Joondalup United blames previous Joondalup council decisions to block relocation for elite league exit

Joondalup United Football Club says it has been “left to die” by the City of Joondalup over the lack of a home facility, while Football West say it was unaware of the club’s decision to withdraw from its semi-professional leagues.

As previously reported by PerthNow, the northern suburbs football club took to its social media last week to announce it had withdrawn from next season’s State League divisions after a long-running battle to secure an adequate home ground.

The club told PerthNow it had resorted to operating from four or five smaller parks in the City of Joondalup, which was not viable to financially support its semi-professional team currently competing in State League Division One — WA football’s second tier.

Joondalup United advisory chairman to the committee John Stone said the club’s elite future was in jeopardy ever since a move to replace Whitfords City Football Club at Warrandyte Park in 2016 was reversed by the Joondalup council.

“We were trying to run a semi-professional organisation out of a park where it’s just a canteen facility, not a bar. That sufficed for one or two years ... but the plan was that we were going to be accommodating a new facility in the future,” he said.

Mr Stone, who was club president from 2010-2016 and again from 2019-2021, said the club’s ambitions for an adequate home ground started as early as 2006 when the club was told it was being moved from its original base at Arena Joondalup.

“We’ve been working with the council back since 2005 to 2006. We’re nearly 20 years on and we’re still not on the main strategic plan for the City of Joondalup,” he said.

“We hoped we would have been in line for something 10 years ago.”

Mr Stone said for a club which had gained promotion from an amateur club to all the way to WA’s top league in 2017 to withdraw back to the Sunday leagues was a “disaster”.

“For the progression of the sport in WA it’s a bit of a disaster, for a club that got to the NPL (National Premier League) and now gone backwards; that’s basically because of our facilities,” he said.

The decision to withdraw from the State Leagues comes a year after the club narrowly lost a play-off final to gain promotion to the NPLWA.

City of Joondalup CEO James Pearson said the city had been informed by the club it was withdrawing its State League team prior to the announcement.

“For many years, the city has worked with JUFC to identify suitable sites for their home base whilst also ensuring residents in the areas surrounding these active open spaces are not adversely impacted,” Mr Pearson said.

When you’ve got no home, no storage and no main clubroom to operate from, we feel at the club that we’ve just been left to die

“More recently, the city has been able to improve JUFC’s access to Forrest Park in Padbury and the adjoining community sporting facility, as well as upgrading the floodlighting at the venue to provide greater flexibility in being able to train and play games at night.

“The city will also commence upgrades to another facility utilised by JUFC, Prince Regent Park in Heathridge, in May 2025.

“This includes a new building, containing two unisex changerooms and toilets, an umpire changeroom, kiosk, storerooms and a park universal access toilet, and the refurbishment of the existing toilet block.”

Mr Pearson said there were limited available playing fields and clubroom facilities in the city and trying to accommodate the needs of all the clubs and community groups was “an ongoing challenge”.

He said it was not uncommon for large-scale sporting clubs to train and play across multiple venues.

“Sport and recreation is part of the fabric of our city and we will continue to work with all our clubs to provide them with the best possible facilities,” he said.

However, Mr Stone refuted claims the city had supported the club and noted recent upgrades to neighbouring club Sorrento FC and a $5.6 million project at Kingsley Westside FC’s home ground of Chichester Park.

He said the upgrades to Prince Regent Park were welcomed but “long overdue”, with the club’s junior sides having used the ground for 18 years.

“It’s alright saying that lots of clubs train on plenty of facilities, I’m sure they do, but when you’ve got no home, no storage and no main clubroom to operate from, we feel at the club that we’ve just been left to die,” Mr Stone said.

“We are still training at grounds where there’s very poor lighting, especially for seniors. It’s a bit hard that they say they’re looking after us in that respect, which is why there’s always been that needle between us and the council.”

In response to questions from PerthNow, Football West said it was informed by the club only one hour before the announcement.

“Football West was not involved in discussions about Joondalup United’s plans to withdraw from the State League. We received notification via email an hour before the club announced the decision on social media,” a Football West spokesperson said.

“Joondalup United have not at any time indicated that State League competition entry fees were an issue.

“Joondalup United’s home venue at Forrest Park in Padbury meets State League Division One standards. They have also played State League games this season at Pentanet Stadium (HBF Arena) after announcing a partnership with WAFL club West Perth for the 2024 season.

“Football West works closely with the City of Joondalup regarding all our clubs in its boundary, as we do with each local government area in WA.”