On behalf of the Williamstown Football Club Board of Directors, I’d like to welcome you all to the much-anticipated 2021 season. As we are all aware, the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of both the VFL and VFLW seasons last year. Pleasingly, we don’t have long to wait for the return of the 2021 competitions with our Women’s team competing in the VFLW season commencing in February, and our Men’s team contesting in the newly formed VFL competition beginning in April. It has been a long wait for our VFLW senior coach Penny Cula-Reid, who has been in the role for well over 12 months although is yet to coach in an official capacity, due to the 2020 season cancellation. Penny passionately led the team throughout what was a difficult year, and they are now physically and mentally prepared for the competition that lies ahead. Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions our Clubs official VFLW partnership with the Adelaide Football Club will not proceed this year however we have maintained a strong partnership off the field which we will continue to build upon to bring new opportunities to further develop our women’s program. Last year we farewelled our VFL senior coach Andrew Collins and on behalf of the entire Club we thank him for his immense contribution over his seven seasons at the helm, highlighted, of course, by the 2015 Premiership. Following his departure, the Club undertook a very thorough and rigorous coaching appointment process, which resulted in the appointment of Justin Plapp. We are delighted to welcome Justin back to the Club, a connection building on his previous role as Williamstown’s VFL senior assistant and development league head coach in 2011. Justin has over a decade of coaching experience in the AFL industry, and has spent the past three seasons as a senior assistant with the Melbourne Football Club. It was very clear from our discussions with Justin during the recruitment process, that both he and our Club have many shared values, which we place a great emphasis upon. We wish Justin, Penny, their playing groups, and coaching and support staff, all the very best for season 2021 as they represent the Williamstown Football Club and strive for the ultimate success. Off the field, there was a significant volume of work undertaken with regards to our Club facilities. The Board, Sub Committees and Executive Team worked tirelessly with our key stakeholders to ensure that our facilities are maintained to the highest standard. A key outcome was the Hobsons Bay Council approving a $2 million investment into Downer Oval, which includes the reconstruction of the playing surface. We thank the Council for their financial investment which ensures that the many teams that utilise our ground can play safely on a high-quality playing surface. The ground surface reconstruction is on target for completion by May this year. In addition, our Club is in discussions with both the State and Federal Governments to assist in supporting our Facilities Project Masterplan. Our aim is to redevelop our facilities at Downer Oval to include new unisex accessible changerooms for umpires, numerous sporting teams and local community users at an estimated cost of $3.6 million. This upgrade will result in a highly professional training and administration facility with many important key community interfaces, as such the ground will not only support the wide range of teams that currently utilise the facilities but will also promote and support sporting inclusiveness in Hobsons Bay and the surrounding municipalities. Another positive development for the Club is that we successfully established a pre-season training base within the Hobsons Bay area for the first time in our long history. As part of the recent redevelopment of the grounds and facilities at Bayside Secondary College in Williamstown, the Club invested $150,000 towards extending the length of the ground and upgrading the playing surface of Oval 2 and donated two coaches’ boxes to the Williamstown Juniors Football Club. Both our teams have enjoyed conducting their pre-season training at the ground for the first time this year and we are pleased that the Bayside College students and many local teams will also reap the benefits of the Bayside facility improvements. In closing, whilst we didn’t get to enjoy the excitement of football in 2020, we all keenly await the commencement of the Women’s and Men’s seasons and seeing our Club in action once again. I commend all our people for their perseverance and commitment to the Williamstown Football Club during the challenges of last year. As a Club that prides itself on inclusiveness, I’d like to extend an invitation to the entire community to get involved in our great Club. Whether it be watching our teams in action, investing in a membership, becoming a corporate sponsor, enjoying our hospitality at Seaview Events Centre, or having a kick on the ground with your children at our games, we hope that you will join us in what’s sure to be another very exciting year for the Williamstown Football Club. Go the Towners! Clint Rippon President 2021 feels like a new dawn for all of us at the Williamstown Football Club. After the challenges that we all faced during 2020 with the impact of COVID-19, it is so exciting for our Proud Club to be returning to action in 2021 with so many new and fresh elements: • A new pre-season training venue at Bayside College, Williamstown • A new $2m ground development at Downer Oval • A new senior VFL coach and new coaching staff in both VFL and VFLW • A heap of new quality player recruits in both playing lists • A new expanded VFL competition, with 22 teams • A new Inclusive Plan to strengthen our community connections • An invested list of new members and corporate partners • Our next facility project phase to deliver new changerooms, gymnasium and offices • A new Strategic Plan to be developed Our VFLW team, under the leadership of senior coach Penny Cula Reid, Football Manager Claudia Davey and Captain Erin Meade, has made a very competitive start to the 2021 season. It is truly exciting to see the tremendous young talent we have on our list. With the environment we have created to help these players reach their potential, I have every confidence that greater successes lie ahead for this team in the remainder of this season and for the immediate seasons to come. From a very strong field of applicants, we were extremely pleased to secure Justin Plapp to lead our VFL team in 2021. A highly respected coach in the AFL Industry, ‘Plappy’ has already displayed his great people-person strength in connecting with our new playing group. With the quality new recruits that GM Football Stephen Soulsby has secured, I’m sure Seagull fans can look forward to 2021 with high hopes for success. The 2021 Williamstown team fixtures will provide our fans with a plethora of entertainment: • Double header VFL and VFLW games at Downer Oval; • Night matches for both VFL and VFLW teams; • Two interstate trips to QLD with the VFL side playing Gold Coast (June 12th/13th Queens Birthday weekend) and Aspley (Brisbane) July 17th; • Our traditional ‘Pride Game’ promotion featuring our rainbow guernsey; • Celebration of the AFL Indigenous Round with our Club’s new indigenous guernsey; • A new ‘Inclusive’ themed round promoting people of all abilities; • A 2019 VFL Grand Final replay against Richmond at home; • Blockbuster home games against Carlton and Essendon in both VFL and VFLW All our Seagull fans can also get excited about the increased broadcasting of the VFL competition in 2021, with the traditional Ch.7 weekend game telecast to be supplemented with the addition of Kayo, who will be screening three VFL matches live and on-demand each round! Our Corporate Partners will benefit greatly from the increased number of broadcasts to highlight their brands. And with the expansion of the competition into the northern markets of NSW and Qld, our corporate partners will achieving large scale public exposure for their investment! We are also thrilled to welcome local businessman Scott Meager as our new GM of Marketing and Commerce, dedicated to servicing the needs of our corporate partners and driving network connections that will help grow their businesses. Off field, our Club will continue to deliver community benefits and make a positive impact in Hobsons Bay through our High School Accelerated Football Program, Auskick clinic activities, Coaching seminars for western suburb coaches, and our continued involvement with Hobsons Bay Community Fund, Les Twentyman Foundation and Hobsons Bay Communities That Care. We look forward to your continued support so that, TOGETHER, we can make 2021 another successful year for the Seagulls! Jason Reddick CEO The VFLW program welcomes many new faces in 2021 following a challenging 2020. With many new players we also welcome some new coaching staff. Head Coach, Penny Cula-Reid will lead her first VFLW season with Williamstown after the 2020 season cancellation, bringing a new perspective and experience to the VFLW side. Penny will this year be supported by Callum Hart and Cassandra Brooks as line coaches; Mathew Waters and Jasmine Kawa as development coaches and Allana Dickie fulfilling a playing-coach role. We thank the players who have departed from our club in 2020 and congratulate Amy Smith drafted to AFLW team, North Melbourne. Some of our new recruits include Bridget Costello, Payton Ozols, Zoe Garth, Danika Di Santo, Malaya Rodezno, Allana Dickie, Lana King, Emily Fox and Tori Snelleksz, many of whom have VFLW or NAB League experience.