We’re back! Football is coming home to grounds all over the Eastern Suburbs from Lyne Park to Chifley Sports Reserve and from Christison Park to L’Estrange Park. Starting this Friday night, over 9,000 players, coaches, team managers and volunteers will resume their love of the round ball game.
ESFA President Nigel Singh is amongst those who are excited to see the season start; “To state the obvious, football is different this year. I want to recognise the enormous amount of work that all our dedicated Club volunteers have put in to ensure all participants could return to football in a safe, cohesive manner. I can only imagine how stressful trying to work out COVID-19 plans for hundreds of players on 2 football pitches can be on top of normal club administration and a day job in many cases. For me, our club volunteers are the real heroes in getting football back up and running this year.“
“Saying that, I also want to recognise the enormous hours that the ESFA team have put in from the Board to the Office to get us where we are now. I’ve seen first hand the team working till very late at night and over the weekend to try and pull together a draw and I couldn’t be prouder of the resilience they have shown over the past few months. I think most people appreciate the difficulties that the ESFA office have faced this year in structuring our competitions and understand that this season is certainly without precedent.”
“I’m super pumped to see everyone back on the parks. There’s some great fixtures this weekend with my match of the weekend being the Grand Final rematch in our Women’s Premier League with Sydney University taking on Waverley Old Boys. I’m also excited to see many players play their first ever game of football in our Junior Competitions.”
“For me, sport is one the things that binds our community together and let’s be honest, football is more than sport – for many of us it’s our social and creative outlet and an opportunity to be with our mates again. I look forward to getting around to see as many games as possible this season, as well as sampling extensively from Club canteens (red frogs and sausage rolls are firm favourites).”
We would like to acknowledge and thank Michael Daley MP Member for Maroubra, for his incredibly hard work in helping to ensure and sort a start date for Community football with the NSW State Government.
This week we asked our Premier League Women’s and Men’s team captains to attend a photo shoot. We are proud that we are able to promote both Leagues and are in particularly proud we are shooting for stars in the Women’s Premier League.
It is our great pleasure to welcome Marjorie O’Neill, Member for Coogee as the patron of the inaugural Women’s Premier League in 2020. Marjorie is a strong supporter of women in sport and we look forward to working with her throughout the season.
It is with equal pride we welcome Councillor Danny Said, Mayor of Randwick City Council as the patron of Men’s Premier League in 2020. Danny has been involved with football within the Eastern Suburbs Football Association over the years and is an avid supporter of community football in the ESFA catchment.
We thank Randwick City Council Councillors and staff, for their hard work as previously advised, by being onside and providing much needed support to our Clubs.
There’s one thing left to do – let’s play football this weekend.