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Has that been announced or is it still being considered? I can't see anything on the VAFA website and as far as I'm aware there has not been club consultation.
 

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MortlockWatcher said:
And when Swinburne and Masala don't take their place in divisional football, the sh!tshow continues and more changes are made.
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Damned if they do damned if they don’t. At least the VAFA are trying something by evening up the comp and providing some hope to Eley Park, Chadstone, Swinburne etc. Games like the 384 to 0 from Rd 17 last season are pointless. Not perfect and won’t suit everyone but think it’s worth a shot. Might actually help a few clubs re-group and survive. Taking the 3rds only route is a cop out IMO.
 
Jimmyjack said:
Damned if they do damned if they don’t. At least the VAFA are trying something by evening up the comp and providing some hope to Eley Park, Chadstone, Swinburne etc. Games like the 384 to 0 from Rd 17 last season are pointless. Not perfect and won’t suit everyone but think it’s worth a shot. Might actually help a few clubs re-group and survive. Taking the 3rds only route is a cop out IMO.
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Guessing your club didn't earn promotion in the divisions this year!
 
hansie said:
Exactly. It’s a dead set joke of a comp outside of the prem grades
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I don't agree at all with the joke comment however that aside how is it any worse off than EFL Div4, SFL Div 3 and 4 and so on?. There are huge discrepancies in all. Sides in and out of recess, sides with percentages of 30 and no wins and so on. You only have to look at the plights of clubs like Doncaster, Forest Hill,Nunawading, Lalor,East Keilor, Norwood,Tarneit, Doveton and more and you can see it is not a unique VAFA issue. NB four of those teams have recently been in Premier grades.
 
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My view is the VAFA need to stop tinkering constantly to address the short term woes of the few. Promotion/relegation is the best system to equalise over a period of time. Leave it alone. Those clubs anchored at the bottom of D3 need to be supported to improve themselves, not have the whole comp changed around them. And just for the record as people tell me I’m out of touch etc, my club has struggled badly for 3 long hard years. And can’t wait to turn it around, without being given any favours.
 

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les argen said:
My view is the VAFA need to stop tinkering constantly to address the short term woes of the few. Promotion/relegation is the best system to equalise over a period of time. Leave it alone. Those clubs anchored at the bottom of D3 need to be supported to improve themselves, not have the whole comp changed around them. And just for the record as people tell me I’m out of touch etc, my club has struggled badly for 3 long hard years. And can’t wait to turn it around, without being given any favours.
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Well said. 26 clubs are being impacted because of the plight of a handful clubs. There must be a better solution...
 
Archangel17 said:
I don't agree at all with the joke comment however that aside how is it any worse off than EFL Div4, SFL Div 3 and 4 and so on?. There are huge discrepancies in all. Sides in and out of recess, sides with percentages of 30 and no wins and so on. You only have to look at the plights of clubs like Doncaster, Forest Hill,Nunawading, Lalor,East Keilor, Norwood,Tarneit, Doveton and more and you can see it is not a unique VAFA issue. NB four of those teams have recently been in Premier grades.
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Well researched and spot on!
 
hansie said:
Canterbury and St Mary’s massive losers here
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SMS won a flag and now get to seriously compete for another one, whats the loss? spare me the "we want to compete at the highest level" bs, you play local football to compete to win flags and have fun and they will doing both next season if this goes ahead
 
Here’s the full email, which IMHO is very good. Also note clubs can request to go up and down:

Season 2025 produced uncompetitive match results in the lower Division,
and the feedback from the effected Clubs was that their future
sustainability was at risk if nothing changed.

Accordingly, VAFA are proposing the following restructure of our
Division Competitions for season 2026:

* Division 1, 2 and 3 to consist of 8 teams
* Introduction of a Division 4 to consist of 6 teams

The aim of this change is to improve the competitive opportunities for
those Clubs that struggle the most, so as to help them retain/recruit
players and remain sustainable.

There have also been suggestions raised that the length of the season is
too long, so reducing it by 3 games in Division 4 and by one or two
games in the other Divisions, has been considered in the options below.

The fixed parameters that cannot move are:

* the start of the season: all VAFA competition to be launched on the
same weekend - April 18.
* the end of the season: Grand Final day for Div 1, 2 & 3 being Sept
12/13, as there are insufficient venues and resources to host those 6
finals matches (being seniors and reserves) any earlier.

The impact of this restructure is:

* The 2025 senior GF teams that would have been automatically promoted
at the end of 2025 to a higher Division in 2026, will remain in their
current Division unless there is agreement between teams and the VAFA
that a team that wants to move up can swap with a team in the higher
Division that believes they need to drop down in order to be
competitive.

We had a precedent case in the Premier / Div 1 U19's this year, where
this happened (ie. Old Scotch wanted to remain in Premier U19's even
though they finished in bottom 2 in 2024 and would normally be
automatically relegated and Old Trinity didn't want to be promoted as
their next batch of U19 players were not as strong as the ones who
finished top 2 in 2024 earning promotion).

* The Division 4 season would consist of a shortened season played
over 15 rounds, where each team plays the other 5 opponents three times
during the year.
* The Division 1, 2, and 3 competitions would have the following
options for their season:

Option 1

17 rounds, Teams are rated according to their finishing position in 2025
and fixtured to play the 7 opposition teams twice over (14 games), the
top 4 ranked teams play each other for a third time, and the bottom 4
ranked teams play each other for a third time.

Option 2

16 round season, each team plays opposition twice and fixture system
randomly draws two games for teams to play two opponents for a third
time, pre finals bye to ensure grand final is played according to
venue/resource availability.

Option 3

16 round season, each team plays opposition twice and fixture system
randomly draws two games for teams to play two opponents for a third
time. Final five, so as not to disadvantage 5th team by any fixture
anomalies.

We recognise that the draw is compromised in some way with 8 team
Divisions, however VAFA is prioritising the more pressing needs of
competitiveness/sustainability of the lowest Clubs in our Divisional
competition.

We look forward to discussing these proposals with all Division Club
representatives and receiving your feedback at an online forum scheduled
for Monday 24th at 6pm, before finalising fixtures early in the new
year. See link here:

Divisional Men’s Re-structure Forum [1]

Regards

Jason Reddick
CEO
 

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les argen said:
My view is the VAFA need to stop tinkering constantly to address the short term woes of the few. Promotion/relegation is the best system to equalise over a period of time. Leave it alone. Those clubs anchored at the bottom of D3 need to be supported to improve themselves, not have the whole comp changed around them. And just for the record as people tell me I’m out of touch etc, my club has struggled badly for 3 long hard years. And can’t wait to turn it around, without being given any favours.
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Some good points Les but much easier to turn it around when you are a strong established club aligned to the biggest university per student enrolment in the state. Small divisional clubs in areas awash with Old Boys clubs and teams from paying competitions find that process a whole lot tougher. You have also won a flag in the last few years and have been as high as B grade. Granted you have had a couple of tough seasons but have not had to endure regular 200-300 point floggings. Some of these clubs have barely won a game in 5 seasons and have been at the bottom of the VAFA hierarchy for years. If a restructure helps them remain viable then it has to be a good thing, doesn’t it? As I understand it the re-alignment won't impact on your club as Monash were in D1 and are remaining in D1. The VAFA communication needs to be read in its entirety. As I said in my original post it’s not perfect and won’t suit everyone but at least the VAFA cannot be accused of doing nothing. Some of these clubs are in genuine peril of disappearing or becoming 3rds only. For context my club was relegated on the back of a winless season and have not won a senior flag for over 20 years. But like your club we have the resources and established structures to turn it around on our own. Many others do not and need help. You could argue that the help is too little too late but better to try something then wait for the inevitable to happen. Just my opinion and I know others have valid points to the contrary.
 
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Mr Platinum said:
Here’s the full email, which IMHO is very good. Also note clubs can request to go up and down:

Season 2025 produced uncompetitive match results in the lower Division,
and the feedback from the effected Clubs was that their future
sustainability was at risk if nothing changed.

Accordingly, VAFA are proposing the following restructure of our
Division Competitions for season 2026:

* Division 1, 2 and 3 to consist of 8 teams
* Introduction of a Division 4 to consist of 6 teams

The aim of this change is to improve the competitive opportunities for
those Clubs that struggle the most, so as to help them retain/recruit
players and remain sustainable.

There have also been suggestions raised that the length of the season is
too long, so reducing it by 3 games in Division 4 and by one or two
games in the other Divisions, has been considered in the options below.

The fixed parameters that cannot move are:

* the start of the season: all VAFA competition to be launched on the
same weekend - April 18.
* the end of the season: Grand Final day for Div 1, 2 & 3 being Sept
12/13, as there are insufficient venues and resources to host those 6
finals matches (being seniors and reserves) any earlier.

The impact of this restructure is:

* The 2025 senior GF teams that would have been automatically promoted
at the end of 2025 to a higher Division in 2026, will remain in their
current Division unless there is agreement between teams and the VAFA
that a team that wants to move up can swap with a team in the higher
Division that believes they need to drop down in order to be
competitive.

We had a precedent case in the Premier / Div 1 U19's this year, where
this happened (ie. Old Scotch wanted to remain in Premier U19's even
though they finished in bottom 2 in 2024 and would normally be
automatically relegated and Old Trinity didn't want to be promoted as
their next batch of U19 players were not as strong as the ones who
finished top 2 in 2024 earning promotion).

* The Division 4 season would consist of a shortened season played
over 15 rounds, where each team plays the other 5 opponents three times
during the year.
* The Division 1, 2, and 3 competitions would have the following
options for their season:

Option 1

17 rounds, Teams are rated according to their finishing position in 2025
and fixtured to play the 7 opposition teams twice over (14 games), the
top 4 ranked teams play each other for a third time, and the bottom 4
ranked teams play each other for a third time.

Option 2

16 round season, each team plays opposition twice and fixture system
randomly draws two games for teams to play two opponents for a third
time, pre finals bye to ensure grand final is played according to
venue/resource availability.

Option 3

16 round season, each team plays opposition twice and fixture system
randomly draws two games for teams to play two opponents for a third
time. Final five, so as not to disadvantage 5th team by any fixture
anomalies.

We recognise that the draw is compromised in some way with 8 team
Divisions, however VAFA is prioritising the more pressing needs of
competitiveness/sustainability of the lowest Clubs in our Divisional
competition.

We look forward to discussing these proposals with all Division Club
representatives and receiving your feedback at an online forum scheduled
for Monday 24th at 6pm, before finalising fixtures early in the new
year. See link here:

Divisional Men’s Re-structure Forum [1]

Regards

Jason Reddick
CEO
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Not sure using an example from the U/19's is the best precedent to prove a point.
 
YMEYU said:
D4 should will have a premier who hasn't won anything for ages or ever. Can only be a good thing for community football.
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While a new premier will be the case, I'm not sure it will remove the thrashings that were handed out last season.

If you haven't got the cattle on the park and have players over 50 playing two games a week it's unsustainable.
 
I see this as a line in the sand for the vafa. If they truely care about the bottom teams as much as this decision appears they do this decision alone is just a bandaid for a couple of years until the next group of uncompetitive teams come along.

It's time to limit the amount of thirds and under 19s teams the premier teams have. It's no suprise that 10-15 years ago most clubs had 1 u19 team and maybe 1 3rds team. The growth of the 3rds competition has seen a steady slow decline in what was D/3 and D/4 and as well as clubs moving to other competitions.

If the vafa want to make these decisions that effect the divisions like this and stop teams from promotion as well as relegating clubs who don't deserve to be relegated for the betterment of the competition that's fine.

But also make some decisions to help them grow. The make up of the division 3 comp that they are proposing is surrounded by Xav's de la scotch at st Kevin's and probably more who all have multiple 19s and multiple 3rds teams. The vafa need to limit these teams. If clubs picked up 2 or 3 players each from some of those clubs it would improve there culture both on and off field. Also blokes may get motivated and love playing at 2:00.

I would love to see vafa make some decisions like the above that may hurt premier divisions and help the lower ones.

I believe there is some good people at the vafa that want the best for everyone. I applaud them for that.

At least they are trying something.
 
weight man said:
I see this as a line in the sand for the vafa. If they truely care about the bottom teams as much as this decision appears they do this decision alone is just a bandaid for a couple of years until the next group of uncompetitive teams come along.

It's time to limit the amount of thirds and under 19s teams the premier teams have. It's no suprise that 10-15 years ago most clubs had 1 u19 team and maybe 1 3rds team. The growth of the 3rds competition has seen a steady slow decline in what was D/3 and D/4 and as well as clubs moving to other competitions.

If the vafa want to make these decisions that effect the divisions like this and stop teams from promotion as well as relegating clubs who don't deserve to be relegated for the betterment of the competition that's fine.

But also make some decisions to help them grow. The make up of the division 3 comp that they are proposing is surrounded by Xav's de la scotch at st Kevin's and probably more who all have multiple 19s and multiple 3rds teams. The vafa need to limit these teams. If clubs picked up 2 or 3 players each from some of those clubs it would improve there culture both on and off field. Also blokes may get motivated and love playing at 2:00.

I would love to see vafa make some decisions like the above that may hurt premier divisions and help the lower ones.

I believe there is some good people at the vafa that want the best for everyone. I applaud them for that.

At least they are trying something.
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Some good points but you cannot force players to play anywhere they dont want to. 3rds is for guys who want a easy no nonsense game of football usually at 9.20am.

I feel like 2 x U19 2 x thirds teams is enough for anyone though. But the vafa won't stop anyone from playing so I doubt they will limit it
 
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