It’s a time of uncertainty at South Wangaratta, with the Wangaratta City FC women’s soccer teams left rudderless following the shock resignation of their coaches late last week.

In a post published to the club’s Facebook page last Friday, WCFC confirmed women’s coaches Raul Pahina and Josh Gebauer would not return to helm the division one and division two women’s sides this season.

“Wangaratta City FC is disappointed to advise our members and players that our senior women's coaches, Raul and Josh, have stepped down from their coaching positions for the 2026 season,” the post read.

“While we are saddened by their departure, we fully respect their reasons for doing so.

“Raul has decided to spend more time with his family, and Josh will be pursuing other interests.

“Wangaratta City would like to sincerely thank both Raul and Josh for the excellent coaching and immense passion they brought to the club, our teams, and our players.

“Their contribution has been greatly valued by everyone at the Devils.

“The club is now working quickly to finalise our coaching structure for the season ahead and will provide a further update shortly.”

WCFC president Brett Aggenbach said it was an unfortunate development mere days out from the start of the season.

“Obviously the club’s very disappointed the senior and reserves coaches have decided to step away from coaching,” he said.

“They sort of shared it between the two, Josh was more of an assistant coach but they managed both the senior and reserves.

“They announced that last Thursday, 10 days out from the start of the season, so it’s left a clear void in providing support for our girls.

“Needless to say, we’ll be putting teams on the park on this Sunday coming.

“At the moment, we’re still seeking a coach to take on the majority of the season, but we’ll have some interim plans in place for what happens on Sunday and at training this week.”

While there was a gap in the coaching ranks, Aggenbach said he was confident the club would be able to field two women’s teams through the season, despite numbers being somewhat lacking through the preseason.

“Numbers have been a little down from the start of this year, preseason’s been a bit light on,” he said.

“We’ve had a few people move away for work, which is absolutely their prerogative.

“We’ve had some senior players who have decided to not continue their career.

“I think it’s a broader AWFA issue as well – there are one or two clubs who are very strong, but others are really struggling.”

The 2026 Albury Wodonga Football Association season commences this weekend, with Wangaratta City at home to Albury City on Sunday, 15 March.