Yates will step down at the end of this season having led the club for five years and the search for his replacement has already begun.

He believes we're about to find out how much Albury-Wodonga really wants a club in the National Premier Leagues (NPL) system.

"We need to attract the next generation of directors off the field," Yates said.

"I'll be stepping down as chair at the end of this season so we're in a rebuilding phase off the park.

"The challenge is there for our community on whether the junior NPL program is valued enough to attract people to keep the club thriving.

"We'll be having an open forum in early July to look to start to attract new people off the field, the next generation, to take the club forward.

"It's extremely difficult (finding the right people). For any club, whether it's an AWFA club or a local AFL club, it's becoming harder to attract volunteers. People are busy, they've got debt, they've got financial commitments and are perhaps less willing to volunteer compared to a generation ago.

"It's likely to need some parents of young players who really understand the value of what we offer in terms of developing as a player and a person in our environment, which is very different to other sporting clubs.

"Time will tell but it's a challenge."

Increased business and family commitments made it an easy decision for Yates to stand down, with his daughter Annie now travelling to Melbourne twice a week for training.

He admits the lack of senior football has left a hole at the club, which relinquished its NPL licence early last year due to a lack of players at under-18 and under-20 level.

"I miss it immensely," Yates said.

"Some of my best memories at the club are those senior days, like when we beat Nunawading to escape relegation or the derby wins against Goulburn Valley Suns.

"All the juniors would pile in after the game, we'd have 80 people in a 10x15m change room, belting out the song and it was just amazing. I really miss that.

"It gave a strong profile to the sport in terms of media attention and sponsorship and it gave our juniors a clear step to what's next within the club, whereas they don't have that any more, which is disappointing.

"Retaining an NPL club in the region is absolutely key. Players from the age of six or seven need to be doing three quality sessions per week to have any chance of making a career out of football.

"Players thinking they can stay in a regional setting at a local club and develop to that level are misguided.

"Around the age of 14 or 15, that's the point when they need to move away from here.

"Even with us, they need to be moving on to the next level in the ecosystem which is an A-League club: Victory, City or Western United.

"We've never held players back from doing that, we've encouraged it.

"It would be nice to see AWFA clubs have the same approach and encourage players to come to us and step up the chain, which unfortunately is often not the case.

"I think local association coaches are focused on winning an AWFA under-12 cup and it's quite a selfish sort of mindset.

"I think coaches and clubs may put their own interests before the interests of the player."

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Yates hasn't ruled out the return of senior football at Murray but he believes there needs to be a mindset shift if it were ever to thrive in the future.

"The route back is through State League 5 so it's a long road back," Yates said.

"There's no desire (to do that) with the current board and that's part of the reason to have a new chair, who could have the drive to bring that back because it does take energy and focus.

"If we brought it back, with the talent we've got around here, we'd be quite successful and I'd expect they'd get promoted quickly through the ranks and work their way back up.

"It's five levels of football to get back to where we were but in retrospect, perhaps we were granted an NPL senior licence before the region deserved it or had full support from the whole football community.

"It's no secret the football community hasn't supported the NPL presence.

"They're protecting the status quo, protecting their club, not seeing it for the greater good of the sport.

"It's been a frustration since day one, that when the club received the NPL licence from Football Victoria, we'd (thought we would) have support from the association and all the local clubs but that support in a letter wasn't matched in reality.

"There's been a lot of opponents to NPL and that continues to make it difficult.

"If all the local football community is not behind an NPL club, ultimately it's going to be difficult to keep going.

"I'm willing to remain on the board to support the next chairperson.

"We've got such a strong sponsorship base already in place and the infrastructure is all there, it just needs someone with time and connections to keep it moving forward."

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