THE confirmation of the combined Limestone Coast Football League competition for this year has stirred plenty of conversation, not only on the immediate future of football in the region, but the possibility of a change in seasons to come.
While at this stage the cooperative league is simply a once-off brought to fruition by COVID-19, if successful, it will certainly plant seeds for future discussion.
One individual who has already given the topic plenty of thought is Limestone Coast football buff Gorden “Milo” Milosevic, who spoke to The Border Watch this week and conveyed his views on the matter.
He was excited to see the combined league rise from the ashes of the three recently cancelled football competitions.
“Necessity is the mother of invention and it gives the opportunity for those clubs and teams who actually want to continue,” Milosevic said.
“Personally I believe at this stage it will only be a one-year scenario.
“But the clubs will all go back and look at their situation and already out of this the jungle drums I’m getting – particularly from Western Border and KNT – is clubs are looking at their situation and where and what they might be doing in the future.”
Milosevic’s views on the future of Limestone Coast football are ambitious to say the least, but there has clearly been plenty of thought put into his hypothetical scenario.
He believes the joining of the Western Border and Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara Football Leagues would be a profitable arrangement, both economically and for the level of competition, while the
Mid South East Football League can “survive as a separate body”.
However, he stands by the opinion an amalgamation of Kalangadoo and Nangwarry is a logical decision.
“Years ago I genuinely believed Nangwarry and Tarpeena should have amalgamated,” Milosevic said.
“It did not happen and a lot of Tarpeena’s good players went over to Kalangadoo and a lot of those boys played in premierships.
“I still believe Nangwarry and Kalangadoo is a no-brainer.”
That view will no doubt stir up some controversy, as both clubs would not want to lose sight of their proud histories.
But “Milo” had a response to those concerns.
“Where do Tarpeena keep their premiership cup and flag?” he said.
“It is probably in those clubrooms or maybe in the pub, but who sees it and does it generate memories?”
As far as a combined WBFL/KNTFL goes, Milosevic has even considered the finer details of how such a competition would operate.
He believes the best alternative would be to split the league into two conferences, an upper and lower Limestone Coast, with the two divisions coming together for finals.
“If you worked it on how it sits now you could probably have eight teams (in each division) – that would probably mean the likes of Naracoorte and Penola would come to the Western Border,” Milosevic said.
“If Casterton left (to a Victorian league), then Kyby could come in to make up an eight and that would leave eight for the upper.”
In terms of finals he said the final four in both divisions could come together to play off in a finals series of eight teams.
It is all an ambitious proposition and something which would not occur overnight, but it is certainly not an impossible idea.
However, for such a drastic change to even be thought about, pride would have to be put aside, with only the future of the game taken into consideration.
“The biggest thing is taking the emotions out of it,” Milosevic said.
