Bolch's men hosted A-League outfit Central Coast Mariners at Maitland Sportsground almost 12 months ago, attracting a strong crowd to watch the round-of-32 fixture which the Magpies eventually lost 2-0.

The NNSW premiers also reached the semis of the nationwide NPL series, defeating Tasmanian champions Davenport 3-2 at home before going down 2-0 to Brisbane's Lions FC.

News of FFA canning both competitions broke on Tuesday.

* CHRIS Fayers may not be able to take the field for Maitland in Sunday's season opener against Edgeworth at Jack McLaughlin Oval as the club looks to overcome clearance issues with Malaysian Super League outfit Terengganu FC.

* LAMBTON'S Bren Hammel was back at training on Tuesday night but Jaffas coach James Pascoe doesn't expect to see him on the park until at least round three. Hammel underwent knee surgery around Christmas time and returned to the operating table last week to take out some screws used initially to "speed up the healing".

* BEN Higgins will help Valentine coach Darren Sills fill a void left by Spanish recruit Fortia Munts, who returned home recently because of COVID-19. The former Adamstown and Broadmeadow player would likely partner Adam Hughes in central defence.

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