Coburg

[cub]

Anyone know anything about when a decision will be made on Coburg. Personally if the council refuses to budge, would it maybe viable for them to play 6 or so of their home games at punt road as curtain raisers to richmond games at the G. They seem to make a bit more money in this situation. I know the Willy match was a bit of a shocker because of the weather, but on a fair day anyone going to the footy will pop in before the game and all food/drink sales are coburgs.

This way I will also get beer cheaper before the game (cause Coburg don't charge as much as Richmond) 

[WilliamPowell]

Anyone know anything about when a decision will be made on Coburg. Personally if the council refuses to budge, would it maybe viable for them to play 6 or so of their home games at punt road as curtain raisers to richmond games at the G. They seem to make a bit more money in this situation. I know the Willy match was a bit of a shocker because of the weather, but on a fair day anyone going to the footy will pop in before the game and all food/drink sales are coburgs.

This way I will also get beer cheaper before the game (cause Coburg don't charge as much as Richmond) 

The Coburg situation is still up in the air - as meetings with the dills at the Moreland Council continue with the hope of them (the Council) reversing their decision to disband the working party that were about to submit their final report and recommendations about the Oval. Don't get me started on this whole thing.

Playing at Punt Road is not a viable option because after the Williamstown game - Williamstown lodged a complaint with the VFL saying PUnt Road was not up to VFL standard (visting teams change rooms as well has having to get through the crowd to get on the ground). IIRC the VFL have stated that until this "issues" are addressed then it is unlikely to be any more games at Punt Road

[Razorblade]

Yep the idea of playing our VFL games at Punt Road is screwed until all those issues are fixed up!

[DallasCrane]

The Coburg situation is still up in the air - as meetings with the dills at the Moreland Council continue with the hope of them (the Council) reversing their decision to disband the working party that were about to submit their final report and recommendations about the Oval. Don't get me started on this whole thing.

Sorry, but this might get you started on this WP!

I think Moreland council is right to continue to share the oval with the cricket club. I know the arguments against that; footy clubs generate more revenue, more people watch it etc. But Moreland Council has a responsibility to it's local ratepayers, not the Richmond footy club, nor the AFL or VFL.
Essentially Coburg are asking for full time control of the ground on a flimsy basis. They, like most VFL feeder clubs, are on a year to year arrangement with their AFL club. How much egg would the Moreland Council have on their face if they awarded the ground to Coburg and then Richmond disbanded the affiliation?

I also disliked the bully boy tactics of the Coburg president. These are not union negotiations; it is public land that we are talking about here. He doesn't even live in the City of Moreland, how dare he tell the Coburg Cricket Club what to do!

I also heard that the AFL tried to weigh in on the discussions. They have got so much money, if they were that concerned they could financially assist the VFL clubs directly.

[WilliamPowell]

Sorry, but this might get you started on this WP!

  - looks like it has

I think Moreland council is right to continue to share the oval with the cricket club. I know the arguments against that; footy clubs generate more revenue, more people watch it etc. But Moreland Council has a responsibility to it's local ratepayers, not the Richmond footy club, nor the AFL or VFL.

I agree Dallas that they have a responsibility to the local rate payers. That's why the Working party was set up to consult with the local community - residents, businesses other stakeholders. If they majority of those group are in favour of the proposal then surely that must be taken into consideration. Shouldn't the council at least have taken the time to read the report before making their decision? They put a stop to the Working Commitee and voted before they had read the report. Why? If local business and residents are supporting it then why vetoe it?

There are a couple of other things that the Council has neglected to highlight when they made their announcement:

1/ Firstly, the funding for the upgrading of Coburg City Oval: The VFL was going to contribute $400,000

2/ The Cricket Club were going to get their own purpose built year round facility as well. They were never going to shifted to some little dingee local park. This was going to cost the Council a lot less than the amount required to upgrade Coburg CIty Oval (estimates are $230K)
The cost to the Council was going to be minimal because all they bascially have to fund is the upgrade to the cricket ground and not the footy ground

I also disliked the bully boy tactics of the Coburg president. These are not union negotiations; it is public land that we are talking about here. He doesn't even live in the City of Moreland, how dare he tell the Coburg Cricket Club what to do!

Refer to my comment above about the new cricket facility. One of the key components of this whole thing was to ensure that the Cricket Club was not disadvantaged. I reckon you can make a pretty good arguement that the Cricket Club would better off than what they are now.

I also heard that the AFL tried to weigh in on the discussions. They have got so much money, if they were that concerned they could financially assist the VFL clubs directly.

My understanding it is the VFL that's become involved not the AFL but I will stand corrected on that one.

My beef has always been that the Council had promised no decision would be made until the report was submitted - this promise was broken. If they had gotten the report and then voted on it then fine I'll live with it but to promise one thing and then go and do the opposite well .....

END OF RANT

[DallasCrane]

I am not 100% certain but I think the terms of reference for this 'consultative' report only had one desirable outcome: Coburg Cricket Club had to move.

Dean Mighell, President of Coburg FC was out to prove that the community and local business was 'behind' the move. What a lot of rot. The days of communities feeling any closeness to their VFA/VFL sides are over (barring Nth Ballarat perhaps)

The two clubs had shared the ground for 80 years without any problems. The only thing Mighell can say to support this is that CFC needs to generate income and they can't do that unless they 'hire' out the ground for AFL practice matches during Feb/Mar. He has had only two clubs say that they will play 'a' practice match there, Richmond and Essendon. So essentially he wants to kick C.C.C off the ground for 2 praccy matches. Not good enough IMO.

On another note; if the ground was hired out to the AFL for practice matches, it is the Moreland Council and it's ratepayers that should receive the income, not Coburg footy club. I think that the (so called) left wing Mighell and Phil Cleary should be supportive of this important principle of community facilities.

2/ The Cricket Club were going to get their own purpose built year round facility as well.

One of the key components of this whole thing was to ensure that the Cricket Club was not disadvantaged. I reckon you can make a pretty good arguement that the Cricket Club would better off than what they are now.

I've been following the Moreland Leader articles pretty closely on this one, and I can't recall any guarantees of a purpose built facility. I can't see how moving a cricket club for a ground that has been it's home for so long could make a club better off. My thoughts are that if Mighell got his way with the Moreland Council, the cricket club would have been hung out to dry. In particular one press release Mighell put out saying that Moreland Council 'subsidises' the Coburg CC. What a howler, Moreland council have pumped tens of thousands into the hapless Coburg FC for years now.

My understanding it is the VFL that's become involved not the AFL but I will stand corrected on that one.

I remember Mighell threatening to involve the AFL, I don't know if he made good with that one. Who knows why the AFL would get involved, they have got plenty of options for practice matches!

DISCLAIMER: I feel strongly about this because I have been on a cricket club committee that has been bullied around by our co tenant footy club and it annoys the heck out of me! I am also a bit teed off at the economic rationalist arguments from two of the supposed left wing beacons of Melbourne.

I can definitely see why you are angry about the report though WP and I admire your one eyedness.
 

[WilliamPowell]

The two clubs had shared the ground for 80 years without any problems. The only thing Mighell can say to support this is that CFC needs to generate income and they can't do that unless they 'hire' out the ground for AFL practice matches during Feb/Mar. He has had only two clubs say that they will play 'a' practice match there, Richmond and Essendon. So essentially he wants to kick C.C.C off the ground for 2 praccy matches. Not good enough IMO.

Not just practice matches Dallas. The revenues come from the ground being used by other AFL clubs for training during the pre-season. I mentioned this on Y&B Info - there's money to be made. During the summer months of this past pre-season the Tigers for example trained at Victoria Park - as the ground managers Collingwood charged us for the privilege - granted the $$$  involved may not be much to the Pies but to a VFL club they are huge. Other AFL clubs used Victoria Park including Essendon, North and IIRC Melbourne. Sandgringham is a strong Club today because they have made the Trevor Barker Oval a year round footy ground. Look at the number of teams that use it.

From what I've been told there are other AFL Clubs who are willing to use the Oval. Throw in the Calder Cannons and other VFL clubs who cannot use there own grounds because of cricket and there is a great opportunity. It isn't about it just being used for ALF practice matches it also about it being used as a training facility. the VFL would also conduct practice matches - trust me there are not that many grounds around for VFL practice matches - hence why so many get played at the Whitten Oval

On another note; if the ground was hired out to the AFL for practice matches, it is the Moreland Council and it's ratepayers that should receive the income, not Coburg footy club. I think that the (so called) left wing Mighell and Phil Cleary should be supportive of this important principle of community facilities.

Fair call but Coburg Footy Club would only be the ground manager who would in turn have to pay a fee to the Council - the Council is a winner out of this too.

DISCLAIMER: I feel strongly about this because I have been on a cricket club committee that has been bullied around by our co tenant footy club and it annoys the heck out of me! I am also a bit teed off at the economic rationalist arguments from two of the supposed left wing beacons of Melbourne.

Well I am not a left wing beacon what I am however is a financial member of the Coburg Footy Club who wants to see the Club survive especially for those people who have worked so hard to turn the place around in the last 3 years and there has been a massive turnaround. Then there is my business view point and from where I sit this decision should be based on what is best for the majority of the stakeholders involved - now if the majority of local business is saying this a good thing because it will increase the number of people who come through the shopping district, if local community groups are saying this would be a good thing because it means our pool will be upgraded, if residents are saying this would be a good thing because we are going to get the park near the pool cleaned up etc then the council should at the very least listen to these groups.

I can definitely see why you are angry about the report though WP and I admire your one eyedness.
 

It's not about being one-eyed Dallas. To me it is about a Council who set up the working party, who set the time frame for the groups reporting deadline and who set the rules and then changed them for no apparent reason - I just want to know why.

[DallasCrane]

First of all WP I forgot that you were a Coburg member, you had mentioned that before. So you weren't just saying that through yellow and  black glasses. 

Look, I admire the ground level people of sports clubs, they are the salt of the earth, I love them. The leaders of Coburg FC have tried hard too over the years, but I think they are wrong to do this.

All this talk of increased patronage thru the town, local community groups getting their parks and pools cleaned up & welcomng senior citizens to the new facilities to me is just Eddie McGuire style propaganda. Anyone gone to pump weights at the Lexus Centre yet? 

This piece was posted on the Coburg CC website on the 15th Aug:

As you, (and many others) are aware the Coburg Cricket Club has for some time been under siege from an insidious consipicy hatched by the Coburg Tigers Football Club (affiliated with the Richmond FC), the Calder Cannons & the VFL with regards to our right to exist at City Oval, our traditional home for the past 80 years. The intent of this disgraceful attack was to remove us from this ground to who knows where. This club viewed this as a serious attack on cricket in general and a local community cricket club but all through this process the Coburg Cricket Club was resolute in it's resolve to remain at its traditional home as a truly community orientated organisation. I can now inform you that at the most recent Council meeting the Moreland City Council voted on this issue. The result was an emphatic rejection of the football takeover attempt and an overwhelming affirmative vote for City Oval to remain a Moreland community asset, shared by the the two local tenant clubs & the Calder Cannons. In other words the VFL & the football clubs' disgraceful and unmeritorious attempt was unsuccessful. This has been a very lengthy and unbelieveably stressful process for all concerned and I can't speak highly enough of the efforts of my fellow Executive members, President, Shayne Rule, Peter Ellis, Bill Slattery & Stephen Mott who stood shoulder to shoulder in the defence of our club's right to exist at City Oval.
Yours in cricket Bill Tucknott Secretary Coburg Cricket Club


Obviously a pretty one sided view, but it gives you an insight abou the damage these matters can do.

[Razorblade]

One sided view would be an understatement, what a load of biased drivel that is!

[cub]

David Flood calls it quits

COACH David Flood and the Coburg Tigers have parted company. Flood left the struggling VFL club last Wednesday after a meeting with Richmond football boss Greg Miller and Coburg president Dean Mighell. He said combining coaching and full-time work had left him exhausted.

``I must admit, I felt a little bit relieved after it (the meeting) was over. It's been a long season. I was pretty worn out there in the middle of it,'' Flood said. ``It was a 50-50 thing for me to stand down. I said halfway through the year that I probably wouldn't go on into next year. ``I just didn't want to leave the club in the lurch but they said that wouldn't be the case. They were happy to move on, too. It was all very amicable. I may even give them a chop-out next year.''
 
 

[mightytiges]

David Flood calls it quits

After 2 poor seasons I'd reckon Coburg would of been looking for someone else anyway.

Any whispers on who Flood's replacement might be? Don't VFL coaches typically come from country leagues?!

[letsgetiton!]

i heard a whisper david king will be th enew coach as part of his fulltime contract, anybody else heard this

[mightytiges]

i heard a whisper david king will be th enew coach as part of his fulltime contract, anybody else heard this

That rumour is doing the rounds. Isn't Kingy normally in the coaches box on matchday?

[mightytiges]

Latest news is that Micky McGuane may end up as coach of Coburg. I wonder what he'll make of coaching his nephew if he gets/accepts the gig.

[Razorblade]

Latest news is that Micky McGuane may end up as coach of Coburg. I wonder what he'll make of coaching his nephew if he gets/accepts the gig.

Conflict.

Of.

Interest.

Just don't let Micky take the boys for a pre or post game event at the local tab!