Australian Football

As a result of the activities of John McMahon, Ted Anderson and Ted Pascoe the Kedron Football Club came into being in 1937. The club soon began to flex its muscles, reaching the QANFL grand final in only its third season, but a straight kicking Windsor combination proved too strong and won by 19 points, 13.3 (81) to 8.14 (62). In the 1940 grand final the same two clubs were opposed; this time Kedron kicked accurately, while Windsor was wayward, but the ultimate result was the same - victory to the established club.

Kedron’s first flag arrived in 1941 as Mayne was bested on grand final day with some comfort, and further premierships followed in 1943 and 1944, making Kedron the QANFL’s most successful wartime club.

The success continued after the war. Between 1946 and 1950 Kedron and Windsor contested every grand final, with the score 3-2 in Windsor’s favour. Nevertheless, Kedron was indisputably one of Queensland football’s top clubs, a state of affairs which was to continue throughout the 1950s, albeit that only one further flag (that of 1959) was secured.

The 1960s proved to be a barren decade as far as premierships were concerned, and indeed the Redlegs as they were known at the time only reached the finals on a couple of occasions, going out in the first semi final both times. The 1970s were even worse as Kedron had to thank the short-lived ‘final five’ system, which operated in 1975 and 1976, for their only (losing) finals appearance of the decade. Kedron’s ‘Indian summer’ finally arrived in 1980 as the club scored a resounding 20.19 (139) to 13.13 (91) grand final victory over Coorparoo. It reached the grand final again the following year, losing heavily to Windsor Zillmere, but thereafter the club struggled both on and off the field, ultimately opting, at the end of the 1989 season, to merge with Wilston Grange, a move which ensured that the history and traditions of both clubs would, for a short while at least, continue to be preserved.

More recently, Kedron has re-emerged as a standalone club, competing with some success in the intermediate to lower grades of football in South East Queensland. In 2017, competing in Division Two of the Queensland Football Association, the Lions won just 4 games for the season to finish last and succumb to relegation to Division Three. Their form in 2018 was much improved and they ultimately qualified for the Division Three finals for an eventual finishing position of third.

Among the many notable players to have donned the red and blue jumper over the years were Gary Paxton, Max Fisher, dual Grogan Medallist Tom Gould, Greg Packham, and former South Melbourne and Richmond star John Pitura.