Dandenong-based football club St John’s Old Collegians will turn a new page in the club’s history as it successfully transferred from the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) to the Southern Football Netball League (SFNL) for 2026 and beyond.
In an exciting time for the club, the move is aimed to give the club more of a community feel whilst it also launches a brand new netball program.
The netball will feature two teams that will play at St John’s Regional College, a first in the club’s 35-year history.
“It’s good to finally get it over the line and become that community club,” president Adam Paterson said of the move.
“We think that we’re more suited to the local stuff and we’re keen to see how we shape up.
“It’s good to be more of a local club now, it’s something we’ve been thinking about and going back and forth at committee level.”
The JOCs will slot into Division 4 of the SFNL next year after finishing eighth in Division 2 (the fifth tier) of the VAFA in 2025.
The club has re-signed most of its playing list from the past season and has also brought back senior coach Ben McGee.
Now, St John’s will have plenty of local rivalries in its new competition landscape, including Dandenong West and Doveton Eagles, who are both within five kilometres.
“We’re keen to have some local rivalries,” Paterson said.
“We always had trouble attracting supporters to away games on the other side of town and we were always the outlier in the VAFA.
“We’ve seen clubs around us grow pretty quickly by the Southern League.
“Performing week in and week out allows us to grow a supporter base and allows us to hold onto our players who now don’t have to travel as far.
“We’re an old club and we’ve been successful over the years but we probably haven’t been able to grow our brand locally so I’m keen for us to be able to show off our level of footy and our ability to climb up the ranks.”
