The New Lambton Eagles Football Club has disowned its community juniors over a long-running rift that has most recently flared up around a proposed basketball stadium that the Junior Club secretary has claimed will displace players and place onerous pressure on their code as green space in the suburb comes in short supply.
In an incendiary statement released after this masthead reported on the issue on Wednesday, April 3, the New Lambton Eagles accused the juniors of 'lacking vision' and of bringing the club's badge into disrepute by "pursuing personal agendas at the expense of the club's reputation."
"It's time for them to establish themselves as a separate entity as it's clear they no longer represent the New Lambton Eagles Football Club," the unsigned statement read.
The Eagles club structure is internally divided between its local community grades that play under-6s through to over-35s, and the premier grades that compete in the National Premier League with its associated junior development pathways.
The Eagles' premier-side president Clayton Harrison declined to comment further on the club's statement, which was released via its social media channels early Wednesday afternoon.
The Newcastle Herald understands that relations between the premier and community divisions' leaderships have been strained for some months, and a multi-million dollar basketball stadium proposed to be built at Broadmeadow has only enflamed the stoush.
The Hunter Indoor Sports Centre, proposed for Turton Road opposite Hunter Stadium, would transform playing fields into 12 indoor courts, three of which can be converted into a 2000-seat show court. It would replace Newcastle Basketball's ageing stadium.
The New Lambton Juniors club secretary, Megan Payne, told the Herald in Wednesday's edition that the proposal will put more pressure on already packed playing fields and has positioned the Juniors against the build. The premier-side Eagles, however, have sought to distance themselves from their own community division by saying it "continues to support the formal consultation process" over the sports centre project.
Ms Payne claimed the juniors were already seeing the project put some pressure on green space in New Lambton. Lambton Jaffas Football Club, for example, primarily uses Wallarah Oval for its training, but Ms Payne said they're being displaced to Johnson Park, while some New Lambton Eagles premier teams are being moved to Novocastrian Park where the New Lambton Juniors train.
"We've already got 900 players for two fields at Novocastrian, so it's already a very highly used park, and it's pushing extra players onto that," she told this masthead on Wednesday.
"Basketball obviously needs a stadium, it's just not the right location for the amount of pressure that's already on the fields at New Lambton."
Attempts were made to contact New Lambton FC Juniors for comment on the Eagles' statement, but Ms Payne and President Steve Manning did not immediately respond to calls. Vice president David Thomas declined to speak on behalf of the club.
The Eagles' statement, meanwhile, lashed their own juniors branch over their position and accused its leaders of systematically "dismantling" the Eagles' brand over the past two years.
"The Juniors have developed their own off-brand strategy, governance structures, Facebook and web pages, and an alternate logo," the statement said. "They've disregarded the club's life members and revised our club's history to suit their agenda."
The 225-word statement accuses the juniors of "inciting community disharmony" with a "lack of vision", adding that "the Juniors no longer represent NLFC's interests."
"Our past achievements, which made us a benchmark club, have been disregarded. The recent media articles and use of our brand for personal agendas is not acceptable."
"We are New Lambton Eagles FC. We play in the National Premier League for Men and Women, Premier Youth League and Junior Development Leagues, and (we continue) to support the formal consultation process implemented by Council with identified stakeholders."
In 2016, New Lambton Football Club merged with the New Lambton Eagles, effectively reuniting its senior and junior grades which had divested from each other around the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Relations between the community and premier branches of the unified club, however, have been strained and the club has been embroiled in internal turmoil for some months, the Herald understands.
In December, this masthead reported that the $25 million in state funding set aside for the new basketball stadium would only build half of it.
Newcastle Basketball has lodged an application with the state government seeking approval for the new stadium. It is designed to be delivered as an initial block of six courts, with two additional courts added later.
In a statement, the New Lambton juniors said, while promoting exercise is commendable, the construction of a new Hunter Indoor Sports Complex at Turton Road does not align with community needs or priorities and "comes at too high a price to the local community".
