Balga Football Club slammed for playing deregistered player

A LOCAL football club shamed by an on-field brawl last weekend will now be stripped of its points for the entire year.

Balga Football Club had already been hit with heavy suspensions to two players after its match on Sunday against Warwick Greenwood Football Club, with two players taken to hospital with injuries.

Now the Metro Football League has announced the division one club – third on the ladder – will have all premiership points won in the 2019 season removed for playing a deregistered player.

Penalties handed down after amateur footy brawl

The player has been taking the field since round 1, with the SportsTG website confirming he had played all eight rounds until June 2, and video footage showing him on the field for the round 9 match that was called off after a violent brawl broke out in the fourth quarter.

The club had so far notched up six wins, putting them third on the ladder.

The 24 points will now be deducted and awarded to the teams they defeated.

Balga Football Club has also been approached for comment.

According to SportsTG, the 20-year-old was deregistered from Noranda Junior Football Club in 2015, when he was 16.

However, he was then registered to Balga FC in March 2019.

It appears he was able to get around the system by including his middle name in the 2019 registration but the birth date is the same on both registrations.

This has issued another “FootyWeb Number” allowing the player to be registered under a new ID.

Community News contacted the WA Football Commission on Thursday to confirm the findings, which it did on Friday, echoing the announcement made by the Metro Football League that it would lose all points “as per the National Player Registration and Transfer Regulations”.

The commission also said it would “continue working with WA football competitions to ensure rules and regulations are applied and enforced”.

The loss of points follows Wednesday night’s Community Football Tribunal where Balga was heavily penalised for its involvement in the brawl with Warwick Greenwood.

One player was issued an 18-match ban for striking and kicking leading him to also be deregistered, another received a 12-match ban for striking, a third was given a six-match ban for head-butting and threatening behaviour, and three more received two-match bans for threatening behaviour.

The club was also ordered to pay a $2000 good behaviour bond for the remainder of the 2019 season, as well as a $1000 good behaviour bond for the 2020 season, and a $250 fine.

The match at Barry Britton Reserve, which the umpires called off during the fourth quarter, has also been forfeited in favour of Warwick Greenwood.

Warwick Greenwood was also penalised with two players issued one-match bans for striking, which were reduced to yellow cards with an early guilty plea, and the runner, who received injuries to his eye and was taken to hospital for treatment, also received a one-match ban for attempted striking.

Police on Wednesday afternoon also confirmed they would be involved with the incident and have called for any witnesses to come forward with information.