Global InformationFitzroy Football Club information
| Fitzroy Football Club | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| 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 | 1883[1] | |||
| Colours | Red Blue Yellow[2] | |||
| Competition | VAFA: Premier men VAFAW: Senior women | |||
| President | David Leydon | |||
| Coach | Luke Mahoney | |||
| Captain(s) | Julian Turner | |||
| Premierships | VFA (1)
| |||
| Ground(s) | Brunswick Street Oval | |||
| Uniforms | ||||
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| Other information | ||||
| Official website | fitzroyfc.com.au | |||
The Fitzroy Football Club is an Australian rules football club currently competing in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA). Formed in 1883 to represent the inner-Melbourne municipality of Fitzroy, the club was a member of the Victorian Football Association (VFA), before becoming a foundation member of the breakaway Victorian Football League (VFL/AFL) in 1897.
Fitzroy won a total of eight VFL premierships, of which seven (1898, 1899, 1904, 1905, 1913, 1916 and 1922) were won whilst they were nicknamed the Maroons and one (1944) as the Gorillas. The decision of the club to change its nickname to the Lions in 1957 coincided with what history now records as the beginning of decades of poor on-field performance and financial losses that eventually resulted in the club being placed into administration, ultimately leaving the AFL at the end of the 1996 season. That year the club's AFL licence was taken over by the Brisbane Bears, who became the Brisbane Lions and adopted the colours, song, and emblem of Fitzroy, as well as absorbing their AFL operations.[3][4][5][6][7][8] The Fitzroy Football Club eventually came out of administration in 1998, and proceeded to commence playing in the VAFA in 2009.
The club largely resumed its original VFL/AFL identity through its continued use of their 1975–1996 VFL/AFL jumper, their club song and their 1884–1966 home ground at the Brunswick Street Oval. For a brief time, it experimented in partnerships with other semi-professional and amateur clubs before incorporating the Fitzroy Reds (formerly University Reds) to play in the Victorian Amateur Football Association. They began in the D1 section of the VAFA in 2009 and now, after having been promoted four times (2009, 2012, 2018, 2023), play in the highest-level 'Premier' division.
- ^ The AFL club operations were merged with the Brisbane Bears in 1996, but Fitzroy merged with Fitzroy Reds, and resumed playing operations in 2009 in the Victorian Amateur Football Association.
- ^ Maroon was lightened close to red for colour TV from 1975 onwards, and the FFC logo changed from white to gold in 1974 (see History of AFL/VFL Jumpers)
- ^ "140 years of Fitzroy Football Club". ABC listen. 28 September 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
- ^ "Fitzroy Football Club - Lions". fitzroyfc.com.au. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
- ^ Maine, Jim (12 April 2012). Aussie Rules For Dummies - Jim Maine - Google Books. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781118348758. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
- ^ "Fitzroy". australiaforeveryone.com.au. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
- ^ "The Deed - Victorian Lions Supporters Group". viclions.wordpress.com. 2 June 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
- ^ "The Deed of Arrangement between Fitzroy's administrator and the Brisbane Bears". Big Footy. 27 October 2011. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2020.