South Adelaide Football Club to make Football Department changes.

Following the conclusion of the 2021 season the South Adelaide Football Club has restructured its football department to meet the demands of the changing football landscape.

The Club will implement two new positions, General Manager – Football and Female Football/Football Operations Co-ordinator.

As a consequence of these changes Football Manager Warren Ploenges will not be continuing with the Club.

South Adelaide CEO Neill Sharpe thanked Warren for his contribution as Football Manager for the past five years.

“Warren has had a long association with the Club most recently as Football Manager and is respected throughout football and the southern zone. We wish him all the best for the future.”

Sharpe said the challenges of the greatly reduced SANFL salary cap and the addition of an extra Women’s team in 2022 had forced the Club to review its structure.

“Covid has had a significant impact on the game with the reduction in player payments and now we are looking at having close to 55 female footballers on our SANFLW list. We need to run best practice programs in our Men’s and Women’s both on and off the field, and feel these changes were necessary to allow us to do that.

“Our junior programs will also grow in 2022 with the U16s playing a full season. Next season is shaping up as a busy year, with the SANFL also proposing continued growth in underage programs in future years.”

The Club is looking to make appointments to these positions in the coming weeks.