We always knew we were building something for our own club but more broadly, the AFLW when it saw the light of day. We’re immensely proud of providing a platform for people to go on to be great coaches, administrators, trainers, journalists, whatever they might be.”
When Kurdas first joined the club after the 1998 season, Melbourne Uni was last on a ladder and losing games in a similar fashion to what it is now. After spending eight years on the committee as secretary, she said the club’s purpose goes beyond the field of play.
“I don’t know if I can put into words what the Melbourne Uni Women’s Football Club means to me,” Kurdas said. “I don’t think we have the language to describe the language and how special it is.
“It gave my life meaning and purpose. Until I started playing there in 1999, I’ve never known a space of belonging like I did there and if I’m honest, I don’t know if I’ve experienced a place like that since. It felt like home as soon as I walked in there.
“They didn’t care about whether they were winning or losing. They cared that women had the chance to play and be who they are.”
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