MARULAN Football Club has decided to stay with the Southern Tablelands Football Association (STFA) after an urgent meeting was called to discuss the future of the club on Monday night.
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Committee members voted to stay within the boundaries of the STFA as it would have been “too difficult” to survive as a break away and that “both parties admitted mistakes were made and both parties decided to be more reasonable,” according to 2013 Marulan FC Club President Sharon Porter.
“So for those reasons we are happy to have come to this conclusion,” she said.
The decision to stay concludes the feud that has been an on-going issue for the past year.
The drama had stemmed from a number of issues that damaged the relationship between the two parties, including registration complications and competition handling.
However it appears both parties are happy with the decision, with ex-STFA president Robert Scott saying the decision to stay was the most ideal for everyone involved.
“I’m glad to hear that, because from an STFA standpoint, having them in the competition means a better competition for everyone with more variety and grounds and for them to break away would have been very hard,” Scott said of the decision.
“They would have had to go to the Highlands or the Canberra comp, or even towards Sydney which would have been very difficult.” Porter confirms the geographical difficulties were a factor in coming to their decision to not break away.
“In a nutshell, it was with the best interests to stay with the STFA because of regional and geographical difficulties as well the board had decided to be more reasonable and willing to work together to make this work.
“We would have probably of gone to the Highlands [competition] if the decision went the other way.” The feud between the parties reached a climax last season when Marulan junior players were disqualified from fixtures due to fees not being paid on time.
It caused Marulan to consider cutting ties with the game in Goulburn.
Players protested the decision with signs reading: “All we want to do is play soccer!” Now that a decision has been made for 2014, it is hoped things can finally get back on track.
“I just want to focus on the soccer now, it’s taken its toll so let’s get focused on the kids now,” Porter said.
