The Northern Blues will return to its spiritual home next season with six games at Preston City Oval in 2017.
The 2017 VFL fixture was released today, with the Blues to open their campaign against Port Melbourne at North Port Oval on Easter Saturday.
From there, Northern will play half a dozen games at Preston, along with a further four games at Ikon Park.
Due to the unavailability of Avalon Airport Oval, Werribee will ‘host’ the Blues at Ikon Park in what is effectively an extra home game for Northern.
While it is currently a 6-4 split of games at Preston City Oval and Ikon Park, two matches have already been earmarked as potential curtain raisers to Carlton home games.
A home game against Coburg in Round 8 (prior to Carlton-GWS) and a Round 15 clash with Geelong could take place at Etihad Stadium. The club will continue to work with AFL Victoria in relation to these potential curtain raisers.
In a fixture quirk, the Blues will have byes in two consecutive weeks: the first is a state bye, followed by another one in line with Carlton’s bye the following week.
The Northern Blues' 2017 VFL fixture. (Graphic courtesy of the Northern Blues)
For the second straight season, no Northern game will directly clash with a Carlton game in Victoria, giving fans the best chance to see every Blue in action.
Other features of the fixture include:
- An opening home game against Williamstown at Preston City Oval in Round 2
- Two early-season Battle of Bell Street games against Coburg (Rounds 3 and 8)
- A clash with Richmond at Punt Road in Round 10, immediately before Richmond-Carlton on the same day
- Games against Collingwood and Essendon at Victoria Park and Windy Hill respectively
- Hosting reigning premier Footscray at Ikon Park in August, and;
- A Saturday night game against Casey Scorpions in Round 17.
You can sign up today to become a Northern Blues member in 2017. Call 03 9470 2224 to become part of a big year at Preston City Oval from just $30.
