LAST June, the Heywood Football Club achieved something its long-suffering supporters doubted would ever happen again. On a cool and overcast Saturday afternoon, the Lions, inspired by a band of ex-AFL recruits, defeated their arch-rival Portland for the first time since 1997.

After the final siren, people stood shoulder-to-shoulder in Heywood's social room. Wearing broad smiles, they partied long into the night.

During the following month, Heywood occupied a place in the Western Border league's top five. For a club that hasn't won a premiership since 1954, they were heady days.

Today, however, the Lions are back on the bottom of the ladder. Less than a year after being considered a chance to win the flag, the club finds itself unable to field a reserves team. ''The club's at the crossroads,'' admits Heywood president Michael Bell. ''When we've got young blokes who live in town not playing for the town, it's an issue.''

Heywood is one of the most unsuccessful clubs in the VCFL, its senior team having made just three appearances in the finals in the past four decades (1972, 1989 and 1996). A frequent wooden-spooner, the Lions lost 43 consecutive matches by the end of the 2009 season.

Not wanting to contemplate a step down to a district league, members of Heywood's committee embarked on a recruiting drive. They began by signing Brad Sinclair to be the Lions' new senior coach. A football journeyman, Sinclair had previously led Gippsland side Nilma Darnum to its first flag in more than half a century, before falling out with that club's management.

Triple Brisbane Lions premiership player Mal Michael, who had played under Sinclair at Nilma Darnum, also agreed to join Heywood. He then convinced his former Collingwood teammates Brad Fuller and Brad Smith, along with ex-Essendon forward Courtney Johns, to do the same.

Along with hefty match payments, Heywood promised to fly the quartet from Melbourne down to the south-west every weekend. There was little doubt that funding the whole operation was going to be a challenge.

''Our revenue comes from sponsorship, membership and catering. We have no other outlet for income,'' Heywood's then-president David Gordon explained last year. ''It's been a real battle just to keep the club alive. We've only got 1300 people in our town and half of them are aged over 60.''

During the early stages of the 2010 season, the risky approach paid off. Johns kicked 11 goals in round two when the Lions broke their losing streak with a big win over Hamilton Imperials. The victory left a number of Heywood supporters crying tears of joy as the players sang the club song.

By the time Portland took on Heywood in early June, a wave of anticipation had gripped the town. Such was the interest in the clash, the gate that day topped $11,000, more than is taken at many Western Border league finals matches. The hundreds of people standing on ''Can Hill'' roared their approval as the Lions won by 43 points.

But the experiment soon fell apart. The first blow came when Smith, who had been playing very well, badly injured his knee. Only a few days later, the club revealed it was struggling to pay its bills.

While the imported players were willing to renegotiate their contracts, the financial problems caused a breakdown in the relationship between Sinclair and Heywood's committee. Things became so bad that Sinclair was sacked with one home-and-away match still to play. Michael, Johns and Fuller all fronted up for that last game against North Gambier, but the Lions were thrashed by 15 goals and missed the finals yet again.

There was worse to come. A couple of months after the ex-AFL players cut ties with the club, around 20 local lads did the same. Many signed with neighbouring district league teams like Branxholme-Wallacedale, Dartmoor and Tyrendarra.

Just a few weeks before the opening of the 2011 season, Heywood had fewer than 30 open-age players on its books. When the WBFL delegates met in March, the Lions announced they would not be able to field a reserves team this year.

''We've lost so many good, strong Western Border footballers out to the district league,'' despairs Bell. ''We invested in the big-name players to encourage our local players to challenge themselves to be better, and a lot of our young blokes really developed last year. We hoped they'd be ready to step up again, but instead we've had a mass walkout.''

So far, it's been a tough campaign for the kids and veterans who have run out in Heywood's senior team. The Lions were competitive in round one, going down to Casterton by just 36 points, but in round two they kicked only two goals as South Gambier piled on 25. The following week they fronted up against East Gambier without their inspirational coach and ruckman Shane Keegan, who was unable to play due to illness. East made the most of Keegan's absence by kicking a club-record score of 40.14 (254).

For senior games involving Heywood this season both sides are allowed to have five players on their interchange bench, but as Bell explains, ''We've been lucky to have 23 players available each weekend. We couldn't get any closer to the bone than what we are right now.''

Whether Heywood can regain enough strength to maintain its position in the Western Border league remains to be seen. But for the folk keeping the Lions in operation, it's not all doom and gloom. Contrary to popular belief, the club isn't broke. ''The club is in a sound financial position,'' says WBFL chief executive David Heard. ''They actually recorded a $6000 profit last year.''

Heywood is also trying to bring through a new generation of players, and on that front there has already been some success. The Lions' under-18 team lifted many people's spirits by defeating South Gambier in round two.

Bell hopes the effort to rebuild Heywood's local support will get another boost in two weeks' time when 2001 Brownlow medallist Jason Akermanis is scheduled to make a guest appearance for the Lions against Millicent. While it seems ironic that a club brought to its knees by its pursuit of ex-AFL stars is turning to another gun for hire, the president is unfazed.

''I still think it was worth bringing in the AFL boys last year,'' Bell says. ''We wanted to change the club and change our losing culture. At the end of it there was a bit of self-destruction, but we doubled our turnover and we've got resources to try and go forward. But if we can't challenge ourselves to keep young people playing sport then it could get worse than where we're at right now.''

By Adam McNicol

Article first appeared The Sunday Age, May 1 2011

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