LODDON Valley Football Netball League is shaping as a salvation for the homeless Maryborough.
The 153-year-old club’s bid to join the Maryborough Castlemaine District Football Netball League in 2026 was lost last week when it was unable to reach the 75 per cent threshold for a successful application.
The Magpies’ senior teams have been in recess this season after pulling out of the Bendigo league.
President Glen Bardsley said discussions were continuing with the MCDFNL despite last week’s vote after the Magpies identified “some issues” with the process, in which the league’s seven board members each had a vote on the Maryborough application along with the 13 clubs. If final negotiations failed, he said joining the Loddon Valley competition was an option that would be explored.
League president Richard Hicks has said Loddon Valley would welcome any approach from clubs from other leagues interested in joining the nine-team competition.
“We are just doing what every other club in footy is doing for survival,” Bardsley said. “It’s very strange we have to go through all this stuff so our club’s kids have somewhere to play.”
A sticking point with a move to the Loddon Valley is the future of Maryborough’s junior teams. 
This year, the club has continued to field teams in the under-10, under-12, under-14 and under-16 competitions in the Bendigo junior league.
The Loddon Valley has only a five-team under-18 competition at the junior level.
 “It’s just hard, because we are trying to get all the footy on one day,” Bardsley said.  Bendigo juniors play on Sundays, while Loddon Valley’s under-18s play on Saturday.
Bardsley said some of the club’s junior teams were struggling for numbers without having senior sides on the park.
He was confident, however, that Maryborough could field senior teams if the club found a home for next season.
“It would most likely be a young side; we’re not going to throw heaps of money around,” Bardsley said.
Maryborough had lost 62 consecutive senior games when it went into recess this season and finished 2024 with a percentage of just 14.36, with its last win in 2021.
With the MCDFNL door closed pending further talks, a return to the Bendigo league not an option, and also having been rebuffed by the Central Highlands league last season, the Magpies future may rest with a welcoming Loddon Valley.