West Preston-Lakeside appoints Carlton premiership player Ian Aitken as coach

West Preston-Lakeside has secured the services of Carlton premiership player and highly-successful local footy coach Ian Aitken.

Ian Aitken during his time at Kew. Picture: Stuart Milligan

West Preston-Lakeside has turned to one of the masterminds of its 2018 NFNL Division 1 premiership triumph to lift the club back up the ladder.

Ian Aitken was an assistant coach in the Roosters’ drought-breaking flag.

He returns to Moore Park from VAFA club Kew to try and lift the club back up the ladder after finishing ninth this season with just five wins.

Aitken, the VFL Rookie of the Year and Carlton premiership player in 1987, takes the reins from Luke Giles.

He said it was an honour to have the club reach out and ask him to come back as senior coach.

“I think I left a reasonable impact at people at the club and playing group, then I went back to Kew where I’ve coached for a number of years,” Aitken said.

“They contacted me to see if I’d coach them and after a couple of weeks of chatting and thinking about it, I said yes.

“It’s nice that they had good memories of my time there and was the right person for the group going forward.”

Since retiring from the VFL/AFL in 1993, Aitken has built a storied local footy coaching career.

He led Kew to a hat-trick of VAFA premierships, taking the club from Division 3 to Premier C between 2013 and 2016.

There’s also been stints at Phillip Island, Barwon Heads, Strathmore, Old Xavierians, St Kevin’s, director of footy at Xavier College, Northern Blues and several junior clubs.

“Some years I’ve coached two teams, some years I’ve coached three teams and in 2021 I coached four teams – two on Saturday, two on Sunday,” he said.

Kew finished seventh in Division 1 this season with eight wins.

At West Preston-Lakeside, co-captain Max Dreher was a shinning light this season, earning Team of the Year honours.

Stepping up from Division 3, where he won back-to-back league best-and-fairests, Chris Ryall had an outstanding season, while Ahmed Saad kicked 35 goals in 13 games returning from a knee reconstruction.

Aitken revealed he coached Dreher in under-13s at Kew.

However, the Roosters have seen several key players depart already, including premiership heroes Saad, Alex Federico and Mark Kovacevic and Richmond VFL-listed forward Mo Yassine.

The club hopes Aitken’s arrival can solidify the playing group and help attract talented young players keen to learn under his tutelage.

“They had a tough year with injuries and have had some players leave,” Aitken said.

“Finishing ninth, there’s going to be plenty of hard work.

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“The expectation is to get in front of the group and have a chat.

“I want to retain our under-19s, who played in a prelim, and make sure they understand there’s a lot of opportunities for them in their development.

“That’s part of the reason they wanted me to do the job because I’ve got a track record of developing players.”

Fellow former Northern Blues assistant Ross Gemmell has signed on as senior assistant coach.