VFL: Box Hill Hawks great’s plan to save historic Victorian clubs
Legendary Box Hill Hawks administrator John Ure fears more historic VFL clubs will become extinct unless the AFL starts to give them financial help. This is his idea for how it could work.
A leading Victorian football administrator says it’s time for the AFL to start giving financial help to historic VFL clubs – or more will die.
Declaring the “termination’’ of 143-year-old Preston’s licence a “tragedy’’, former Box Hill Hawks president John Ure said equalisations measures were needed to support the so-called standalone clubs.
Ure said one solution would be to charge AFL clubs an annual licence fee of $50,000 and distribute the funds to the clubs without gaming machines – Coburg, Frankston and Sandringham.
A similar model was in place some years ago, allowing all the standalones to receive a yearly grant of $120,000.
The grants disappeared at Covid and have not been reinstated.
“I’ve been giving it some thought, and the standalones are such an important part of the Victorian football fabric that they need to be given support,’’ Ure, a VFL life member and Box Hill hall-of-famer, said.
“What happened to the Bullants was a tragedy.
“I think some sort of equalisation scheme is appropriate, because they continue to produce AFL talent. There’s no doubt about that.
“I’d like to throw an idea into the mix. All the (AFL) reserves sides pay an affiliation fee of $50,000 per season and that money is spread equally among the standalones sides who don’t have gaming revenue.
“They’re very important to football. We are a state league, not a reserves competition, and we should be giving as much opportunity to non AFL-listed players to get drafted and one of the keys to that is having competitive standalone sides. There’s no better trial for aspiring AFL footballers than to be playing against AFL-listed players.’’
Ure said he was disappointed the Bullants had been kicked out of the VFL.
He said it would have been better if their licence had been suspended for 12 months, giving the club the chance to reboot once its off-field issues had been resolved.
“I think that would have been a much better approach,’’ Ure said.
He said it was extremely difficult for clubs without pokies to raise the money necessary to compete.
“If you don’t have an external source of revenue, which for most clubs is gaming, it’s an incredibly challenging task … you’re probably now looking at turning over $800,000 to $1 million a year,’’ he said.
“With a membership base of 400 to 500, it’s an enormous ask. It’s huge. I have great admiration for them to continue to fight the fight.
“Without external assistance the standalone clubs find it very hard to be viable and competitive in the VFL as it stands now. I think there’s a compelling case for the AFL to recognise the importance of these clubs and to provide appropriate assistance.’’
At the end of last season Preston asked the AFL for $270,000 to clear debts and help it reset.
The club said players, coaches and the ATO were owed money.
Officials submitted a 61-page business plan outlining how Preston could be sustainable if it could start from scratch in 2026.
But the Bullants were stripped of their licence for being “unfinancial’’ and “uncompetitive’’.
Preston players and coaches remain in the dark over whether they will be paid for this year.
Members have been asked to attend a “special resolutions’’ meeting at Preston City Oval on Thursday, December 11 to discuss placing the club into liquidation.
More than 75 per cent of members must vote in favour for it to go ahead.
In confirming that Preston was losing its licence, the VFL said it was “committed to working with the club to endeavour to meet outstanding commitments to players and coaches’’.
Originally published as VFL: Box Hill Hawks great’s plan to save historic Victorian clubs
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