BAIRNSDALE Football Club has signalled its intention to return to major league football.
The development comes after a push to field an East Gippsland representative team in the Gippsland league was shelved earlier this month.
The club held a meeting this week to discuss the proposal, which would see the Redlegs enter a senior, under-18 and under-16 team in Gippsland's highest-standard competition.
The discussions come 12 years after Bairnsdale withdrew from the then-Gippsland-Latrobe league at the end of the 1998 season.
Difficulty in fielding reserves was a key factor in the Redlegs' decision to return to the lower-standard East Gippsland league.
VCFL chief executive Glenn Scott said the Redlegs' proposal had merit.
"I think conceptually it's a great idea," Scott said.
"Bairnsdale, by virtue of the fact they've won eight of the past 11 (premierships), they're arguably too strong for the East Gippsland league.
"But it needs to be sustainable, and that's the challenge with this sort of move."
Bairnsdale hopes to set up a system where top-notch players in the East Gippsland league train with the major league team, and return to their home club if not selected for the Redlegs in any given week.
Scott said the proposal would require approval of the VCFL rules committee, as current regulations prevent a player from taking the field in a higher-standard league more than eight times in a season without applying for a transfer.
"All that would need to be sussed out," Scott said.
"It might seem easy to do something in isolation that suits Bairnsdale, but the rules go right across the board.
"Other clubs in other leagues might think 'oh, we can use that ruling somehow' so we need to be careful."
Meanwhile, Bairnsdale's rampaging grand final win over Lindenow earlier this month was cut short in the final term after a spectator threw a drink can on to the field, hitting an umpire.
Bairnsdale was in front by 10 goals when the incident occurred halfway through the last quarter.
Umpires were reluctant to continue the match, and both clubs agreed to abandon the game due to Bairnsdale's unassailable lead. The spectator was not believed to be aligned with either competing club.
Bairnsdale will host their first home game back in the major competition against Moe
 will return to Gippsland's major Australian rules football league after members voted to join the Gippsland League (GL). The GL,  and the , regional Victoria's governing Aussie rules body, have all approved the move.


'''Round 1, 2011'''

''April 9''
Warragul vs. Bairnsdale
Wonthaggi vs. Morwell
Traralgon vs. Leongatha

''April 10''
Maffra vs. Sale
Drouin vs. Moe


Bairnsdale will field teams in the seniors, under 18 and under 16 grades, but not a reserves side like the rest of the competition. Players not selected in the senior side will be able to play for a club in the East Gippsland minor league, under a unique transfer agreement. 

They will play their first game back in the major league in Warragul on April 9 before playing their first home game against Moe a week later.

Their furthest away game will be to Wonthaggi – a one way trip of approximately 224 kilometres.