Tara Murray
Northern Football League players will have the first two weekends of April next year circled in the calendar, as they finally get to return to the field.
After the 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID-19, footballers have been eagerly getting back into training for preparation of the 2021 season.
Two division 2 matches will be played on Good Friday, with every other team kicking off the following weekend.
The top two divisions will have 10 teams each and have a top-five finals series, while division 3 will have eight teams and have a top-four finals series.
Each team will play 18 home-and-away games.
In division 1, Northcote Park will host Montmorency under lights on April 9 to kick off matches in that division.
The other teams will all play the following day. Whittlesea will finally get to unveil its 2019 division 2 premiership flag when they host Greensborough.
West Preston-Lakeside will host Bundoora, Heidelberg takes on Hurstbridge and North Heidelberg plays Macleod.
Heidelberg will host Macleod on Anzac Day, while Macleod will host North Heidelberg on the Queen’s Birthday weekend, with the rest of the men’s senior sides having the bye.
There will be a split round in round 14, with finals to begin on August 28, and the grand final to be played on September 18.
Division 2 will see two matches played on Good Friday in a massive round one.
Eltham will host St Mary’s to kick start the season at the usual 2.10pm time slot, with Epping to host Thomastown in a twilight match. Those teams will play two games in round one, before getting a bye later in the season.
In other round one matches to be played the following weekend, Fitzroy Stars will host Banyule, Lower Plenty plays Epping, St Mary’s will take on Watsonia, Thomastown takes on Eltham and Panton Hill plays Diamond Creek.
Both Thomastown and Epping will also play on Anzac Day, with matches against Fitzroy Stars and Diamond Creek respectively.
Finals will start on August 21, with the grand final scheduled for September 11.
Division 3 will get underway under lights on April 9, when Heidelberg West hosts Old Eltham Collegians.
The rest of the division 3 round matches will be played the following day, with Laurimar under new coach Jimmy Atkins playing Kilmore, Mernda will host Lalor and Reservoir taking on South Morang.
Finals will start on August 21, with the grand final to be held on September 4.
Fixtures for all under-19 and women’s football competitions will be released early in 2021 once team numbers have been confirmed.
