The Clubs and League had been working on a revamped fixture following a club survey and subsequent fixture meeting in July this year.
At that meeting the survey results were presented to clubs and fixture parameters determined and agreed upon for the fixture to be developed.
Clubs have also been provided with an opportunity to submit requests to the league with these incorporated into the final fixture.
The draft fixture was developed and circulated to clubs at a delegates meeting on Monday 26th October to allow for feedback in relation to any issues or queries.
The AFL released their draw on Thursday 29th October which contained a bye weekend after Round 23 which impacted on the original GOTAFE GVFL fixture dates.
This bye weekend affected the draft fixture produced by the League, in that the Grand Final would now be scheduled to be played AFL Preliminary Final weekend. This was discussed at Board level and Clubs were provided with several options.
Clubs voted 11 to 1 to keep the fixture as presented at the delegates meeting in October with the GOTAFE GVFL Grand Final to now be played on AFL Preliminary Final weekend.
GOTAFE GVFL Chairman David Roff is happy that the fixture is able to be presented to clubs and supporters in a timely manner.
“We were not aware of the AFL intention to schedule a bye after Round 23 and through our open dialogue with Clubs they decided they were very happy with the fixture as it was and for the first time we will play the GOTAFE GVFL Grand Final on the Sunday before the AFL Grand Final” he said.
“Clubs were able to put in requests and most of them were able to be accommodated and a massive positive is no club will travel to an away game more than two weeks in a row in 2016.”
“Clubs also had an opportunity to discuss twilight and Sunday games with a few taking the opportunity to lock something in early. Clubs will have until mid- December to still discuss some of these alternatives.”
Euroa President Scott Watson was positive in relation to the new parameters for the fixture.
“The process from the initial meeting in July has been fantastic, the AFL changed their Grand Final date but we thought rather than redo the whole fixture again after all the work has gone into it would be best to keep it as it is” he said.
“The ability for Clubs to have no more than two away games in a row will help with membership, continuity and attendance throughout the season.”
Season 2016 Highlights
- 9th April – GOTAFE GVFL Round 1
- 21st May - WorkSafe AFL Victoria Community Championships against Essendon District Football League in Melbourne
- 9th July - Victoria Country Bye
- 6th and 13th August - Split Round (Round 16)
- 3rd September - Finals series commences
- 25th September - Grand Final
Game Highlights
- Saturday 2nd April - Shepparton United v Shepparton starting their season with a standalone game
- Saturday 9th April - Echuca kicking off their season at home against Shepparton under lights
- Sunday 24th April - Euroa v Seymour traditional ANZAC clash
- Saturday 14th May - 2015 Grand Final replay between Kyabram v Benalla
Last Modified on 27/09/2016 17:34