Transfer debacle

By Paul Pickering
BELGRAVE Football Club administrators have been left shaking their heads after a gun recruit was allowed to defect to another club without being granted a transfer.
Club president Rob Morris last week described the situation as “an absolute joke”, condemning the league the player has moved to for its inaction.
Jayde Handfield went absent from Belgrave in April only to resurface when it was found he was playing for Parkmore Pirates in the Southern Football League.
Mr Handfield joined the Magpies in the Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League (YVMDFL) during the off-season after playing in an SFL Division Three premiership with the Pirates last year.
Mr Handfield’s two games with Belgrave in April including a three-goal best-on-ground performance in the Magpies’ draw with Yarra Glen in round two.
Mr Morris said the Yarra Glen match was the last contact that Mr Handfield had with the club.
In the ensuing weeks, club administrators repeatedly attempted to contact their player but there was no response.
It soon came to the club’s attention that Mr Handfield had returned to Parkmore.
Mr Morris said there was no transfer release signed – or even sighted – by Belgrave, which should have prohibited Mr Handfield from playing for any other club.
Mr Handfield, though, played seven games for the Pirates before the club went into recession in June this year.
He is now playing for Black Rock in the SFL’s Division Three and was named as the Rockers’ best player in his fifth game for the club on 4 August.
YVMDFL CEO Ben O’Brien last week conceded that Mr Handfield should not be playing without a clearance but said it was the SFL’s responsibility to act.
“It’s not an issue for us,” he said.
“We have no right to tell the Southern Football League how to operate their football department.”
Mr O’Brien noted that because the leagues have different player databases it is up to the player to inform his new club if he is already registered elsewhere.
SFL general manager Wayne Holdsworth said the league was investigating Parkmore’s claims that a release had been granted.
Mr Holdsworth admitted that the matter had not been handled well by the league and said he felt sorry for the Magpies because the club had done nothing wrong.
“Belgrave is the club I have the most sympathy for because they’ve been exposed – they’ve lost a player without a clearance,” he said.
At the SFL’s request, Mr Handfield did not play for Black Rock on Saturday.
“We are of the opinion that he won’t be playing anywhere for the rest of this year – unless it’s Belgrave,” Mr Holdsworth said on Monday.
Mr Morris said he would have happily signed a clearance form at Mr Handfield’s request, yet he remains bemused by the SFL’s treatment of the situation.
“It shows the character of the SFL and how bad the management must be to let this happen,” he said.
“As far as we’re concerned, we weren’t hampered or upset, it’s just disappointing that blokes can come and go as they please.”
The Mail attempted to contact Mr Handfield but no response had been received at the time of publication.