Former Footy Grounds - Andy Munro

Footy jumper pickups over the past month or so, a few were given to me when I was up in Adelaide!

Recently purchased this great book on the Western Plains Football League.
A second edition has just been released this year after it was first released in 2016.

Learnt quite a bit about some of the old clubs!

What does the future of country footy look like?

As the population in rural areas declines and ages, what will this mean for country footy?

The Australian population continues to increase but more footy clubs continue to merge or fold.

The median age in Australia has increased from 33 years old in the 1994 to 38 in 2024 and it’s projected to reach 40 over the next decade.
In country areas the median age can be over 50 meaning there’s less people that can play footy.

Regional towns will have an even older population in the future as the birth rate reaches record lows, there’s just less young people around.

Clubs that don’t have access to juniors will be left behind, particularly in areas over a few hours away from the capital cities.
Quite often it’s the lack of junior footballers causes clubs to merge, senior players can always be imported at a cost.

It can go one of two ways for leagues in country areas.

Clubs from nearby towns merge and join a league further away. This has happened to the SA Mallee and VIC Mallee leagues.

Or nearby leagues merge like what has happened with the Golden Rivers and Central Murray this year.

I wonder if the Horsham District may combine with the Wimmera league or the Mid South East combine with the Limestone Coast league.
I hope it doesn’t happen anytime soon!

Of course this isn’t a new thing, it’s been happening for decades.
If it wasn’t for the hard work of volunteers and funds raised to import players, some clubs may not exist now.

What can be done?
- Anything to make junior footy run more smoothly, less red tape.
- Increase international migration into regional areas but this requires housing and job opportunities. Not an easy task by any means.

Population decline doesn’t affect every sport equally. Netball usually copes better due to lower team sizes.
However summer sports like cricket and tennis have already experienced a bigger decline.

Any club without a catchment to a few thousand people is likely to face increasing pressure over the coming decades.
The challenge won’t be keeping everything as it is today but adapting to keep footy in rural communities.

At Kalangadoo to watch the A grade

Hatherleigh have had a hot start, scoring 49 points in the first quarter and the home side are yet to score.