Mentone Junior Football Club only had a short life before merging to become part of the St Bedes/Mentone Tigers Amateur Football Club. It was the work of the local community, most of whom are not around to detail it’s infancy. Betty Edwards was part of the initial group who founded the Club and her two sons, Darren and Dean, were part of the inaugural teams. Betty was the heart and soul of the Club. Billy Earle Junior also played in those early days.
The Club was originally part of the Chelsea Districts Junior Football League which eventually joined with the Moorabbin Saints Junior Football League, now the SMJFL. There wasn’t a great deal of early success as numbers were small and big defeats occurred often.
I became involved in 1980 when my son, Chris Meyer, played under 9’s. I took over coaching the under 9’s the following year. We won an under 9 Lightening Premiership in 1982 and followed up with many more the following years.
Amongst the noticeable players I coached during that era were Andrew Hayes, Justin Sebire, Paul Burke, Michael, Sam & Matthew Hecker, and David Kinsella, to name but a few. Other early coaches were Ted Burke and Brian Carroll.
Significant contributions were made not only by Betty Edwards but also Alistar Law, the Wilson family, Frank Tesoriero, Bill Firth, John Scullin, Howard Groves and Chris Falkinham.
Prepared: John Meyer