ALL IN PLACE FOR KICK-OFF

13 March 2015

Shepparton News - Gregor Mactaggart

A NEW ERA IS SET TO ROLL WITH MEETING SETTING A STARTING DATE FOR SEASON

A new era in the round ball game is set to be ushered in with the establishment of Football Federation Victoria Goulburn North East.

On Wednesday night there was a meeting to determine the fresh structure of the former GNEFA competition, which was attended by representatives of all clubs and members of the FFV executive.

Five teams — Shepparton United, Shepparton South, Tatura, Shepparton FC and Cobram Roar — have been confirmed for the Division One men’s competition.

That number might yet grow, with Kyabram and Numurkah given a deadline of Monday to show whether they want to be members of the top-flight competition.

The Division One women’s competition is going to feature six clubs this season, while the junior grades have been locked in store as mentioned by GNE delegate Gino Cirillo.

‘‘We’ll have under-17 boys, under-16 girls, under-14 boys and under-12 mixed competitions in addition to the senior competitions of division one men and women and division two men,’’ Cirillo said.

The opening round of the new season is locked in for April 19.

Cirillo said the FFV presence at Wednesday’s meeting consisted of its competitions manager and football operations manager.

‘‘It was good to have them up here and at the meeting they confirmed that an administrator of the FFV GNE would be employed in the next couple of weeks to run the competition,’’ he said.

As previously revealed in The News, the meeting also decided to reduce the amount of visa players for each club from four to two, a move Cirillo supports.

‘‘Having only two visa spots will allow our junior players in the region further opportunity to progress through to the senior ranks,’’ he said.

There are also plans to host a Gala Day which will feature FFV GNE clubs against rivals from the Bendigo competition some time in July.