2020 NEAFL season | |
---|---|
Date | 4 April – 21 September (not contested) |
Teams | 9 |
Premiers | Premiership not contested |
The 2020 NEAFL season was to have been the tenth season of the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL). The season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the NEAFL was amalgamated with the Victorian Football League (VFL). [1]
The season was scheduled to begin on 4 April and conclude with the grand final on 21 September. As a result of a new naming rights agreement with Toyota, the season was to be known as the 2020 Toyota NEAFL Premiership Season. [2]
Additionally, the NEAFL's top-six structure for the finals series was set to be changed to a top-five structure for the 2020 season. [3]
Nine clubs were set to compete in the 2020 season, with NT Thunder having disbanded at the end of 2019. [4]
Like the 2020 AFL season, the season was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which was formally declared a pandemic on 11 March 2020, three weeks prior to the scheduled start of the premiership season. [5] On 16 March, it was announced that the NEAFL and all other state leagues would be postponed until 31 May. [6]
On 16 June, after discussion on how to proceed with a condensed season in a 'non-traditional format', the AFL made the decision to cancel the season. [7]
In August 2020, it was announced that the NEAFL would amalgamate into the VFL, with all of its clubs afforded the opportunity to join the VFL, over a transitional period in 2021 and 2022. [8] Six NEAFL teams opted to join: the Sydney reserves, Greater Western Sydney reserves, Brisbane reserves and Gold Coast reserves, and two stand-alone senior clubs from Queensland: Gold Coast based Southport Sharks and Brisbane based Aspley Hornets. Sydney based Sydney University was offered a licence before ultimately declining, due to the cost to compete being too high. [9] The Canberra Demons [10] and Brisbane based Redland both declined to join the merged competition before licenses were offered. [11]
Aspley ultimately departed at the end of the 2021 VFL season. [12]