Brian Royal (born 12 December 1961) 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 who played for the

Footscray Football Club The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...

(Western Bulldogs) 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). In his first year for the Bulldogs, Royal won the

Charles Sutton Medal The Charles Sutton Medal is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged best and fairest for the Western Bulldogs throughout the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League season. The medal is named a ...

, the Club's Best and Fairest award and went on to have an extremely distinguished career. Royal represented his state on seven occasions and was an All-Australian representative. His career came to an abrupt end on 199 games and 299 goals due to a ruptured

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

against late in the 1993 season. Royal went on to enjoy a long career in coaching at AFL level, as a highly regarded assistant coach at several clubs, including , , and the Western Bulldogs – the last two with

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 ...

as senior coach.Wallace wields the axe at Richmond
/ref> Royal is now coaching in the

Victorian Amateur Football Association The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) is the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded in 1892, it consists of six senior divisions, ranging from Premier to Division 3 i ...

(VAFA), for the

Beaumaris Football Club The Beaumaris Football Club, nicknamed the Sharks, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Beaumaris. As of 2024, the club competes in the Premier B division of the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) and ...

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Royal, Brian 1961 births Living people All-Australians (1953–1988) Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Charles Sutton Medal winners Sportspeople from Bairnsdale Victorian State of Origin players Western Bulldogs players Bairnsdale Football Club players Australia international rules football team players