Sport
2 September, 2025
MFNC seek to secure their future, submitting third application to MCDFNL
The Maryborough Football Netball Club (MFNC) is hopeful the third time’s a charm, submitting a new application to join the Maryborough Castlemaine District Football Netball League (MCDFNL).
Announced last Thursday afternoon, the Magpies are optimistic that this new application is the road to a revival for their senior football and netball program after being forced into recess for the first time in 80 years.
It isn’t the first time the MFNC has gone down this road.
After a failed inclusion into the MCDFNL and Central Highlands Football Netball League (CHFNL) in 2024, the club announced a re-application for the MCDFNL in May after meeting with representatives from all 13 clubs.
However, they were rejected again after failing to receive 15 of the 20 votes needed to join the league during a special general meeting in July, putting their future back in limbo with the door into the MCDFNL seemingly slammed shut.
According to a statement issued by the league on Monday, August 11, the MCDFNL undertook a comprehensive, independent review after the vote “following a request from the MFNC”.
The review, completed by Nevett Wilkinson Frawley Lawyers, found “the vote may have been conducted in a manner suffering from technical breaches of the rules, but not of the nature of voter ineligibility based on our preferred reading of the rules”.
It also found that “pursuant to rule 10.6, the board does not need to notify the MFNC of the reason for rejection of its application.”
Despite that, the door between the two sides reopened when the Magpies return to play working group met with the MCDFNL board last fortnight to discuss the viability of re-applying to the league.
Following a club meeting early last week, the MFNC decided it was in the club’s best interests to launch a new application to try and secure its future away from the Bendigo Football Netball League (BFNL).
Before their recent meeting with the league, the MFNC approached other leagues in the region, including the CHFNL, Loddon Valley (LVFNL) and North Central Football Netball Leagues.
However, club president Glen Bardsley said the MCDFNL is “the best solution” for the Magpies.
“At the end of the day, it’s the Maryborough and Castlemaine District league, so it’s a perfect fit for us really,” he said.
“The LVFNL would probably be the other league we would try to (join), but we just don’t know what player support we have to go to that league.
“We have always been confident that we would be able to get our teams up if we were in the MCDFNL.”
The LVFNL has shown its willingness to accept new teams into the league this season, with Macorna officially becoming its 10th team last week.
With their ambition to strengthen the bonds between their junior and senior teams, Bardsley said the lack of junior football competitions in the LVFNL is something the MFNC has given serious thought.
“We want all our sport on the one day, that’s the main goal, to get everyone playing on the same day,” he said.
“If you go to the LVFNL, the juniors would still have to play in the BFNL on the Sunday.
“It’s been like that forever for Maryborough because that’s just the way the BFNL is, but it just makes it hard on families.”
If the application to the MCDFNL is successful, the club’s junior football and netball teams, currently playing in the Bendigo Junior Football League (BJFL) and Maryborough Netball Association (MNA) will move to the MCDFNL.
The MFNC is currently planning for junior footballers to be in the BJFL and junior netballers to be in the MNA in 2026, in case their third application is unsuccessful.
An outcome date for the third application is yet to be determined by the MCDFNL, expected to be addressed at the conclusion of the ongoing finals series.