Fixture changes for the 2023 Great Southern Football League Women’s competition

The Great Southern Football League Women’s competition will have a later start in 2023 and every round will feature a double header.

The 2023 GSFLW season will start almost a month later than 2022, with February 17 set down for a blockbuster opening round.

All 10 home-and-away rounds will consist of double-header fixtures at the same ground, with four matches on a Thursday night.

The new competition will kick off with an exciting triple-header, as all round-one games are played at Retravision Stadium.

Last season two rounds had games at three different venues but the GSFL have reverted back to the traditional double headers while the third fixture in most rounds will be played elsewhere, in a bid to continue the growth and engagement of women’s football.

The GSFLW will remain a six-team competition, with the top four reaching the semifinals and the two winners progressing to the grand final.

There will be a double header played on Thursday, March 2 and again the following week on March 9, both at Retravision Stadium.

The remainder of the fixtures will be played on Friday nights.

The 2023 grand final is set down for Friday, May 12 at Retravision Stadium, after Railways clinched their first GSFLW premiership in front of a packed McLean Park in Denmark in April.

The GSFL men’s competition is set to start on April 22, with the first couple of rounds to run in conjunction with the end of the women’s season.

GSFL president Terry Eaton said he was looking forward to another positive season for the women’s game in the region.

“Crowds have been amazing in recent years, absolutely everyone is keen for it,” he said.

“We’ve also pushed the fixtures back a few weeks to give the clubs a bit of a break, and the last few fixtures will overlap with the men’s season too.

“I think it’s really helped some of the clubs survive the summer months as well, to be honest.

“That (Thursday fixtures) was to do with the availability of stadiums and things like that.

“There’s a bit going on around the place and a fair few times a stadium is booked out on another day, so that’s why there is an occasional Thursday fixture.

“Kathleen Mier is the new appointee for the women’s footy, she’s going to look after that as part of her portfolio.”