Tara Murray
The Western Football League men’s competition will remain a two division competition for the next two seasons, but there will be 12 teams in the top tier.
On Wednesday, the league confirmed the structure for the competition for the next two years.
Albion, Sunshine and Newport will play in division 1 next season to increase the division from nine teams to 12.
The three teams are currently sitting in three of the first four places in division 2.
Wyndhamvale was considered for promotion but were deemed to not be in an equal position as to the other three clubs.
Division 2 would also be 12 teams, with Glen Olden, which didn’t field a senior side this season, included.
There will be no relegation for the 2025 season along with no automatic promotion of the division 2 premiers, with this to return the following year.
In an email from league chief executive David Jennings to clubs, which has been seen by Star Weekly, the league outlined its plans going forward.
“The Western Football Netball League board has ratified the following senior men’s football competition structure for the 2025 and 2026 season,” it said.
“Three division 2 clubs will be promoted to division 1 to make that a twelve-team competition in 2025 and 2026.
“For the league to return to a three division competition structure, we will need to have twenty-six viable senior men’s football clubs competing with both a seniors and reserves in divisional football.
“This will include the ideal model for our division 1 premier competition to be comprised of ten (10) teams and a division 2 and division 3 with sixteen senior clubs divided between both.”
The document said the league hosted a competition structure forum on July 22 to explore the best possible model for 2025.
It said there was a consensus from clubs to retain a modified two division competition structure for 2025 to ensure stability, an even number of teams division 1 competition and restore a competitive balance for teams in division 2.
“There is a genuine need for certainty around the competition structure beyond 2025 and clarity for clubs in future considerations when and if we return to three divisions,” it said.
“Competitive balance will need to be addressed when fixturing both the division 1 and division 2 competitions.
“It is worth noting that it may not solve all the challenges of the clubs competing in division 2 that are struggling to generate momentum. However, having a division 3 competition would also not solve some of these issues.
“The league will employ a number of fixture equalisation methods to facilitate a competitive draw for all teams across both divisions.”
