Essendon Football Club’s VFL team will play five home games at Windy Hill in 2014 with discussions to undertake important maintenance work on the venue currently underway.

With the facilities at Windy Hill Venue likely to undergo a renovation in the second half of the VFL season the club will play an additional three home matches at Highgate Reserve in Craigieburn.

VFL Operations Manager Matt Little said the move would have long-term benefits to the club’s VFL program.

“With the plan for work to be undertaken at Windy Hill during the later stages of 2014 we have been forced to find an alternate venue for a handful of our home games,” Little said.

“It is not ideal to be playing home games away from the club’s home ground at Windy Hill but we know that getting the venue up to a certain standard will ensure our long term vision of having an Essendon presence at Windy Hill can be maintained.”

Click here to view Essendon's 2014 VFL fixture.