WHILE their teams will take on the best in the Albury Wodonga Football Association, Myrtleford Savoy Soccer Club president Anthony Zanghellini said the club was in an incredibly strong position.

The club has been working hard basically since the final siren from last season, continuing the wonderful work the club has been engaged in for years.

“Pretty much from the time games ceased, we invested a lot of time and effort with our grounds committee into repairing our ground, which was pretty beat up last year and has been for a few years,” Zanghellini said.

“As a club, we’ve invested a great deal of time and money into it, and we’re pleased to say the grounds have come up a treat and look to be in outstanding shape for the year ahead.

"It’s a returning committee from last year, we’ve got two new faces who have jumped on board.

“The boys have been busy in the canteen getting things changed around in there, a new menu.

“Everyone’s in a good space, everyone’s fit and firing, all the teams have come together strongly and we look forward with bated breath to the start of the season.”

The community has been rallying around the club for years, with more and more sponsors joining up every season.

This influx of sponsorship support has allowed the club to fill the fence line of their second ground with sponsorship boards.

“With sponsorships, we’ve taken a step up on last year, we’re tracking towards 20 new sponsors just this year alone,” Zanghellini said.

“It hasn’t been a case where we’ve taken our foot off the pedal – in fact, we’ve probably put it down harder.

“In rough figures the club’s got around about 80 sponsors - when you’re talking about a soccer club in a town of 3500 people, to have that many sponsors, that buy-in is there.

“We want to make the club sustainable, where financially there’s no reliance on grants, there’s no reliance on government assistance, where it’s purely a case where we can make it sustainable through what comes in through sponsorships and donations every year.”

Zanghellini and the committee wish their teams all the best for the upcoming 2025 AWFA season.