 Gillon went on to become the VFA's longest-serving president, serving unopposed for 27 seasons from 1954 until 1980, and exceeding the 25-year tenure of J. G. Aikman (1903–1928).In 1981, with the VFA's success of the 1970s beginning to wane and many clubs believing a new direction was required, Gillon was challenged for the presidency and defeated by Alan Wickes.Five years later, Gillon returned as part of the Football Organisation Review Team (FORT), which was formed in 1986 by Wickes' successor, Brook Andersen, to develop a new strategy for the VFA in a changing Victorian football market; the FORT's controversial report, which sought to rationalise the VFA to 12 teams, was rejected by the clubs but was instrumental in shaping the natural contraction of the VFA in the late 1980s.