Benalla football club on verge of collapse after big drop in player numbers

The start of football and netball season is fast approaching, but that is not good news in Benalla.

The Benalla Saints Football Netball Club has sounded the alarm within their community — without more players, there will be no senior football side.

«It's not the boy crying wolf, this is a dire situation,» said club president Lloyd Johnson.

«Our football sides have been decimated with an abnormal amount of off-season departures.»

Mr Johnson says they normally see four to five players depart the club per season as they leave town to attend university or get work elsewhere.

But so far this year they have lost about 20 players.

«COVID is certainly a big factor. We've had a season cancelled now and then a season that was off and on and off and on, and I think there's a lot of fear that will happen again this season,» he said.

The numbers in netball are better but still lower than Mr Johnson would like to see at this time of year, especially because, he said, they have «have two of arguably the best coaches in country league netball».

Volunteer numbers are also low, which Mr Johnson said was the case for most clubs.

«COVID has had an impact [on volunteer numbers], but it's also been diminishing the last seven or eight years,» he said.

The chair of the Goulburn Valley League said the last few years had been disruptive for everyone, and morale had taken a hit.

«Last year was probably the most even season we had, and there was real excitement because nobody knew who was going to win in both footy and netball,» said chairperson David Roff.

«So it was a real shame we didn't finish the season and get a finals season because it was very competitive.»

Mr Roff said they had rebated the clubs as much as they could for the lost games last year and