The Queen Elizabeth Oval surface has been deemed unsuitable for Bendigo Bombers home VFL games following an independent ground inspection.

As a result, the Bombers’ game against Box Hill this Monday has been shifted from the QEO to Windy Hill.

Council chief executive officer Craig Niemann said the council was struggling to keep up with the standards required by the AFL.

“The QEO is Bendigo’s premier sporting ground and also home to three football clubs,’’ Niemann said.

“The ground gets a very high level of use and that makes it difficult to maintain high surface standards.

“The City of Greater Bendigo is currently doing all we can and using all available resources to maintain the QEO to as high a standard as possible.’’

Since the start of the football season, the council has:

over sown the oval twice; carried out deep aeration three times; undertaken regular fertilising; irrigated as required; undertaken regular mowing and rolling; rejected applications for junior use, including Bendigo Junior Football League and Herald Sun Shield matches; and carried out pre-game preparations, such as hand watering of the pitch when required, and line marking.

“We have also restricted training on the QEO for the past couple of weeks in an effort to allow the ground time to recover between matches, and worked closely with affected clubs to provide alternative training arrangements at a range of other grounds,’’ Niemann said.

AFL Victoria operations manager John Hook is optimistic the Bombers can return to the QEO this year.

“We know the City of Greater Bendigo has done a good job in trying to manage the QEO considering the high amount of usage the ground gets,’’ Hook said.

“We understand that. Unfortunately, the ground in its current state is not acceptable for VFL footy.’’