THE Jacana Football Club has confirmed its intention to withdraw from Division 2 Seniors and Reserves competitions for the remainder the 2019 EDFL season following forfeits against Northern Saints FC and Hadfield FC earlier this month.
Jacana FC officials met with the EDFL Board of Management on Monday to confirm its withdrawal from senior football for the current season, with the intention of re-entering the competition in 2020.
Club president, David Currie, informed the EDFL Board that his Club will now focus on re-setting their program for next year.
“We believe the best use of our club resources is to focus now on developing our senior and junior football plans for Season 2020 and beyond rather than the battles of trying to field men’s senior and reserves teams every week,” Currie said.
“Whilst it is very disappointing and difficult to have to make this decision, the Jacana Football Club has a long and proud history and we are determined to ensure that continues.”
Jacana Reserve will remain in use for Under 17 Division 3 and Under 15 Division 2 Boys’ junior fixtures for the remainder of the 2019 EDFL season.
After conducting a consultation process with all Division 2 Clubs, the EDFL has determined the following:
1. The existing fixture for Strathmore Community Bank Division 2 and Reserves Division 2 will remain unchanged.
2. Teams originally fixtured to play against Jacana FC will now receive a bye and an automatic four premiership points in each remaining home-and-away round.
3. For matches where Jacana FC played in Rounds 1 to 7 of Division 2 football, the premiership points awarded for those games will remain. However, all points scored for and against the Jacana FC in these matches will be cancelled.
All SportsTG fixtures, results and ladders will be updated to reflect these changes in due course.
Any implications that Jacana FC’s withdrawal will have on end-of-year individual awards, including EDFL best-and-fairest medals and goal-kicking awards, will remain under League review until further notice.
League CEO Craig Armstead thanked the Jacana FC for their transparency and is confident about the future sustainability and direction of the Club moving forward.
“It is unfortunate to not have the Jacana FC competing in our Division 2 competition for the remainder of the 2019 season,” Armstead said.
“While disappointed in this outcome, we thank the executive members of the Jacana FC who have been proactive and transparent in communicating the club’s position with the EDFL throughout this difficult time.
“EDFL Division 2 football has been incredibly competitive through the first seven rounds of the season and all indications are that will continue throughout the home-and-away and finals series.”
