The Riddell District Football League women’s competition will be a six-team competition this season.
The league released the fixture with the season to kick off on the same weekend as the men’s football, April 5.
Riddell joins the competition, having formed a team in the off season.
Rob Bretherton will coach the Bombers, having been involved at Gisborne previously.
Macedon, Romsey, Melton, Lancefield and Mount Alexander make up the rest of the competition.
Kyneton, which made the past two grand finals, and Woodend-Hesket won’t have teams this season.
The new Kyneton Women’s Football Club is also missing from the competition.
The Eagles had been hoping to play in the RDFL after breaking away from Kyneton Football Netball Club, but the league denied entry.
RDFNL chief executive Jordan Doyle previously said it had workshopped five different solutions with the KWFC committee and that committee had altered its approach on multiple occasions, meaning that the process has been drawn out.
He said there were five different options in place for the players to play together in 2025, but it was not under the Kyneton Women’s banner.
“The RDFNL is bound by the statement of rules written into the constitution and the club has not satisfied those rules and has also missed the AFL deadline for new clubs.,” he said.
“The RDFNL has been working with other clubs for this team to have a place to play in 2025 and has agreed in writing to work with the KWFC committee on their new club proposal for 2026.”
In a statement in late February, the Eagles said they had exhausted every avenue in the search for a place for the team to play this season.
“But we’re not giving up hope and we’re not going anywhere,” they said.
“We’ll keep standing up for what is right and calling for change.
“Our players deserve the opportunity to represent Kyneton on their home ground and the young girls aspiring to play football in their own community deserve better.”
