NORTH Albury Football-Netball Club is looming as the entity to assume the head lease for use of Bunton Park.
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The sporting bodies which use Bunton Park, football-netball, cricket and bowls clubs, met last week in the wash-up of the next step in winding up the North Albury Sports Club.
Hoppers' president Tony Burns was reluctant to comment on its expanded responsibilities, but confirmed they would be trying to arrange a meeting with Albury Council, which owns Bunton Park, to advance the future operating arrangements.
North Albury Sports Club holds the existing lease with council, which owns the sports club building, changerooms and football, netball, cricket and bowls facilities, with each sporting body having a sub-agreement to play at Bunton Park.
The sports club board had already commenced negotiations to sell 15 poker machines, but required member approval to offload the remaining 12 on its books.
The club has been under financial stress for many years and almost folded in 2014 when it agreed to enter into voluntary administration.
Debts had mounted to $850,000 before members pledges, in part, kept the doors open.
Poker machine sales to other licensed clubs are expected to clear debts totalling around $200,000.
Another extraordinary meeting of members has to be held before the club is officially wound-up.
It's unclear whether the anticipated lease between the football-netball club and council will be in place before the start of the Ovens and Murray league season.
The Hoppers first home game at Bunton Park is on April 4.
The North Albury Sports Club had its origins in the early 1980s when the football club had been waging a largely unsuccessful campaign to become a licensed club at a time when poker machines had not been introduced into Victoria.
One of the driving forces in its creation was the late Merv McIntosh, who died in 2014.
The demise of the sports club will also eliminate the constitutional requirement for a Hoppers coaching appointment to be ratified by the over-arching governing body.
