Altona Vikings are at a crossroads.
A recent crisis meeting has underlined the extent of the senior club’s financial and administrative troubles.
Life member Brendan Post has taken over the presidency at a delicate time in the club’s 95-year history.
The Vikings are one of the most envied clubs on the field in the league, climbing to the top with a division 1 premiership in 2012.
The story off the field, however, is bleak, with Post leaving nothing to the imagination.
“I went to a crisis meeting a month ago and there was talk of us folding and stuff like that,” he said. “I thought, is it really that bad?
“It was all laid out on the table – where we’re at and what needs to be done if we want to keep having a football club.”
While the Vikings’ on-field status has been almost unmatched for the best part of three years, behind the scenes they have been in slow decay.
Financial troubles, experienced by many sports organisations in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, are just the tip of the iceberg.
Post says the club has slowly lost what made it great – the people who would bleed purple and gold and be willing to put in the hard work.
“I want these people back, the people who threw their heart and soul at the club. When it was their turn, they did it,” Post said.
“Now the club is in a little bit of strife … come back and let’s do it again, get it back up to where it should be.
“You look at great clubs like Spotty, the grandparents and aunties and uncles are lining up to help behind the kitchen or in the bar.
“Altona has waned away from that … probably the last 10 years or something like that.
“It’d be nice to see a couple of the old blokes hanging around and talking about the game, or even if they’re talking about the AFL, I don’t really care … just to get that bit of a feeling back in the club because I just think it might’ve lost it somewhere along the line.”
On-field success has not translated into dollars in the bank for the Vikings.
It might have even worked in reverse, with the club getting a taste of premiership glory and spending beyond its means to keep pace with the other powerhouses of the competition.
Post says the Vikings outlayed $80,000 on their 2012 premiership team, a small sum compared to the expenditure of some other top-flight clubs.
He likened it to WRFL’s version of “moneyball”, putting together a side on a shoestring budget and enjoying the fruits of success.
“It’s getting harder and harder to field the sides, with the cost of doing it,” Post said. “Times are tough, there’s not a lot of money out there, people aren’t just walking in and saying there’s 10 grand, good luck. They basically haven’t got that money to throw at you.”
Asked if all player payments had been paid by the Vikings, Post said: “Up to date? Yes.”
