About
Our Club
Lennox Head Football Club (LHFC) is a family friendly club with over 750 playing members and nearly 75 teams. Formed in 1978 with 4 teams, it has grown into the largest club in Northern NSW. The club competes in the Football Far North Coast (FFNC) competition which covers from Woodburn in the south to Pottsville in the north and as far west as Kyogle and Casino. This takes in the larger townships of Lismore, Ballina and Byron Bay.
The non-competitive teams, which represent about half of our club, are grouped into smaller more local leagues and generally cover from Ballina to Byron Bay and inland to Alstonville.
History
Lennox Head Soccer Club was formed for the start of the 1978 season with Alan Kitchen, President, Ralph Weatherly, Secretary and Tim Crawford as Treasurer. We fielded Under 6, Under 8 and Under 11 divisions and also had a Women’s team. All junior teams played by senior rules with 11 players taking the field and playing on full size fields. Our first games were played at Lennox Head Public School and when our senior men started in 1979 they played at Cawarra Park in Ballina.
The first year we played in purple and white which were Ballina team colours and were loaned to us by Ballina Club. 1979 saw our own club colours of orange and black eventuate.
As our club grew we then went to Lake Ainsworth Sport and Recreation Club to play on their fields. Our first canteen was a dilapidated caravan that Jim Monoghan and crew towed to our home games and was run by the senior boys until Brenda Zakaras took over. Williams Reserve was then allocated as our sporting grounds and all parents and players alike were seen picking out the broken glass that was delivered with the top dressing. What fun!!!!!!!
Our next clubhouse was the little cottage which was donated from the beachfront. It had to be removed within three days so all hands were on deck and it was ours. We held many a meeting by candlelight before the power was put on. The toilet and dressing rooms left a lot to be desired. After a lot of community effort the present clubhouse on Williams Reserve was opened and we had great facilities. We thought-what luxury. After many years we were back to operating out of a container on Skennars Head fields as we had outgrown Williams Reserve and by then a lot of other sporting codes needed to use the fields. Thanks to Dave Oke and his tireless workers we now are in our present clubhouse. Our next venture is to build the second level on the existing level. This will require major fundraising and effort.
Our first premiership went to the Under 6 team in 1979 when ,after extra time and no result a penalty shoot out was taken. Lennox were victorious but what a lot of pressure for these little guys.
In 1980 Terry Stockham took over the coaching of our senior team and they won the first senior premiership. Unfortunately our women’s team went into recess for a number of years until it was formed again several years ago.
Our first junior to play all through the junior grades and then into seniors (had a few years off to attend Uni) and then into our Premier Teams, Adrian Zakaras has been club President and many other roles along the way and is still actively involved in the club.
Adrian is also the longest playing member of our club, having signed in 1983 and still playing (Close run 2nd is Dave Greiner who also joined in 1983, but retired from playing a couple of years back).
Life Members
Our club has been built on the result of hard work of many people. Some have gone beyond the call of duty and contributed enormously to the club which the club has recognized with life membership. Lennox Head Football Club is proud to acknowledge the valuable contribution that the following Life Members have made to the club.
| 1992 | Jim Monaghan |
| 1995 | Brenda Zakaras |
| 1997 | Paul Schrieber (deceased) |
| 2009 | Peter Taylor |
| Christine Greiner (deceased) | |
| Dave Oke | |
| 2011 | Adrian Zakaras |
| David Greiner | |
| 2023 | Thaya Evenden |
| Steve Ranyard | |
| Katrina Warren |
The fact that the club has existed for nearly 45 years and there are only a small number of life members demonstrates the criteria set for awarding this honour.
Our Goals
- To promote a fun, safe and fair environment for as many children and adults as possible, regardless of ability, to experience the positive aspects of participation in a team sport through playing football
To make participation in football an enjoyable experience and to promote and uphold the ideals of sportsmanship and fair play within the club, entailing respect for all those involved - To operate in a way that encourages family and community involvement
- Within the constraints of the club’s resources to:
– Provide the highest quality football instruction and coaching
– Provide the highest quality environment, opportunities and pathway for junior players to progress to playing football at higher levels