Australian Football

Lexton

When the Lexton Plains Football League was formed in 1999 Lexton was among the new competition’s foundation members. Prior to that, and since 1945, the club had competed in the Lexton Football League, which was one of the two competitions that merged to form the LPFL, the other being the Western Plains Football League. The Tigers’ record in the LFL had been quite outstanding, which makes it all the more surprising that they never once managed to contest a LPFL senior grade grand final.

Formed in 1920, Lexton spent its first five seasons competing in the Pyrenees Football Association, culminating in an 8.4 (52) to 3.7 (25) grand final defeat of Avoca in 1924. The club transferred to the Ripon Football Association in 1925 and then, in 1926, joined the Learmonth District Football Association where it remained for seven years, claiming at least one flag. (Complete records for this competition are not extant, and it is therefore possible that the club enjoyed premiership success on one or more other occasions.)

In 1933 Lexton returned to its original stamping ground of the PFA and promptly won another premiership. The Tigers also went top in 1938 when they overcame Avoca in the grand final by 20 points, 10.19 (79) to 8.11 (59).

The 1945 season saw the establishment of a new competition, the Lexton Football League, of which Lexton was one of half a dozen inaugural members. The club set out its stall immediately by winning the very first premiership thanks to a 14.20 (104) to 12.10 (82) grand final triumph over Moonambel. Over the ensuing four and a half decades the Tigers would enjoy more senior grade premiership success than any other club in the competition, but it was not until 1962 that they added a second flag to their haul. They accounted for Beaufort in that year’s grand final by a margin of 15 points, 13.12 (90) to 11.9 (75), and twelve months later repeated the dose, this time by the narrowest possible margin.

Lexton’s final tally of fourteen senior grade flags was completed by grand final wins in 1966-7-8, all against Natte Bealiba, 1971-2 over Avoca, 1976 against Natte Bealiba, 1978 at the expense of Navarre, 1983 against Dunolly, and both 1988 and 1992 against Navarre. The 1983 defeat of Dunolly was particularly noteworthy in that the Tigers broke the 30 goal barrier in winning 30.24 (204) to 11.14 (80).

By contrast with its record breaking stint in the LFL Lexton’s first decade in the LPFL produced scant levels of success. In 2011, after the LPFL went into recess, the Tigers commenced in the Maryborough Castlemaine District Football League in which they performed strongly from the outset, topping the ladder in their first two seasons only to crumble during the finals. They reached their first MCDFL grand final in 2013 but were crushed by 101 points by Navarre.

Lexton has now completed seven seasons in the MCDFL and enjoys the enviable record of only twice (in 2017 and 2018) having failed to qualify for the finals. The latter failure was particularly disappointing as the side finished with the same points as but a slightly poorer percentage than eighth placed Maldon.