The Mid South Eastern Football League and Netball Association made a giant leap towards returning to sporting venues around the Limestone Coast after releasing its 2021 fixture last week.
All 18 clubs will fight across 18 rounds in next year’s season which begins on Saturday, April 10 and finishs on Saturday, September 18.
MSEFL president Peter Mitchell said the new draw would follow the same structure that fans had become accustomed to over recent years. “We planned to have the draw exactly the same as what is was supposed to be for this year and we just needed to make sure it all fit, which it did,” he said.
“It starts the week after Easter and finishes a week before the AFL grand final if it goes back to the last Saturday in September.” Mitchell said it was important to get the fixture out early and give clubs something to strive for.
However, he is aware flexibility is crucial if things do not go to plan. “We wanted to get on the front foot and not make many changes,” Mitchell said. “Our clubs also wanted to have a fixture to aim for and I suppose there are a couple of things which allows us a bit of flexibility if something has to be changed throughout the year.
“The clubs have been flexible when change has happened in the past, so I think they will work well together again.”
The 2019 grand final rematch between Glencoe and Kalangadoo will not take place until round nine, while the traditional byes for the South East Zone Carnival and the SA Country Championships remain.
Despite the round-one clash between Tantanoola and Robe listed to take place on Saturday, April 10, the door remains open for the pair to return to the Good Friday timeslot.
Although MSEFL and MSENA achieved a major milestone on the road to recovery at their latest AGM, Mitchell said there were still many things to be done before play can begin.
“I have expressed my concerns for all clubs to make sure their financial state is in pretty good shape and work hard with sponsors to keep them involved,” he said.
“Volunteers and reserves footballers could be a bit of a struggle for some clubs and it is also very important to keep juniors engaged across all sports for as long as we can.
“Hopefully our clubs can work together and everyone in the community can help us get the season up and running in as normal way as we can.”
