Club president Mark Washington said after a long lay-off, due to coronavirus, which has resulted in crowd restrictions, people will be keen to come and see some district footy once again.
“Our first match is against Shepparton United, which is a co-tenant of Deakin Reserve, and the matches between the two usually attract a significant crowd,” Washington said.
“We also haven't had a competition for a long time and the weather is usually good at that time of year.
“Playing under lights on Good Friday, we see as an attractive game to come and look at and I'm thinking we’ll get more than 1000.”
Washington said the application hadn't been sent that long ago, but was hoping for the answer to come back as soon as possible.
“It's recently been submitted, so it's in the early stages of being assessed,” he said.
“We're hoping we can get a decision at least a few weeks out so we can continue our planning and make a few decisions.”
Despite wanting the extra crowd numbers, Washington understood that the government may put extra demands on the club as a result.
“If we do get to increase the crowd capacity, they might say we want the teams to do A, B, C and D and it could become overwhelming for our volunteers, but we won't know anything until we get that documentation back,” he said.
When asked whether he would urge other clubs to do the same, Washington said he would.
“I would, especially if they are playing on Good Friday.”
The Victorian Government was contacted for comment but didn't meet deadline.
Shepparton takes on Shepparton United under lights on Friday, April 2 at Deakin Reserve to open up the 2021 Goulburn Valley League season.
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