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CONGRATULATIONS: Port Adelaide Football Club Executive General Manager, Matthew Richardson and Whyalla Mayor Clare McLaughlin at Bennett Oval
Monday, October 28, 2019
It’s official … Port Adelaide is coming to Whyalla to play a Marsh Community Series AFL match next year.
The Marsh Community Series program (formerly the JLT Series) was released today by the AFL with Whyalla’s soon-to-be redeveloped Bennett Oval confirmed as the venue for a pre-season match between the POWER and the Western Bulldogs on Saturday, March 7, 2020.
The match, scheduled to start at 3.40pm, fulfils the wishes of Sanjeev Gupta, the Executive Chairman of GFG Alliance, and his private Gupta family sponsorship of the Port Adelaide Football Club.
Whyalla Mayor Clare McLaughlin thanked Mr Gupta and Port Adelaide for paving the way for this history-making match and amazing opportunity for the city.
“When Mr Gupta signed his private sponsorship with Port Adelaide he said Whyalla was a prime consideration in the deal and a POWER match in our city was a key component,” Mayor McLaughlin said.
“It is a huge win for Whyalla as Mr Gupta and Port Adelaide have delivered on this part of the deal.
“Our redeveloped Bennett Oval is going to host an AFL match and the nation is going to see Whyalla in its full glory.
“We couldn’t be more excited.”
Port Adelaide Football Club Executive General Manager, Matthew Richardson was in Whyalla last week to inspect the work being done on Bennett Oval. He was happy with the progress to bring the surface and changerooms up to AFL standard and was looking forward to the match.
Port Adelaide players will be in Whyalla for several days leading up to the match for a series of events and appearances.
Port Adelaide CEO Keith Thomas praised the club’s major sponsor GFG and its Executive Chairman, Sanjeev Gupta for having the vision to push for an AFL game in Whyalla.
“The Port Adelaide Football Club has a long-standing relationship with Eyre Peninsula; it’s part of our regional heartland,” said CEO Keith Thomas.
“The area is part of our traditional recruiting zone and has given us many talented players including the likes of Greg Phillips, the Burgoyne brothers and our current ruckman Scott Lycett.
“Our membership base is also strong in Whyalla and the surrounding area, and we’ll use the visit to spend some additional time in those communities.
“It’s great to be able to give back to people who have supported us for so long and it’ll be an added bonus to have the local facilities upgraded to leave a legacy of our visit.
“In partnership with GFG, our club has committed to increasing our engagement across the Eyre Peninsula and, following our 2019 community camp in Whyalla back in February, it’s going to be brilliant to return for a full-scale competitive game as part of our preparations for season 2020.”
Mr Gupta said it was a proud moment for his family to see the Gupta-family-sponsored POWER playing a game in Whyalla. He thanked Port Adelaide for committing to the Whyalla match and the City of Whyalla for moving so swiftly to redevelop Bennett Oval.
“Since our purchase of the Whyalla operations several years ago, I’ve stated the vital importance of the community growing and developing alongside our operations,” Mr Gupta said.
“My family’s partnership with Port Adelaide will hopefully play a key role in that, helping put Whyalla on the map through this game – and possibly more to come – as well as resulting in Whyalla City Council upgrading their facilities to suit this level of competition.
“World-class facilities and sporting attractions such as this will all assist in making Whyalla a destination of choice – both occupationally and recreationally – for people from across the globe.”
Ticketing details will be released shortly. The home and away AFL season fixtures will be released on Thursday.
2020 MARSH COMMUNITY SERIES
