Sport
28 August, 2026
Maryborough Football Netball Club officially accepted into the MCDFNL
The long, winding saga to secure a permanent home has finally ended with an ideal resolution for the Maryborough Football Netball Club after the MCDFNL officially accepted its application to join the league for the 2027 season.
Club representatives from all 13 MCDFNL clubs anonymously voted on the Magpies’ application at a special general meeting on Wednesday night, securing the 66 percent majority required to become the league’s 14th club.
“It means the club survives. We don’t lose 154 years of history,” Maryborough Football Netball Club president Glen Bardsley said.
“The majority of the committee met at the clubrooms last night and we were just sitting around waiting for the phone call from the league.
“There was a lot of cheering, a few tears from a few of the younger ones, but it was just relief.
“We know there were at least nine clubs who said yes, so we would like to thank them for their support and the people behind the scenes at our club who have done a lot of work.
“People don’t see the number of hours that some people have put in during the last two years. It doesn’t happen without those people.”
It’s a moment the Magpies faithful have been dreaming of since the club entered into recess following the 2024 season after years of being uncompetitive in the Bendigo Football Netball League (BFNL).
Before entering their first recess period since the Second World War, Maryborough expressed interest to join the MCDFNL or the Central Highlands Football League and discussed possible mergers, yet they failed to provide a resolution.
While the club’s junior programs have continued operating in the Bendigo Junior Football League and the Maryborough Netball Association respectively, the Magpies have spent the last two years searching for a long-term, sustainable pathway after a return to the BFNL was deemed unfeasible.
Those aspirations received a major blow last year when the Magpies’ application to join the MCDFNL for 2026 was rejected, failing to receive the 15 out of 20 votes it required.
It was a major setback that Bardsley said made him concerned about Maryborough’s survival.
“There was no guarantee, you don’t know what other clubs are thinking and how their situation is, but we were just hoping for the chance,” he said.
Unlike Maryborough’s previous application, the MCDFNL’s seven board members had no right to vote on Wednesday after the league implemented a rules change in April following discussions between the board and the league’s legal team.
The league also elected to lower the required majority approval rate for any club applying to join the MCDFNL to 66 percent, which was established when the Magpies lodged their application on May 31 and was legally instituted last month following an “extraordinary resolution to the rules”.
With their once uncertain future now secure, Bardsley said Maryborough will now turn its attention to rebuilding its senior football and netball programs.
“We feel like we’re starting from scratch and hopefully the support’s there. We think the support’s there, but we will soon see,” he said.
“We know there’s still a lot more work to do with players, coaches and volunteers — it was very hard to talk to people when we didn’t know, but now we know.
“At least now we can sit back and we know where we are going and we have got a direction.
“We just wanted the chance and now it’s up to us to make it work.”
MCDFNL competition coordinator Ben Connell said the inclusion of Maryborough will bring massive benefits to the league.
“We think it’s a great outcome for the league. We go from being a 13-team competition to a 14-team competition. It evens out our fixtures a little bit and we can play very similar to the Central Highlands and the BFNL where they have league-wide byes to give clubs a break,” he said.
“We intend to work on the fixture once we are through finals, but we foresee it still being an 18-round season with clubs playing 16 games and two league-wide byes throughout the year.
“The Magpies have done a lot of the groundwork themselves, speaking to clubs, putting their case forward, explaining their reasons and how they see themselves operating.
“My dealings with them through the hire of their facilities at Princes Park for finals and just in general have been fantastic, as my dealings with all clubs are, and I’m looking forward to working with them through 2027 and beyond.
“For the Magpies, the hard work starts and they’ve now got a clear pathway forward and I’m sure they’ll be doing everything they need to do to hit the ground running in 2027.”