A Glencoe Football Club supporter has accused so-called “power-hungry individuals” of driving the merger of football and netball clubs from the three competitions in this region.

The extraordinary attack appeared in the club notes of the Murphies in the round eight Budget of the Mid South Eastern Football League.

Among the touted proposals are a 16-team competition comprising the nine Mid South Eastern clubs, six from the Western Border and Penola.

This drew a sharp response from the Glencoe Football Club scribe.

“There’s been a lot of murmurings going around this week about how the leagues will now merge for 2023 and I have come to a decision about what to do,” stated the writer of the Glencoe notes.

“Unless all three leagues want to change, then do not change anything.

“Our 37 kids [at Glencoe] cannot compete with the 175 which one club has and you cannot force families to change clubs, you will only lose participants, not gain.

“The more uneven the competition, the more likely clubs are to fold. Is this worth it just to please some power-hungry individuals?”

Glencoe Football Club president Ted Peacock told The SE Voice that he was not the author of these notes. He said the views expressed in the Budget notes of the Murphies were those of the anonymous writer.

Meanwhile, a closed-door meeting to consider the possible restructure of football and netball competitions in the South East will be held in Millicent on Monday night (June 6).

Lasting one hour, the session will be held at the Millicent War Memorial Civic and Arts Centre from 6.30pm. A similar private gathering will be held at this time on the following night at the Commodore on the Park motel in Mount Gambier.

Details of the two meetings have been outlined in a communiqué to the clubs in this region which has come from the SANFL in Adelaide and been leaked to The SE Voice. Two Adelaide-based SANFL personnel are offering to meet with clubs to present the proposed competition models.

“Meetings are open to any interested clubs but it is requested that representation is limited to club football / netball executives,” the SANFL communiqué stated.

“These will be informal sessions and clubs are encouraged to attend to present their viewpoints.”