Kelmscott Football Club submitted a player management plan on Monday to address WA Amateur Football League concerns over player behaviour in an effort to get them back on the field as soon as possible.
New head coach Antoni Grover has also already made improvements by removing the worst offending players from last season.
The club was sent a memo on Friday afternoon by WAAFL general manager David Armstrong notifying them they were suspended from the competition – just hours before they were meant to play Hamersley.
In the memo Mr Armstrong said Kelmscott had failed to comply with a request to submit a player management plan following WAAFL concerns over red cards received in 2015, including two incidents subject to criminal proceedings.
“The WAAFL can no longer consider Kelmscott teams within the fixtures until a written player management plan is submitted and approval by the WAAFL,” he said.
Kelmscott spokesman Peter Quinn said the club was fuming when they found out about the suspension at such short notice.
“We were outraged at that, at a quarter to three it gave us no chance to seek any legal redress,” he said.
Mr Quinn said the WAAFL had messed the club around by breaking a verbal agreement it made at a meeting to discuss the issues between the club and WAAFL board members and staff in March.
“Antoni Grover went through what his plan was, he had about a dozen points there,” he said.
“We were then able to put forward what I thought was a very good program in front of them.
“One of the guys on the board asked why don’t you just type up Grover’s 12 dot points and submit that, that was the handshake deal.”
Mr Quinn said a few days after the meeting and once they had submitted their plan the WAAFL reneged on its agreement and requested a more comprehensive plan.
He said the club was initially reluctant to do the plan because members were volunteers, didn’t have the experience and didn’t have the money to pay a professional.
They relented over the weekend however and submitted a plan on Monday.
“It’s been a major bloody exercise for a small club run by vollies,” he said.
“We just want to get our boys on the park.
“That’s the game, not all this bureaucratic nonsense, arguing with well paid corporate bureaucrats.”
Mr Quinn also said the club received 11 red cards last year and not 14, which had been reported previously.
The WAAFL was contacted but did not respond before deadline.
