Football South Coast gets green light, but Wolves forced to wait

The state government on Wednesday confirmed a pathway for senior sport to return on July 1. The announcement came just over a week after juniors were approved to get back on the field on the same date, and has been warmly welcomed by FSC chief executive officer Ann-Marie Balliana.

"We had the announcement abut the juniors and a lot of seniors were left scratching their heads about when they could return to play," Balliana said.

"It's really good news for footballers in the Illawarra."

Last week, FSC announced they had mapped out a plan for the 2020 senior season.

Junior and community leagues are set to play a 14-round season before finals, while the Illawarra Premier League teams will enjoy a "second pre season" by contesting the Bert Bampton Cup. The IPL season is expected to start in late July.

"We are also organising trial games for that the IPL teams that may not be playing as we progress through the Bert Bampton Cup rounds," Balliana said.

"All of the other competitions will kick off on the weekend of July 3, 4 and 5."

See more: Wollongong Devils set for early July return

Meanwhile, the makeup of the rest of the 2020 NSW National Premier Leagues season is still to be determined.

Three rounds were contested before football was paused in mid-March.

Wollongong Wolves coach Luke Wilkshire said it was exciting to finally have government approval to return to competition, however, he was left frustrated by the lack of detail about the NPL competition's format in 2020.

"We're still waiting on information from Football NSW," Wilkshire said.

"They said they can't confirm anything until we have clearance from the government. That has come and we're still waiting. Communication is key, the communication throughout this period has not happened."

With some Sydney clubs concerned about their finances, Football NSW is considering an 11-game cup format for this year's comp.

While understanding of the tough position some teams find themselves in, Wilkshire felt a full 22-round season should still be played.

"We've had a few weeks training in small groups, we have another three weeks until July 1 to get ready for a competition starting on July 4. We can play through to the 31st of October, that's 19 weeks, there are 19 games left in the season," he said.

"We complete the season, scratch the finals series, that's how football's done in the rest of the world. It's frustrating this hasn't been resolved by now."

While you're with us the Illawarra Mercury is offering sport readers 20% off an annual digital subscription. Sign up to stay up to date with all the local sports you love for only $3 a week. Terms and conditions apply.