Adam L. Houlihan (born 6 April 1978) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er for the

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Kardinia Park in South Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

and the

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or colloquially the Tiges, is a professional Australian rules football team competing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Founded in 1885 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, Victoria, Ric ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). He is one of four brothers who were all drafted to

clubs, alongside

Damian Damian () may refer to: *Damian (given name) *Damian (surname) *Damian Subdistrict, in Longquanyi District, Chengdu, Sichuan, China See also *Damiani, an Italian surname *Damiano (disambiguation) *Damien (disambiguation) *Damon (disambiguation) *Da ...

, Ryan and Josh, from

Wahgunyah Wahgunyah is a town in northeastern Victoria, Australia. The town is on the southern bank of the Murray River, opposite Corowa, New South Wales, in the Shire of Indigo. Wahgunyah is north east of the state capital, Melbourne and west of Al ...

on the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray; Ngarrindjeri language, Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta language, Yorta Yorta: ''Dhungala'' or ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is List of rivers of Australia, Aust ...

, in northern Victoria.

Career

Geelong: 1995–2001

Houlihan made his debut in Round 4,

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

with the

against

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

. He wore the number 3 guernsey. He was drafted as a compensatory selection (second overall) in the 1995 pre-season draft from the

Murray Bushrangers The Murray Bushrangers is an Australian rules football team playing in Victorian statewide under-18s competition, presently known as the Talent League, since 1993 based in Wangaratta. The team trains on Norm Minns Oval, Wangaratta. The Under 1 ...

at the age of 16. He actually started out as a jockey but a growth spurt put an end to that and he turned his attention to Australian rules football, playing senior football for Corowa-Rutherglen at sixteen. Houlihan made a name for himself as a talented half forward, kicking five goals in several games. He managed 14 games in his debut season but just one the following year after a series of injuries. He played two games early in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, having little impact. He returned to play all the final eight games and established himself in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, playing 22 of 23 games and a top 10

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

finish. But after playing 12 of the first 13 games in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, his form fell away, playing just two more games and he was then delisted.

Richmond: 2002–2004

Houlihan was drafted by

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

and resumed his career there in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, wearing the number 44 guernsey. He played the first 12 games in 2002, including a three-goal effort in Round 11 but only managed one further game, spending most of the remainder of the season in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL). He played 16 games in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, including four and five goal efforts. A hamstring injury kept him out for most of

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, returning late in the season for four games but incoming coach

Terry Wallace Terry Wallace (born 13 December 1958) is a former professional Australian rules football player and coach. As a player, his career spanned three VFL/AFL clubs; most notably Hawthorn where he played in three premierships. After one season with ...

decided Houlihan did not fit in with his plans.

Post-AFL career

Houlihan continued to play with Richmond's VFL affiliate

Coburg Coburg ( , ) is a Town#Germany, town located on the Itz (river), Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Ernestine duchies, Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only ...

in 2005. At 26 years of age, Houlihan decided that his career was already over and he ruled out playing AFL football again. He instead returned to his earlier interest in horse racing, hosting a horse-racing tips show with Brett Phillips and Nick Evans on radio station

SEN 1116 1116 SEN (call sign 3AK) is an Australian radio station in Victoria, Australia. Owned and operated by Sports Entertainment Group, it broadcasts a sports radio format. It commenced broadcasting on 29 November 1931 as 3AK, the station currently ...

and training jockeys in diet and fitness. In 2007 he chose to take some great advise from mentor and now business partner Bruce Armstrong and start his own promotional merchandise business called CorpEdge Marketing. He is currently playing football with

Old Scotch Football Club The Old Scotch Football Club, nicknamed the Cardinals, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Camberwell, Victoria, Camberwell. It affiliated with the List of Old Scotch Collegians, Old Scotch Collegians Association ...

."Old Scotch - Seniors List"
. Old Scotch. 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2010.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Houlihan, Adam Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Geelong Football Club players Richmond Football Club players Australian people of Irish descent Australian rules footballers from New South Wales Corowa-Rutherglen Football Club players Old Scotch Football Club players 1978 births Living people