The SFL will scrap season 2020 unless fans can get to games
New SFL president Russell Young says unless clubs can attract crowds of at least 500 people, this season will be canned and attention turned to 2021. He explains why >>
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NO crowds means no season for the Southern Football League in 2020.
New SFL president Russell Young said unless clubs can attract crowds of at least 500 people, this season will be canned and attention turned to 2021.
“The clubs made a decision there would be no crowds there would be no competition,” Young said.
“If you could get up to 500 people at our level that would be fine.
“But even 100 people wouldn’t be enough.”
Young said even if no player payments was introduced for this season, clubs would still face costs for umpires, grounds, medical equipment and so forth meaning playing without gate takings and revenue from bars and kiosks would do more harm than good.
He said the competition is aiming for a nine-round season (every club playing the other once with a bye each) followed by a four-week finals system.
“Our first roster game would be mid to late July at the latest,” he said.
“That’s taking into account we are going to play nine rounds then you are finishing mid-October and you’ve got cricket problems and other things.”
The Tasmanian Government’s road map to recovery outlined on Friday said phase three – the possible return to contact sports — had been pencilled in for July 13, which does not allow much wiggle room for the SFL season.
Young said anything less than nine game roster would also see the season culled.
“If it is going to be detrimental to the clubs or the league playing a short season with financial costs then the clubs wouldn’t play a season, they would just concentrate on 2021,” he said.
All SFL clubs share their home grounds with cricket clubs, but only Hobart’s home venue, the TCA Ground, has a turf square, the rest using synthetic pitches.
“So the changeover (from football to cricket) wouldn’t take that long,” Young said.
“AFL Tasmania has been talking to Cricket Tasmania and we believe there have been reasonably positive conversations so we’d like to think we could push (the grand final) into the end of October.”
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