The decision was made following a members’ vote at the club’s annual general meeting on Friday.
The vote followed a crisis community meeting about the future of the club that was held at Oaklands in early September.
It raised that the club had been facing serious challenges with volunteers, player numbers and sponsorship.
The club released a statement on Saturday saying a particular factor was the lack of football players coming through the club.
“Following our recent crisis meeting, it became clear that the two most important factors for the future of Billabong Crows FNC was increased volunteer support and the recruitment of new football players,” it read.
“Unfortunately, despite exploring numerous avenues and doing all we could, we have been unable to secure any additional football recruits to take the club forward, and the outlook for the future was becoming increasingly challenging.”
However, it also said the club’s committee was working to ensure the club doesn’t fold, with an aim to resume in the near future.
“While the club will be in recess in 2027, our committee remains dedicated to doing everything we can to ensure Billabong Crows returns bigger, stronger and ready for 2028.”
The Crows formed in 2004 as a merger between the two Coreen & District Football League sides, Oaklands and Urana.
After the CDFL disbanded in 2007 they joined the Hume Football Netball League where they have competed for the last 19 years.
This season in the HFNL, the club’s A-grade netball and under-14s football sides finished in finals placings of fourth and sixth respectively.
However, they have had challenging seasons in other grades for several years, particularly struggling for playing numbers in the football grades.
The club was unable to field an under-17s netball or football team for much of the 2026 season.
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