AFL makes promise to clubs on plan for footy’s return

The AFL has made a promise to clubs on when it will have a plan to get them back on the park, but it has tempered expectations, calling on unity and foreshadowing years of struggle in the wake of the coronavirus shutdown.

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan has promised clubs will be provided with a return-to-play plan by the end of the month. Picture: Getty Images

The AFL has warned clubs it will be counting the cost of the coronavirus for years to come as it promised a return-to-play plan by the end of the month.

The league spent an hour on a telephone hook-up with club chief executives this afternoon as well as issuing a memo calling for unity and “alignment”.

The league said Gillon McLachlan’s key lieutenants in Andrew Dillon, Travis Auld and Steve Hocking would come up with a plan to return to footy and get the rest of the season away.

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AFL boss Gillon McLachlan has promised clubs will be provided with a return-to-play plan by the end of the month. Picture: Getty Images

And while the league told clubs it was seriously considering a hub-based concept that would see clubs playing in quarantined environments, it will only do so with the blessing of Federal and State governments.

The league said it would only return to football with government guidance and medical advice rather than attempt to accelerate a return mid-year.

The sobering warning for AFL clubs is that this will be no one-year financial issue, with some areas of the league set to be unrecognisable in coming seasons.

The memo stated: “Unity and alignment are vital in the coming period in ensuring a successful return to play when the time is right to do.”

Clubs were told that the entire economy will be impacted by the current shutdown which will make sponsorships, memberships and all elements of the football economy harder to maximise.

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Any hope footy’s billion dollar economy will spring back unaltered after one bleak year is quickly going out the window.

The league discussed in its memo the challenge of how it put the best structures in place in order to ensure a “successful and sustainable” competition.

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Clubs will not only be slashing administrative and football department costs to keep revenue down, they will be faced with the prospect of paying back millions of dollars in debt in a shocking economic environment.

They will also likely be mandated to park some of their profits in their own future funds to ensure they have a war chest in the event of another financial catastrophe.

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AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said last week the AFL could never have considered a scenario where every revenue stream effectively stopped.

But after the league’s own future fund was the saviour of the game – along with Marvel Stadium – clubs will have to horde cash of their own rather than investing it back into community and infrastructure without having money for a rainy day.

Originally published as AFL makes promise to clubs on plan for footy’s return