St Kilda Football Club is disappointed not to have been granted one of the inaugural eight licenses for the 2017 National Women’s League (NWL) season but has welcomed being granted a provisional license to enter the competition as early as 2018.

CEO Matt Finnis said he was proud of the club’s submission and genuine commitment to diversity and women’s football.

“This was a very significant announcement for the AFL, and for our club and there was mixed news for the Saints,” he said.

“While we haven’t been granted an inaugural license, we welcome being allocated a provisional license and will now work towards being ready to field a team from the second year of the NWL competition in 2018.

“The provisional license means we are one step closer to achieving our goal of having a Saints’ team in the NWL and we are confident it will happen as soon as the 2018 season.”

Finnis said the support of the bayside community played a major role in the club’s submission and that confirmation of a provisional license was great news for both for the club and thousands of bayside female footballers.

“We truly appreciate the support and passion for this team within our bayside heartland. This region is the engine room of female football in Victoria and we firmly believe they deserve their own local NWL team,” he said.

“The way in which schools, footy clubs, local councils, bayside personalities and young aspiring athletes have got behind our bid gives us enormous confidence that we have a strong foundation to build a successful team.”

Finnis congratulated the clubs that did receive an inaugural license and vowed that the Saints would immediately start preparing to field a team in 2018.

“We desperately want a team in the NWL. Strategically, it’s important to our future and, driven by what we have learned from the AFL’s first female coach in our Peta Searle, we are confident we will do it well,” he said.

“We will now focus on establishing a women’s football academy program - in collaboration with the two bayside VWFL teams and bayside Development Regions - to support the player talent base for the inaugural season and beyond.

“We can now start resourcing our program, tailoring internal roles, cementing our community partnerships and rolling out talent identification programs with local schools and sporting clubs. 

“There is plenty that needs to be worked through both for next season and beyond but what has been positive about going through this process has been improving both our understanding of and connection to women’s football in the bayside.

“We are more determined than ever to field a successful team and over the next few years we want to help build the local female talent base – and bring in new, exciting players to the first St Kilda NWL team and for years to come.”