Len Fitzgerald

Last updated • 2 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Len Fitzgerald
Personal information
Date of birth(1929-05-07)7 May 1929
Date of death 17 April 2007(2007-04-17) (aged 77)
Place of death Adelaide
Original team(s) Collingwood Technical School
Height 183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 86 kg (190 lb)
Playing career1
YearsClubGames (Goals)
1945–1950 Collingwood 96 (49)
1951–1955, 1959–1962 Sturt 125 (201)
Representative team honours
YearsTeamGames (Goals)
Victoria 2
South Australia 20
Coaching career3
YearsClubGames (W–L–D)
1951–1955 Sturt
1963–1966 Glenelg
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1962.
3 Coaching statistics correct as of 1966.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Len Fitzgerald (7 May 1929 – 17 April 2007) was an Australian rules footballer of exceptional talent in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and South Australian National Football League (SANFL). At various time he played in the key positions of centre half-forward, centre half-back and ruck-rover.

Contents

VFL career

Fitzgerald started his career at Collingwood at the age of 15, in 1945. By 1950 he was an established key player with arguably the country's most illustrious sporting club. [1]

Move to SANFL

In 1951 he was lured to the Sturt Football Club in the South Australian competition.

Fitzgerald was clearly attracted to the offer of better paying employment proffered by Sturt. [1] One source has suggested however that the move was engineered by Collingwood powerbroker John Wren at the behest of a political ally in South Australia. [2]

SANFL career

Arriving at Sturt in 1951, Fitzgerald quickly made an impression, being appointed captain after three games, and took over the coaching role mid-season. In 1952 Fitzgerald dominated the League, winning his first Magarey Medal as the "fairest and most brilliant" player in the League. He was to win two more in 1954 and 1959.

Despite Fitzgerald's brilliance, Sturt was unable to secure a premiership. In 1955 Fitzgerald got Sturt to the preliminary final, but the club failed to honour a promise of a bonus. [2] Fitzgerald took himself to the Ovens and Murray League for the next three seasons, coaching and playing for Benalla.

When Fitzgerald returned to Sturt in 1959, he helped them to make the finals that year, the first time since his departure. Injuries began to take their toll on his playing and Fitzgerald finished his playing career in 1962 after playing 127 games for Sturt, kicking 201 goals and winning the club's best and fairest award three times. He represented his adopted State of South Australia 20 times and was named an All Australian in the 1953 Adelaide Carnival.

Fitzgerald coached Glenelg for three seasons after his retirement as a player, but with little success.

He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996 and the SANFL Hall of Fame in 2002, as one of the inaugural inductees in each.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell Ebert</span> Australian rules footballer (1949–2021)

Russell Frank Ebert was an Australian rules footballer and coach. He is considered one of the greatest players in the history of Australian rules football in South Australia. Ebert is the only player to have won four Magarey Medals, which are awarded to the best and fairest player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He is one of four Australian rules footballers to have a statue at Adelaide Oval, the others being Ken Farmer, Malcolm Blight and Barrie Robran. Football historian John Devaney described Ebert as coming "as close as any player in history to exhibiting complete mastery over all the essential skills of the game," and he is widely regarded as the Port Adelaide Football Club's greatest-ever player. Aside from his 392 games at Port Adelaide, Ebert played 25 games for North Melbourne in the 1979 VFL season and collected over 500 possessions as a midfielder for the club, which reached the preliminary final. Ebert was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, and he was posthumously elevated to Legend status in June 2022, the highest honour that can be bestowed onto an Australian footballer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenelg Football Club</span> Australian rules football team

The Glenelg Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or the Bays, is an Australian rules football team which plays in the South Australian National Football League. Their home ground is Stratarama Stadium, located in the southern coastal suburb of Glenelg East, South Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sturt Football Club</span> Australian rules football club

The Sturt Football Club, nicknamed The Double Blues, is a semi-professional Australian rules football club based in the suburb of Unley, South Australia, which plays in the South Australian National Football League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fos Williams</span> Australian rules footballer and coach

Foster Neil "Fos" Williams was a leading Australian rules footballer who played for and coached the Port Adelaide and West Adelaide Football Clubs and coached South Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) in a career spanning 1946–1978. He also played 34 interstate games for South Australia, captaining the team from 1954 to 1958 and he coached the team in 45 games from 1955 to 1969.

Phillip Carman is a former Australian rules footballer who represented Norwood in the SANFL and Collingwood, Melbourne, Essendon and North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1970s and 1980s.

Donald Neil Kerley was an Australian rules footballer and coach. He is best known for taking three clubs to four South Australian National Football League (SANFL) premierships over three decades as both a player and coach, and for playing 32 state games for South Australia.

Grantley Craig Fielke is a former Australian rules footballer who played for West Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), and the Collingwood Football Club and Adelaide Football Club in the Victorian/Australian Football League (VFL/AFL).

Dennis Keith "Fred" Phillis is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Glenelg Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).

Mark James Mickan is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Bears and Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Mickan began his senior career with South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club West Adelaide in 1981 and finished back at West Adelaide in 1994. All-Australian team selection in 1988 marked the pinnacle of his playing career. He has a sister, Patricia Mickan, who was a basketballer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Handby</span> Australian politician

Herbert Harry "Jim" Handby OBE was an Australian rules footballer who played in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) in the 1920s and 1930s, achieving several honours in recognition of his playing skills. He was later a federal Liberal politician and businessman.

Kym Hodgeman is a former Australian rules footballer best known for his playing career with Glenelg in the SANFL from 1974 - 1980 & secondly for a 5 year stint with North Melbourne in the Australian Football League (VFL) from 1981 - 1985, before he returned to Glenelg 1986 where tasted a premiership success, playing again with the Tigers until his retirement in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcus Boyall</span> Australian rules footballer

Marcus Boyall was an Australian rules footballer best known for his playing career with Victorian Football League (VFL) club Collingwood and South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club Glenelg in the 1930s and 1940s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Scott (Australian footballer)</span> Australian rules footballer and coach

Walter "Wacka" or "Wat" Scott was an Australian rules footballer who represented Norwood in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) during the early 20th century. Scott was a high marking defender who had a large influence during a very successful part of the Norwood Football Club's history.

Rick Davies is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Sturt and South Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Nicknamed the "Jumbo Prince", Davies played a total of 390 games throughout his career (317 for Sturt, 33 for South Adelaide, 20 for Hawthorn, and 20 State Games for South Australia. Though not tall for a ruckman at only 188 cm, Davies was known for his strong marking and body strength which he used to great effect against opponents who were often taller and heavier than him.

Greg Phillips is a former Australian rules football player who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He also played 20 interstate matches for South Australia.

Neil Davies was an Australian rules footballer who played in four states, but most notably for Glenelg in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He also had a stint with Victorian Football League (VFL) club Richmond.

Doug Long was an Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and Glenelg in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).

Robert Reginald Oatey OAM was an Australian rules footballer who played with Norwood and Sturt in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He was a member of the South Australian Football Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parker Morton</span> Australian rules footballer, coach, and administrator

Parker Thomas "Bo" Morton was an Australian rules footballer, coach and administrator for the Sturt Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).

John C. Paynter is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Sturt and Glenelg in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) from 1980 to 1992.

References

  1. 1 2 "Len Fitzgerald (Collingwood, Sturt, Glenelg)". Full Points Footy. Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 26 February 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. 1 2 Ross, John (1999). The Australian Football Hall of Fame. Australia: HarperCollinsPublishers. p. 65. ISBN   0-7322-6426-X.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.