EAST Keilor’s campaign to bounce back into the Essendon District Football League (EDFL) A Grade competition received a boost when former premiership coach Peter Baxter committed as senior coach for 2007.
Baxter took the Cougars to their 1994 A Grade premiership – their first and only in the top division.
Now he has the unenviable task of rebuilding the club’s playing stocks after it fell back to B Grade.
After representing Avondale Heights in the EDFL, Baxter played 23 games for Footscray in the Victorian Football League in the late 1980s.
Most recently he was a crucial off-field component of Strathmore’s back-to-back A Grade flags, before taking the opportunity to return to Overland Reserve upon Shane Keogh’s departure.
According to 2006 club president Phil Brancatisano, Keogh left on good terms with the club, at which he had spent the past three seasons.
“His work ethic and his knowledge of football is second to none,” Brancatisano said.
“The work that he does behind the scenes is just amazing.”
East Keilor secured the services of Baxter after its annual general meeting two weeks ago.
“Peter will be really good for the young blokes,” Brancatisano said.
“He knows a lot of players too, which is what East Keilor needs. We need an influx of players at the moment.”
