| Fitzroy Football Club | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Names | ||||
| Full name | Fitzroy Football Club (incorporating the Fitzroy Reds) | |||
| Nickname(s) | Roys,Roy Boys,Reds,Roy Girls | |||
| Former nickname(s) | Maroons (1883–1938) Gorillas (1938–1957) Lions (1957–1996) | |||
| Club details | ||||
| Founded | 26 September 1883; 142 years ago (1883-09-26)[a][1] | |||
| Colours | Red Blue Yellow[2] | |||
| Competition | VAFA: Premier VAFAW: Premier B | |||
| President | David Leydon | |||
| Coach | VAFA: Travis Ronaldson VAFAW: Nathan Jumeau | |||
| Captain(s) | VAFA: Julian Turner VAFAW: Steph Pitt | |||
| Premierships | VFA (1)VFL/AFL (8)VAFA (1) | |||
| Ground | Brunswick Street Oval | |||
| Uniforms | ||||
| ||||
| Other information | ||||
| Official website | fitzroyfc.com.au | |||
TheFitzroy Football Club is anAustralian rules football club currently competing in theVictorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA). Formed in 1883 to represent the inner-Melbourne municipality ofFitzroy, the club is based at theW. T. Peterson Community Oval inFitzroy North. The club nickname is theRoys, having previously been theMaroons (until 1938),Gorillas (1938–1957) andLions (1957–1996). Since 1975, the club's colours have been red, blue and gold.
Fitzroy was established as a member of theVictorian Football Association (VFA), winning one premiership in that competition. In 1897, it was a foundation member of the breakawayVictorian Football League (VFL), the highest senior professional league in Victoria and later, as theAustralian Football League (AFL), in Australia. Fitzroy was one of the most successful clubs over the league's first three decades, contesting 19 finals series and winning a league-high seven premierships in that time. However, success was limited thereafter, and its last seventy years yielded only one premiership from eleven finals appearances. The club suffered persistent financial losses through the 1980s and 1990s, culminating in being placed into administration in1996, and its AFL operations were merged into those of theBrisbane Bears, who became theBrisbane Lions from 1997.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
Fitzroy came out of administration in 1998, and formed sponsor partnerships with local amateur clubs over the next ten years. Since 2009, the club has competed in the VAFA in its own right, and as of 2025 plays in the Premier B division.
The Fitzroy Football Club was formed at a meeting at the Brunswick Hotel, Fitzroy on 26 September 1883, at a time whenMelbourne's population was rapidly increasing. TheVictorian Football Association (VFA) made changes to their rules, allowing Fitzroy to join as the seventh club in 1884, playing in the maroon and blue colours of the local Normanby Junior Football Club.
They quickly became one of the most successful clubs, drawing large crowds to their home at theBrunswick Street Oval inEdinburgh Gardens, and consistently in the top four and winning the VFA premiership in 1895.[9]
Fitzroy's season-by-season records throughout its thirteen seasons at VFA level are given below. (Under VFA rules at the time, only goals were counted to the total team score).[10][11]
| Season | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | For | Against |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1884 | 16 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 27 | 29 |
| 1885 | 19 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 51 | 51 |
| 1886 | 20 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 66 | 44 |
| 1887 | 20 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 71 | 56 |
| 1888 | 18 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 64 | 71 |
| 1889 | 20 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 86 | 66 |
| 1890 | 18 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 44 | 51 |
| 1891 | 19 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 70 | 70 |
| 1892 | 21 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 141 | 63 |
| 1893 | 21 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 114 | 84 |
| 1894 | 18 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 75 | 60 |
| 1895 | 18 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 77 | 47 |
| 1896 | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 89 | 59 |
| Total | 254 | 140 | 84 | 30 | 1097 | 787 |
In 1897, Fitzroy were one of the eight clubs who broke away from the VFA to form theVictorian Football League (VFL).
Despite winning only four games and finishing sixth in the first season, the Maroons, as they were then known, won the premiership the following year, winning the VFL's first "Grand Final" againstEssendon. Fitzroy was the most successful club in the first 10 years of the VFL, winning four premierships and finishing runners-up on three occasions. Despite internal problems after the 1906 season which led to the players and set the club back for several seasons, the 1913 team won the flag after winning 16 of 18 matches in the home-and-away season, earning the nickname "Unbeatables". In contrast, the 1916 Fitzroy team only won 2 home-and-away matches and finished last in a competition reduced by the effects of World War I to four teams. All four teams qualified for the finals, and Fitzroy won their next three games to win one of the strangest VFL premierships; this is the first and only time a club that finished last on the ladder won the premiership in the same year.
The Maroons won their seventh premiership in 1922, a season which included four very rough games against eventual runners-upCollingwood. However, after this their fortunes waned, and they did not make the finals at all from 1925 to 1942. During this time, highlights for the club were individual achievements of their players, especiallyHaydn Bunton Sr. Originally a source of controversy, lured to Fitzroy with an illegal £222 payment, and subsequently not allowed to play in the 1930 season, Bunton became one of the game's greatest players, winning threeBrownlow Medals while at Fitzroy. Brownlow Medals were also won byWilfred Smallhorn andDinny Ryan, whileJack Moriarty set many goalkicking records. It was during this time that the Maroons became known as the Gorillas.
Football was less affected by World War II than it had been in 1916, and by 1944 was starting to return to its normal level. It was in this year, under captain-coachFred Hughson, that the Gorillas won their eighth VFL flag againstRichmond in front of a capacity crowd atJunction Oval.
However, it was also to be their last senior premiership, as the club, which became known as the Lions in 1957, entered one of the least successful periods any VFL/AFL club has had. The club finished in the bottom three 11 times in the 1960s and 1970s, including threewooden spoons in four years between 1963 and 1966. The club won only a single game throughout 1963 and 1964 – known as theMiracle Match when it defeated eventual premiersGeelong in Round 10, 1963 – but its 1964 season waswinless, and as of 2023 stands as the only winless season by any club in the men's competition since 1950. Nevertheless, the club continued to produce great individual players over this period, including Brownlow MedallistsAllan Ruthven andKevin Murray.
By the mid-1960s, Fitzroy's traditional home ground, the Brunswick Street Oval was in a state of disrepair. However, the ground managers were the Fitzroy Cricket Club. The Football Club had to pay the Cricket Club to use the ground. Despite pressure from the Lions and other VFL clubs, the Cricket Club refused to make the needed upgrades. The Fitzroy City Council, despite repeated requests from the Football Club, also refused to help, even rejecting the idea of a $400,000 loan to Fitzroy Football Club, and a 40-year lease[12] of the ground so they could make some repairs.
The football club put forward various ideas to try and change the situation, including the amalgamation of the Football and Cricket Clubs to form one club as in the manner of the Carlton Social Club. The Cricket Club held the liquor licence and managed the ground, and it was thought that a combined club could more efficiently manage funds. With a stake in the ground, the football club could have better agitated for improvements to the ground by sourcing funds from other organisations such as the VFL. However, the Cricket Club rejected the idea outright. The club also considered leaving Brunswick Street, and in 1962 it appealed to thePreston Council for a 40-year lease of thePreston City Oval, which was rejected.[13]
It was only when the Council Health Officer condemned the change rooms at the Brunswick Street Oval in 1966 and negotiations broke down between the council, (who offered a 21-year lease) and the football club, that the Fitzroy Football Club was forced to find another ground. They had held discussions with the Northcote and Preston VFA clubs and also had approached the Heidelberg Council about relocating to the Olympic Training Ground.[14] From 1967 to 1969, the club moved their home games to Carlton'sPrinces Park while keeping their training and administration at the Brunswick Street Oval. Further problems with the Cricket Club and the high cost of rent imposed by Carlton saw Fitzroy move to theJunction Oval in 1970, where they had a short-lived promising start to the decade.[15] This was followed by a night premiership win in 1978 and a then-League-record score of 36.22 (238) and greatest winning margin of 190 points in 1979. However, Fitzroy's most significant post-war success was in the early '80s, when the Lions made the finals four times, culminating in a preliminary final appearance in 1986. This success occurred under the coaching ofRobert Walls andDavid Parkin, with players such as 1981 Brownlow MedallistBernie Quinlan, Ron Alexander,Garry Wilson,Gary Pert andPaul Roos.[16]
The club was evicted from Junction Oval at the end of 1984 after a fifteen-year tenure, and entered another nomadic period of existence.[17] It played its home games atVictoria Park, sharing it withCollingwood in 1985 and 1986, then atPrinces Park, sharing it withCarlton from 1987 until 1993; In 1994, Fitzroy then began playing its home matches at theWestern Oval, sharing the venue withFootscray, as it sought a better financial arrangement than it had received at its previous home Princes Park.[18] and over the same time it moved through several different training and administrative bases, spending time first at theNorthcote Park inNorthcote,[19] then laterLake Oval inSouth Melbourne and Bulleen Park inBulleen.[20][21][22]
Talk of the death of the club due to financial troubles occurred as early as 1986. In 1989 the directors agreed to amalgamation with equally troubledFootscray to form theFitzroy Bulldogs, but a fightback from Footscray supporters, in which almost two million dollars was raised in three weeks, averted the merger. At other times, joining withMelbourne or relocating toBrisbane was suggested. As well as trying several fund-raising ventures, the Lions experimented with playing four home matches inTasmania in 1991 and 1992 to avoid a takeover bid by the Brisbane Bears[23] but lost money in the process. In 1994, the club moved its home matches toWestern Oval, its fourth match-day home ground in 10 years. Amid uncertainties about the financial future of the club, its on-field performances continued to deteriorate, to the point where the Lions finished last by a long way in 1995 and 1996, winning just three matches in those seasons combined. With financial and on–field performance issues plaguing the club and withPort Adelaide due to enter the AFL in 1997 requiring a team to either merge or fold to make way for them, the writing for Fitzroy was on the wall.
On 28 June 1996, theNauru Insurance Company, a creditor of the Fitzroy Football Club, appointed Michael Brennan to administer the affairs of the Fitzroy Football Club to ensure a loan ofA$1.25 million was to be repaid. During the 1996 season, there were fears that the club would collapse in mid-season due to its lack of cash. This was averted when theAFL guaranteed funds to Fitzroy to allow the club to continue in the competition for the remainder of 1996.
Fitzroy had been in merger discussions with several teams, but discussions were most advanced withNorth Melbourne. By the beginning of July 1996, the club had agreed to arrangements to become theNorth Fitzroy Kangaroos Football Club. Negotiations for elements such as club colours, guernsey and song were to be settled by the morning of 4 July by the Fitzroy board.
However, later that afternoon the administrator of Fitzroy, who had been appointed to temporarily replace the Fitzroy board, agreed to merge the club's AFL operations with theBrisbane Bears, with the agreement of the AFL commission and a majority vote of the AFL's constituent clubs.[22] The Brisbane Bears would then change their name to Brisbane Bears-Fitzroy Football Club (trading asBrisbane Lions), playing atThe Gabba in the Brisbane suburb ofWoolloongabba. The arrangement ensured that all creditors were repaid, at least eight Fitzroy players were to be selected by the Brisbane Lions before the 1996 National Draft and three Fitzroy representatives were to be on Brisbane's 11-member board. None of the three Fitzroy representatives,Laurie Serafini, David Lucas and Ken Levy, chosen to serve on Brisbane's board, were Fitzroy directors at that time.[22][24][25]
Those involved have different opinions on why the merger with North Melbourne was rejected, despite negotiations being so far advanced and indeed concluded on the morning of 4 July. The other AFL club presidents rejected the North Melbourne-Fitzroy merger by a vote of 14–1. It was commonly thought, and claimed by then Richmond president Leon Daphne, that an all-Victorian merge would create a superteam with on-field and off-field strength out of all proportion to the rest of the league. Not only would North Melbourne go on to win the 1996 premiership, the merged team had proposed to take a 50-player senior list into the 1997 season. This is compared with the Brisbane Lions bid, which proposed a 44-player senior list for 1997, and did not have the potential off-field strength of an all-Victorian merge. Then North Melbourne CEOGreg Miller has accused the AFL of contriving the two bids in this manner to manufacture a result which would fulfil its strategic direction to strengthen the game in Queensland. Additionally, then North Melbourne vice-president Peter de Rauch believes that his club's decision not to include Fitzroy president Dyson Hore-Lacy on the board of the merged club was a catalyst for the temporary unravelling of negotiations between the clubs, allowing the appointment of the administrator and keeping the Brisbane Bears involved in negotiations.[26]
During this time, senior coachMick Nunan resigned after Fitzroy's game against Essendon on 6 July and was replaced byAlan McConnell for his second stint in just twelve months. With eight rounds to go until the end of the season, Fitzroy's on field performances continued to deteriorate to the point where the team was thrashed week in, week out. In Round 21, 48,884 people attended theMelbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on 25 August 1996 for Fitzroy's last ever game inMelbourne as part of the AFL competition. They witnessed the Lions being defeated by 151 points, the second greatest loss in the club's history: Richmond 28.19 (187) defeated Fitzroy 5.6 (36). The club played its final VFL/AFL game the following week on 1 September againstFremantle atSubiaco Oval, losing by 86 points.[22]
The original Fitzroy Football Club came out of administration after its AFL operations were absorbed by Brisbane, in late 1998. The shareholders voted to continue the club, and Fitzroy then developed a partnership with theCoburg Lions in theVFL. Coburg were known as the Coburg-Fitzroy Lions for just over a season (from August 1999 until the end of 2000).
Bill Atherton[27] and John Guest[28][29] (of whom the latter has historical family ties to theNorth Melbourne Football Club and who was also a fan of Fitzroy and Coburg), joined the board as directors of the Coburg Football Club. This club traded as Coburg-Fitzroy Lions in 1999-2000 to advance the Fitzroy's partnership with Coburg. However, when Coburg entered into anaffiliation with the AFL'sRichmond Football Club, the Fitzroy connection was abandoned. John Guest's father, Jack Guest, played previously reserves for Fitzroy[30][31] and for the reserves and thirds team as a schoolboy for Carlton.[32][33][34] John Guest's son, Robert Guest, went on to play in the 2005 premiership for Fitzroy Reds defeating Old Mentonians in the BI reserve section of the VAFA.[35][36]
Fitzroy began a sponsorship arrangement with theFitzroy Reds (formerly University Reds) in theVictorian Amateur Football Association and the Fitzroy Junior Football Club in theYarra Junior Football League. Both wear the old Fitzroy jumper, play the old theme song, and play from Brunswick Street Oval in the heart of Fitzroy. In December 2008, at the instigation of the then Fitzroy (University) Reds president Craig Little, the University Reds Football Club (known as the 'Fitzroy' Reds from 1997) transferred all its assets to the Fitzroy Football Club (formed 1883). The university (Fitzroy) Reds terminated its membership of the VAFA and was wound up as an incorporated company and football club. By special dispensation from the VAFA, the Fitzroy Football Club then replaced the Fitzroy [University] Reds in D1 of the VAFA from the 2009 season, fielding a senior and reserves side, as well as two Under-19 sides and a Club 18 side. All the teams were made up mainly of Fitzroy Reds personnel.[37] Dyson Hore-Lacy, chairman of Fitzroy in the AFL in 1996, automatically became chairman of the Club in the VAFA.
Fitzroy lost in the VAFA D1 Grand Final to Rupertswood in 2009, but as a Grand Finalist was promoted to C-Grade for the 2010 season. At the beginning of the 2011 season, Fitzroy appointed Tim Bell as their new senior coach following the resignation ofSimon Taylor.[38] Tim Bell resigned for personal reasons at the end of 2011 and assistant coachMichael Pickering, a former AFL player with the Richmond and Melbourne Football Clubs was appointed as coach for the 2012 season.[38] Having reached the Premier C Grand Final at the end of 2012 season, Fitzroy was promoted to Premier B for season 2013 which coincided with the club's 130th birthday.
In 2015 the club initiated in a partnership with theAustralian Catholic University to start fielding a women's team in theVWFL under the name of Fitzroy-ACU. They played their debut season in the same year.The interest grew after the first year of women's Fitzroy footy, growing numbers within the women's league. This enabled the club to enter another women's team into the VWFL, in the North West division.Both teams were hoping to make finals in 2016.
In2018, Fitzroy won both the VAFA Premier C and the VAFA Premier C reserves grand finals.[39]
Fitzroy Football Club improved its relationship with the Brisbane Lions in the ten years from 1999 to 2009. Brisbane have used the letters BBFFC printed below the back of the neck of the club's guernseys from 2002[40] to reflect the members vote to change their club's name to Brisbane Bears-Fitzroy Football Club (trading as Brisbane Lions) towards the end of 1996, in accordance with the Deed of Arrangement between Fitzroy Football Club and Brisbane Bears.[41] In 2003, the then-Fitzroy Reds played the curtain-raiser at the MCG when the Brisbane Lions met the Collingwood Magpies in theAFL Heritage Round, and from 2008 Brisbane started wearing a version of Fitzroy's AFL guernsey with red instead of maroon in most matches played inVictoria, consistent with Fitzroy's most recent colours.[42][43]
Relationships between Fitzroy and Brisbane were strained in late 2009, when Brisbane announced that it was adopting a new logo for season 2010 and beyond, which contravened Section 7.2 c) of the Deed of Arrangement between Fitzroy and Brisbane. The new logo, a lion's head facing forward, replaced the former Fitzroy logo of apassant lion with a football.
On 22 December 2009, Fitzroy lodged a Statement of Claim with the Supreme Court of Victoria, seeking an order that the Brisbane Lions be restrained from using as its logo, the new logo or any other logo other than 'the Fitzroy lion logo',[38] in line with Brisbane's legal obligations as specified in the Deed of Arrangement, including their obligation to use the Fitzroy logo in perpetuity. On 15 July 2010, the two clubs reached a settlement, agreeing that the Fitzroy logo symbolically represents the historic deal between Brisbane and Fitzroy, and represents the Brisbane Lions in the AFL. Fitzroy agreed to a compromise whereby Brisbane would use both the old and new logos alongside each other in an official capacity for the next 14 years on all official club stationery and club publications, as well as the Lions' official website for the shorter period of seven years.[44][45][46][47]
After immense pressure from both Brisbane and Fitzroy fans, Brisbane returned to using the old logo on its playing guernseys from 2015, but the new logo will remain for corporate purposes.[48][49]
Brisbane have since maintained and renewed strong ties with Fitzroy. They sponsor a male and female Fitzroy player each year, conduct coaching workshops for Fitzroy, frequently invite the Fitzroy juniors to form a guard of honour for Victorian games, have many Fitzroy past players and representatives as elected board members, and both celebrate a long and rich shared history.[50]
| Year | Major Sponsor | Shorts Sponsor | Bottom Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | IOOF | - | - |
| 1979 | Amco | ||
| 1980–81 | Nanda | ||
| 1982 | Cleanaway | ||
| 1983–84 | Darlington Investment Services | ||
| 1985–86 | James Hardie Spicers | ||
| 1987–92 | Quit | ||
| 1993 | Quit | ||
| 1994 | Solo | Rositas | |
| 1995 | Sport Plus | Biztel | |
| 1996 | Clipsal |
| Premierships | |||
| Competition | Level | Wins | Years won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victorian Football League/ Australian Football League | Seniors(1897–1996) | 8 | 1898,1899,1904,1905,1913,1916,1922,1944 |
| Reserves(1919–1996) | 3 | 1944,1974,1989 | |
| Under 19s(1946–1991) | 2 | 1955,1982 | |
| Victorian Football Association/ Victorian Football League | Seniors(1884–1896) | 1 | 1895 |
| Victorian Amateur Football Association | Seniors(2009–present) | 1 | 2018 (C-Grade) |
| Reserves(2009–present) | 2 | 2018 (C-Grade), 2025 (B-Grade) | |
| Other titles and honours | |||
| Victorian Football League Night Series/ Australian Football League Night Series | Seniors | 2 | 1959,1978 |
| Finishing positions | |||
| Victorian Football League/ Australian Football League | Minor premiership | 4 | 1899,1900,1904,1913 |
| Grand Finalist | 5 | 1900,1903,1906,1917,1923 | |
| Wooden spoons | 7 | 1936,1963,1964,1966,1980,1995,1996 | |
| Victorian Amateur Football Association | Grand Finalist (Seniors) | 2 | 2009 (D-Grade), 2012 (C-Grade) |
| B: | Luci Murphy | Claudia Bell | Jessica Hayes |
| HB: | Lucy Kerr | Lauren Atkinson | Sarah Lynas |
| C: | Gina Bennett | Lex Madden (vc) | Sunday Brisbane |
| HF: | Alice Batterton | Erin Gogerly | Alex Monacella |
| F: | Ruby Condon | Liz Olney | Hilary Collett |
| Foll: | Tash Ross-Harris | Gemma Minuz (c) | Teresa Zampaglione |
| Int: | Cass Blake (vc) | Mia Sutherland | Tess Young |
| Bianca Maes | Amelie Lay | Jaime Nelson |
SeeFitzroy FC honour roll for list of winners 1884–1996.
| Win–loss record: | Played: 1928 | Won: 869, Lost: 1034, Drawn: 25 |
| Highest score: | 238 points (36.22) | vMelbourne FC, Round 17 28 July 1979 |
| Lowest score: | 6 points (1.0) | vFootscray FC, Round 5 23 May 1953 |
| Greatest winning margin: | 190 points | vMelbourne FC, Round 17 28 July 1979 |
| Greatest losing margin: | 157 points | vHawthorn FC, Round 6 28 April 1991 |
| Longest winning streak: | 14 games | Round 10 16 July 1898 to Round 4 27 May 1899 |
| Longest losing streak: | 27 games | Round 11 20 July 1963 to Round 1 17 April 1965 |
| Most games played: | 333 | Kevin Murray 1955–1964 & 1967–1974 |
| Most goals scored: | 626 | Jack Moriarty 1924–1933 |
| Most Best & Fairests: | 9 | Kevin Murray 1956, 1958, 1960–64, 1968–69 |
Throughout its history, Fitzroy had multiple colours and kits, in conjunction with the changing of its nicknames.[53]
    1883–1907 |   1908–1941 |  1942–1955 |  1956–1973 |   1974–1996 | 2009–present |
The Fitzroy Football Club song is sung to the tune of "La Marseillaise",the French national anthem.Bill Stephen wrote the lyrics on an end-of-season football trip to Perth in 1952.[54]
We are the boys from old Fitzroy,
we wear the colours maroon and blue,
we will always fight for victory,
and we'll always see it through,
win or lose, we do or die,
in defeat, we always try,
Fitzroy, Fitzroy,
the club we hold so dear,
premiers, we'll be this year!
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