Night Soccer Set To Return For 48th Season

2025 A Grade Winners, Mottin Earthmoving. Photo supplied.

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Burdekin footballers will once again take to the lights at International Park when Delta Cleaners Night Soccer kicks off for its 48th season next month.

The six-a-side competition will get underway on Tuesday, September 8, with Men’s and Women’s teams invited to compete.

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Players must be aged over 15, with nomination forms available from Delta Cleaners, InterSport and Sportfirst. Completed forms must be returned by Friday, August 28.

The long-running competition has its roots in Home Hill, where it began in 1979 as a way of helping players from the Burdekin Football Club, then known as Ayr Parkside, maintain fitness during the off-season.

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Eight men’s teams contested the inaugural season before the competition moved to Ayr the following year. International Park has been its home since 1981.

Now a fixture of the Burdekin sporting calendar, Night Soccer attracted 43 teams last year, including 27 Men’s and 15 Women’s teams.

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The season will begin with two trial weeks before teams progress into group games, culminating in Grand Final night on Friday, December 11.

One of the competition’s more distinctive features will again be the infamous Sin Bin.

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Players who are sin-binned are named and shamed before spending three minutes on the sidelines, leaving their team to battle on with just five players.

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Organisers are encouraging teams to get their nominations in ahead of the August 28 deadline as preparations ramp up for another summer of football under the lights.

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