[2] In 1981, as the club continued to grow, West Preston successfully applied to enter the Diamond Valley Football League (DVFL).

[2][3] The Reservoir-Lakeside Football Club, nicknamed the Lakies, was formed in 1947 and entered the DVFL the same year.

[2][4] On 23 March 1998, members of West Preston and Reservoir-Lakeside met and voted on a proposal to merge the clubs.

[5] The merged club had immediate success, missing out on the finals series by only one game in its first season.

[2] In 2018, West Preston Lakeside became the first NFL club to win men's and women's premierships in the same season, with grand final victories over Macleod and Montmorency respectively.