BUTE Football Club will be the only South Australian community football club to play in an existing neighbouring competition after the Yorke Peninsula Football League (YPFL) called off its season.

Six teams from the Western Border, Mid South Eastern and Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara Football Leagues will combine to create the makeshift Limestone Coast Football League for its 2020 season, meaning the Adelaide Plains Football League (APFL) is the only existing league to welcome an extra addition.

The opportunity arose after the APFL’s reigning premiers and minor premiers, Hummocks-Watchman and Balaklava, both withdrew over COVID-19 concerns.

Bute Football Club president Jarrad Cock said while he can understand why the YPFL cancelled its season, it would be too detrimental to the club to go a year without playing.

“One of the big reasons for why we wanted to continue playing is because we’ve got such a young group, with some senior colts back for their first year in seniors,” he said.

“For us not to play would have probably meant heading backwards from what we’re trying to build and achieve with this group.”

Bute, with 18 premierships to its name since its 1892 inception, last won a flag in 1993, and haven’t played finals footy since 2011. The club has been going through an admitted rough patch that included back-to-back-to-back wooden spoons in 2015-17.

After finishing eighth (out of nine) in 2018, the Roosters finally pulled back into the mid-table in 2019, finishing sixth and trending in the right direction.

“It was a big improvement last year after being down near the bottom for six or seven years,” Cock said.

“So we’ve got a bit of momentum, and another thing is that for the past 20-odd years our senior colts, junior colts and under-12s have been combined with Paskeville because of low numbers.

“Basically, that got voted out last year because it would’ve made an odd number of teams, so this will be the first time in close to 20 years that our junior grades will put on a Bute Football Club guernsey and join our A and B grades, which is pretty massive.”

Cock said the club understands the opportunity it has this year to cement its junior grades, and that taking the year off and potentially forcing those kids into other football clubs, or other sports altogether, was too big of a risk.

“We’ve done a lot of work over the summer to get all these new guernseys for the kids, because they’re going to be Roosters now,” he said.

“Socially we’re a vibrant club, and the players love being at Bute, but we couldn’t have denied them the opportunity to go somewhere else if we weren’t able to play.

“The concern is if they really enjoy it there, and it’s closer for them, or they bond with kids at their new club, they might be hesitant to return.

“Another thing is, and probably the most important reason we’ve pushed forward, is I think if the kids went a year without football, I’m not sure if they’ll be as excited about it next year – they (may) find other things to do.”

Cock said Bute will definitely not be there to just make up the numbers, but that its season will be judged on much more than just wins and losses.

“We have not approached any YPFL or APFL clubs to help top-up our list, we want to go wholly in as Bute,” he said.

“I’m not sure where we’ll end up, but if we can win a few games, and keep the spirits high around the club, then we’ve achieved everything we wanted.”