We now know what the 2026 Albury Wodonga Football Association will look like in its entirety. Although the start date of 14 March was signposted months ago, the full draw, released on Sunday, 15 February, provides clubs, players and supporters with a blueprint of exactly how the 22-round home and away season will pan out. Albury United and St Pat's will play out a season opener on Saturday, 14 March, with the rest of the competition to begin on Sunday, 15 March. Wangaratta City Fc will commence their 2026 season at home, hosting Albury City at South Wangaratta on Sunday. There will be three rounds before a leaguewide bye on the Easter weekend (5 April), with Wangaratta playing Albury United at home (22 March) and Boomers away (29 March) before the break. The club will be looking forward to their round nine fixture, the traditional derby clash with Myrtleford Savoy on Myrtleford’s La Fiera weekend, set to play on Sunday, 17 May. The second derby match will be at South Wangaratta on 9 August. There will be a leaguewide bye on 7 June for the King's Birthday long weekend. The last home and away round will be played on Sunday, 23 August, with three weeks of finals following that. While some other clubs are penciled in to play on the odd Saturday, Wangaratta FC will exclusively play on Sundays only. Wangaratta City FC men’s coach Vitaly Leschen said the release of the full draw made the season feel more tangible to players. “It’s always exciting to get the draw,” he said. “Coming into mid-February where it starts getting into the hotter days of summer and preseason becomes a bit harder, it’s always good to get that momentum built before the year. “I’m sure the players at training will be talking about the draw and talking about who we’ve got and when we’ve got them.” The Devils had a rough run of it last year, having been knocked out of the first round of finals after a lacklustre year. Leschen said, with one exception, the year was just about proving themselves against everyone, no matter when they face them. “We’ve got a lot to prove this year about how far we’ve come, so I don’t think there would be any teams on the ladder that would be fair for us to circle and say that’s more important than the other, apart from that rivalry with Myrtleford. “I think every game for us is important, we’ve got points to prove against every team this year, and that would be my expectation of how the players are looking at it as well.” The Devils’ pre-Easter block will be a good test to see if the recruiting and efforts during preseason will bear fruit. “We play against Albury City in round one and Albury United round two, then Boomers in round three - my expectation from the grapevine is Albury City will be up there, Albury United are always up there, and Boomers are rebuilding from last year, so it’ll be interesting to see how they go,” Leschen said. “Coming into that Easter period, it will give us a good gauge of the expectation of the year, and how naïve I am now. “I would be hoping we get off to a good start to the year this year, and well and truly climb up that table.” The full draw can be viewed at https://www.awfa.asn.au/2026-main-draw.
