President’s letter to Donvale members
by Ben Waterworth (@bjwaterworth)
DONVALE president Glenn Brindley is committed to ensuring the Magpies remain healthy and viable into the future, despite admitting the senior club is currently in a “dire situation”.
With 42 days until Round 1, Brindley confesses the club is struggling for player numbers, with around 25 to 30 players training at the moment. The majority of those players belong to the Under 19’s team, which won the Division 2 flag in 2013.
“We desperately need more senior players,” the ‘Vales president acknowledged.
But Brindley, who has been part of Donvale’s fabric for over 30 years both on and off the field, has a strong passion and desire for his beloved football club.
“We want to see this club succeed,” he said.
“Guys like Brian Fletcher [current secretary] and John Giles [former president] have also been here with me for a long time and desperately want the club to survive as it has a long history of success.”
“We had a lot of success in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. It was such a terrific place to be part of.”
Brindley has been encouraged by the attitude of the Under 19’s, who have stuck by the club.
“They are a close, fantastic group of players who have stuck together. They are the future of the club,” he said.
“They won every game in the finals by over 80 points. It was a great effort by Graham Moyle in his first year as coach.”
Brindley also says the junior club is “flying” at the moment under the leadership of junior president Mark Djordevic.
“It’s been a great effort by ‘Jordy’ [Djordevic] and the team. They have done a lot of good work,” he said.
“A lot of teams are coached by ex-senior players. We think we will have a team in every age group, so the future of the club looks very good.”
Brindley and the Donvale committee have called an extraordinary meeting for the club on Tuesday 25 February, starting at 7.00pm at Donvale Reserve.
All club life members, members, players and supporters are encouraged to attend.
If any senior players would like to play for Donvale in 2014, please call senior coach Graeme Cuff (0418 352 202) or president Glenn Brindley (0447 618 642).