IN A MAJOR coup for the Loddon Valley league, Inglewood has signed Carlton premiership player Ian Aitken as senior assistant coach for 2026.
Aitken, who won a flag with the Blues in his first season of senior football in 1987 and was named the league’s Rookie of the Year, will assist new coach Jackson Hood, who takes over from Fergus Payne next season.
As a 19-year-old, Aitken was a key figure in the infamous ‘Battle of Britain’ between Carlton and North Melbourne in that same year, when an exhibition match in London descended into mayhem.
While tussling with North’s Donald McDonald, Aitken was king hit from behind by Alastair Clarkson, later premiership coach of Hawthorn, and had his jaw broken, sparking an all-in brawl.
Clarkson was suspended for four matches as a result of the incident, one of seven players reported in the match.
Aitken played 61 games with Carlton before joining St Kilda for a season in 1992.
He coached VAFA team Kew to three consecutive flags and divisional promotions from 2013-15 and for the past two seasons was senior coach of West Preston Lakeside in Melbourne’s Northern league.
Inglewood, which celebrates its 150th season next year, has looked within its own ranks for a new coach, appointing Hood, who was Payne’s senior assistant this season and shared backline duties with him for much of the year.
Payne’s three-year tenure with the Woodies ended despite leading the team to its best finish in more than 20 years.
Inglewood beat Bears Lagoon Serpentine and Pyramid Hill in the finals before losing to eventual premiers Marong in the preliminary final.
Key defender Hood joined the club this season from Castlemaine in the Bendigo league, where he was captain and assistant coach, and appeared in 10 matches, being named in the best players four times, including two of the finals.
He had three stints with Castlemaine as a player or coach – in 2010-11, from 2014-17 and from 2019-24.
Hood has also played with Blackburn in the Melbourne suburban Eastern league, in the VAFA with University Blues and with Newstead in the Maryborough Castlemaine District league.
Before parting ways with Inglewood, Payne confirmed to the Loddon Herald that he was an applicant for the senior coaching role but was in limbo as he waited for a response from the Woodies’ board.
“I’m not really sure what the club is looking to do,” he said.
It is understood Payne was the only coaching candidate when applications closed. He was unavailable when contacted for comment this week.
President Darrell Billett said that Payne had been offered a new contract last Friday but later told the club he would relinquish the reins. 
“We have a good young group of players, we are close (to going further in future) and next year is a very important one for us. We want to get this right.”