MERGER ABORTED - Wycheproof-Narraport and Charlton to continue on their own

READ MORE - 2021 CLUB-BY-CLUB SEASON TRACKER - BFNL, HDFNL, LVFNL, NCFL

READ MORE - BFNL, HDFNL, LVFNL, NCFL - This week's top 25 player rankings

WYCHEPROOF-Narraport and Charlton will remain as stand-alone clubs in the North Central league next year after a proposed merger between the two didn't receive the required support.

Wycheproof-Narraport last Sunday had 82 per cent of its members who voted support the club merging with neighbouring Charlton.

However, the merger proposal was skittled on Wednesday night when Charlton members overwhelmingly voted against it.

Of the Charlton members who voted, only 20 per cent were in favour of merging with the Demons.

The Navies needed 75 per cent of member support for the merger to go ahead.

This week's vote is the second time in three years Wycheproof-Narraport has been involved in merger discussions that haven't come to fruition.

Across 2018-19 the Demons had been in talks with Golden Rivers club Nullawil, which would have involved a 50-50 split.

However, the major sticking point to those discussions falling through was Nullawil's desire to remain in the Golden Rivers league, which wouldn't be able to accommodate the Demons' hockey teams.

"We'll continue on as Wycheproof-Narraport like we have for the past 60-odd years," Demons secretary Rory White said on Friday.

"It's not a crisis at all for the club, these talks have been about looking forward to the future and making sure that Wycheproof-Narraport is represented in 10 years time and beyond.

"There's shrinking populations all over country Victoria and it's not going to change any time soon. There's people moving out of Melbourne, but they're not moving to places like Wycheproof or Charlton, they're moving to Bendigo, so we've just been trying to get on the front foot.

"We've now spoken to our two closest neighbours in Nullawil and Charlton and gone through the process. We'll keep our lines of communication open for any club that may want to have a chat moving forward, but for the moment we'll continue to go on our way as is."

A lack of junior players continues to be a major handbrake for the Demons, who are now into their seventh year without an under-16 football side.

The Demons were formed in 1964 following a merger between Wycheproof and Narraport.

The amalgamated club has been a force of the NCFL, winning 19 premierships - its most recent being in 2018.

While there was strong opposition from voting members against a merger, Charlton president Shane Fitzpatrick said it was in the club's interest to have the discussion with the Demons.

"Wyche came to us with a proposal, so we would have been mad to not explore it at least," Fitzpatrick said.

"Like any country club, the lack of junior numbers coming through is our biggest issue.

"This year we're as good as we have been for a long time with our junior numbers because we've got 22 running around in both teams (under-16s and 13s).

"But we know there will be years to come when we will be short on numbers, so that's why we'd be silly not to explore another avenue if it's put in front of you."

About 150 of Charlton's 240 eligible members voted on Wednesday night.

"We feel we're a fairly strong club; as a committee we felt though it was something we should let the members have a vote on and see what comes of it," Fitzpatrick said.

White said the discussions between the two clubs hadn't extended as far as the naming of the merged club or club colours, but training and games would have been split 50-50 between Wycheproof and Charlton.

Neither club will be in action on Saturday, with the seven-day Victorian snap lockdown enforced from 11.59pm Thursday cancelling all community sport this weekend.

Saturday was to have been round seven of the North Central league.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: