Tom Fitzmaurice

Tom Fitzmaurice
Personal information
Full name	Thomas Joseph Cullinan Fitzmaurice
Date of birth	(1898-07-07)7 July 1898
Place of birth	Fitzroy North, Victoria
Date of death	25 December 1977(1977-12-25)(aged 79)
Place of death	Heidelberg, Victoria
Original team(s)	Essendon CYMS
Height	192 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	96 kg (212 lb)
Position(s)	Defender / Forward
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1918–1924	Essendon	0850(30)
1925–1928	Geelong	0490(20)
1932–1935	North Melbourne	054 (196)
Total		188 (246)
Coaching career
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
1928	Geelong	18 (6–12–0)
1934-1935	North Melbourne	0160(0–16–0)
Total		34 (6–28–0)
1Playing statistics correct to the end of 1935.
Career highlights
Essendon premierships 1923, 1924 Essendonbest and fairest1922, 1923, 1924 Essendon Team of the Century Geelong premiership 1925 Geelong captain-coach 1928 North Melbourne joint captain-coach 1934–1935 North Melbourne leading goalkicker 1932, 1934 Victorian representative 12 matches New South Wales representative 1 match
Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com

Thomas Joseph Cullinan Fitzmaurice(7 July 1898 – 25 December 1977) was anAustralian rules footballerin theVictorian Football League(VFL).

Football

A brilliant centre-half-back, he commenced his career withEssendon Football Club1918. Transferred to Sydney in 1921 with his employment, Fitzmaurice played that season in the local competition and captained New South Wales against Victoria and Tasmania. He rejoined Essendon in 1922 and later formed part of their very successful1923and1924premiership teams. In the famous Essendon "mosquito fleet" (so called because of the half-dozen players 168 cm or under), Fitzmaurice was the tallest member of the side at 189 cm.

Fitzmaurice left Essendon after the controversy at the end of the1924 seasonwhen he felt that several Essendon players had deliberately losta matchagainstVictorian Football AssociationpremiersFootscray.

He played in a premiership team atGeelong Football Clubin his first year. Leaving Geelong after 1928, he played with Mortlake and then the VFA side, Yarraville. He returned to the VFL in 1932, playing with North Melbourne. Moving to the forward lines he became their leading goalkicker for three seasons.

He took over the coaching position at North afterDick Taylorresigned in disgust in mid-1934.He had eight games to turn the club around, but they didn't win any games. Re-appointed for 1935, Fitzmaurice resigned a broken man after a winless 8 rounds. The last straw was an insipid effort against eventual premiersCollingwood.

In 1936, he agreed to be a committeeman atEssendon.After twelve months he decided to play again, this time in Penguin, Tasmania.

Hall of Fame

In 1996, Fitzmaurice was inducted into theAustralian Football Hall of Fame.

Champions of Essendon

In 1997, Fitzmaurice was included in Essendon's inauguralTeam of the Century.

In 2002, an Essendon panel ranked him at 10 in theirChampions of Essendonlist of the 25 greatest players ever to have played for Essendon.

References

• Ross, John (1999).The Australian Football Hall of Fame.Australia: HarperCollinsPublishers. p. 67.ISBN0-7322-6426-X.

External links

• Tom Fitzmauriceat AustralianFootball.com
• AFL Hall of Fame