Continuing on from yesterday's Victorian Premier League preview for 2009, the team that scraped into last year's final series will be out to make an improvement on their 2008 efforts. 'As one of Victoria's proudest football clubs, Preston Lions have commenced their 50th anniversary celebrations with a summer of upheaval, losing favourite son and senior coach John Markovski barely a month before season kick-off.

'The key departures resulting from the summer player exodus read like a VPL all-star team since the turn of the century. Lou Acevski, Les Anastasiou, Johnny Sapazovski, Nick Schwal and Tony Sterjovski, take with them over 1,200 games of top flight experience, not to mention the core leadership group of the 2008 playing roster.

'Early signs in January indicated a club in turmoil, however the swift appointment of Zoran Trajcevski as head coach has allowed some time for foundations to be laid, and should he gain the confidence of the dressing room, there is enough talent at his disposal to ensure that 2009 will be remembered for more than just a celebration of the club's rich heritage.'

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