Frankston kicked from VFL (Readmitted for 2018)

Remove this Banner Ad

If you had a competition that had the 12 best semi-professional teams in Victoria, with teams like the Balwyn, Vermont, Norwood, Greensborough and Heidelberg's of the football world, how would they stack up against the standard of VFL Football?

They tried that a few years ago when a group of premiership teams across Melbourne and Geelong met each other. It failed.
 

Log in to remove this ad.

FRANKSTON Dolphins Football Club is still in the game after creditors today voted to accept a deal for partial payment over five years.

Paul Burness, from administrator Worrells, said creditors owed about $1.5 million voted overwhelmingly in favour of accepting the deal in which payments will start mid next year.

“The mood of the meeting was reasonably positive. There was only one creditor against the proposal,” he said.

It’s understood Tabcorp — owed for poker machine licences — was the sole objector.

Dolphins great and steering committee member Peter Geddes said supporters were delighted they could now focus on regaining the club’s licence so it could re-enter the VFL in 2018.

Mr Geddes thanked Worrells and Frankston Council for their support in getting agreement on the deal from creditors.

He said a general meeting would be held soon so members and supporters could have input on a new board overseeing the club.

“By March to June next year we hope to be in a position to take our football plan and commercial plan to AFL Victoria.”

He said it was expected the Dandenong Stingrays TAC Cup club would use the Frankston Park oval for preseason training.

The Dolphins were sensationally booted out of the VFL in September after AFL Victoria said its debts were too hard to ignore.

Members are adamant the club can be resurrected for the 2018 season.

High profile former Hawthorn president Ian Dicker, who led the resistance to the Hawks’ proposed merger with Melbourne in 1996, has thrown his support behind the club.
 
FRANKSTON Dolphins Football Club is still in the game after creditors today voted to accept a deal for partial payment over five years.

Paul Burness, from administrator Worrells, said creditors owed about $1.5 million voted overwhelmingly in favour of accepting the deal in which payments will start mid next year.

“The mood of the meeting was reasonably positive. There was only one creditor against the proposal,” he said.

It’s understood Tabcorp — owed for poker machine licences — was the sole objector.

Dolphins great and steering committee member Peter Geddes said supporters were delighted they could now focus on regaining the club’s licence so it could re-enter the VFL in 2018.

Mr Geddes thanked Worrells and Frankston Council for their support in getting agreement on the deal from creditors.

He said a general meeting would be held soon so members and supporters could have input on a new board overseeing the club.

“By March to June next year we hope to be in a position to take our football plan and commercial plan to AFL Victoria.”

He said it was expected the Dandenong Stingrays TAC Cup club would use the Frankston Park oval for preseason training.

The Dolphins were sensationally booted out of the VFL in September after AFL Victoria said its debts were too hard to ignore.

Members are adamant the club can be resurrected for the 2018 season.

High profile former Hawthorn president Ian Dicker, who led the resistance to the Hawks’ proposed merger with Melbourne in 1996, has thrown his support behind the club.
Love a story like this, battlers fighting it out for the win!
 
NB leaving doesn't bode well for the prospect of a Frankston revival. It means two more clubs have been fired from the gun which first shot out Bendigo Gold in 2014.

Three clubs out of the competition in two years. 16 teams reduced to 13. Makes for a good business case to keep trimming until it's 12 (with Willy and Port) or maybe just the 10 clubs with AFL links.
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

North Ballarat staying and the Dolphins more than likely (70/30 at the moment) set to return in 2018.

Frankston have received some major financial backing but need to clear up there total finances before said backer will jump on board. A lot of water set to go under the bridge but Frankston as a club are likely set to sit out 2017 with an eye to 2018.

Only disappointing thing for me is the recruitment heading forwards. Some local players signed at rival VFL clubs may not likely re - sign at Frankston.


One thing for sure is that with a total clean slate, the Dolphins will likely be able to afford splashing out some money for players for once.
 
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/...e/news-story/c21066307767cea150012e53a57a6f27

FRANKSTON has until June 30 to convince AFL Victoria it should be readmitted to the VFL in 2018.

And the Dolphins have set themselves to sign 1000 members — a league best — in the next three months to prove their community support.

The club says its ability to boost membership is a key point that AFL Victoria will consider as it weighs up Frankston’s bid to regain its VFL licence.

The Dolphins went into administration before the last match of the 2016 season with debts of more than $1.5 million.

It has been reduced to $410,000, to be paid off in the next four years.

New general manager and former Hawthorn star Gary Buckenara said the debt was “manageable’’ and the club was making good progress.
 
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/...e/news-story/c21066307767cea150012e53a57a6f27

FRANKSTON has until June 30 to convince AFL Victoria it should be readmitted to the VFL in 2018.

And the Dolphins have set themselves to sign 1000 members — a league best — in the next three months to prove their community support.

The club says its ability to boost membership is a key point that AFL Victoria will consider as it weighs up Frankston’s bid to regain its VFL licence.

The Dolphins went into administration before the last match of the 2016 season with debts of more than $1.5 million.

It has been reduced to $410,000, to be paid off in the next four years.

New general manager and former Hawthorn star Gary Buckenara said the debt was “manageable’’ and the club was making good progress.

Memberships $50 from http://frankstonfc.com.au
 
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...der-the-battle-to-save-the-frankston-dolphins

quite an extensive article. Worth the read. Includes -

But there still remained wiggle room for the club to return in 2018. Stepping into that space in the wake of AFL Victoria’s decision was local state Labor MP Paul Edbrooke, who said “losing the Dolphins was not an option”, had 90% of the club’s reported $500,000 debt to the state government waived and started an online petition to save the local team. Frankston City council also agreed to write off a $50,000 debt.

Edbrooke’s federal Liberal party equivalent Chris Crewther, the local member for Dunkley, booked an immediate appointment with AFL administrators, lobbying on the club’s behalf and setting up both a crowdfunding page and a steering committee of local business and community leaders – including Frankston’s 1984 Liston Medal winner Peter Geddes. “It’s a high priority for me that the club gets it’s VFL licence back,” Crewther says. “If AFL Victoria stick to the parameters they’ve set, I think the club is in good stead to get the licence back.”

Dolphins fans seeking divine intervention have never had to look further than St Paul’s Anglican Church, which sits nestled in the left forward pocket at Frankston Park, but influential help in their fight has come from more practical sources: fresh from the Bulldogs’ premiership triumph, former Dolphins assistant coach Beveridge was a quiet but influential ally behind the scenes. Fellow premiership coaches Leigh Matthews and John Longmire will appear at fundraisers, all part of the attempts of Geddes and a fresh nine-person board to revive the club.

The $1.5m debt is now down to $410,000 and the club hopes it will be paid off within a four-year plan to wipe the slate clean. In truth, AFL Victoria have a vested interest in the Dolphins making a successful return because the club is a central pillar of the entire south-eastern region, which boasts one of the richest participation bases in the state and a thriving regional football scene.

Looming largest in Frankston’s recovery mission is former Hawthorn president and saviour Ian Dicker, who lives a suburb along in Mount Eliza and was shocked by the club’s struggle when he picked up the local paper. Days later Dicker walked into a club crisis meeting unannounced and offered his expertise, telling attendees the region was crucial to the health of Victorian football.

June 30 is the date by which Buckenara and Frankston’s new board needs to show AFL Victoria that the club is an ongoing concern, and 1,000 is the membership number the former Hawk has in mind to impress them. The Dolphins have only just passed the 300 mark, though for perspective, no other club in the league has more than 700.
 
What concerns me is that a lot of what's been reported harks back to Sept/Oct and as Buckenara said elsewhere, there was a tide of emotion back then, and they're yet to harness it in 2017. Only 85 days before the deadline.....

Think I'll buy a membership.
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top