David "Dai" Fitzgerald (1872 – 30 November 1951) was a Welsh

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

centre who played club rugby under the union code for

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, and later switched to professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

team

Batley Batley is a market town in the Kirklees district, in West Yorkshire, England, south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield, in the Heavy Woollen District. In 2011, the popu ...

(

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

). He played international rugby union for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

winning two caps, and in his first match for Wales scored all the points in a victory over Scotland.

Rugby union career

Fitzgerald first played rugby in

for the now defunct club, St. Davids, one of several Welsh teams built around Catholic churches. He switched to first class club, Cardiff RFC, from which he also played for Hibernains Football Club, an invitational team, made from players in Cardiff, who could claim Irish descent. In 1891 Fitzgerald was part of the Cardiff team that played host to the very first

Barbarian A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

team to play against the club. Fitzgerald was first selected for Wales as part of the

1894 Home Nations Championship The 1894 Home Nations Championship was the 12th series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 6 January and 17 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Table Scoring system The mat ...

in a match against Scotland. Fitzgerald was brought in to replace Conway Rees, and was placed at centre along with the Welsh captain Arthur Gould. Wales were heavily beaten in the previous game away to England, mainly due to in-fighting within the team; but surprisingly the Welsh selectors kept faith in the squad, with Fitzgerald being the only new cap brought into the team. Fitzgerald played a very strong game, winning it singlehandedGriffiths (1987), 4:7. with a drop goal and a try. No other players from either side scored, giving Wales a 7-0 win. Fitzgerald was reselected for the very next game, played away to Ireland. Played on a boggy pitch the Welsh lost by a single penalty goal, Fitzgerald was replaced for the next season by Owen Badger, and never represented Wales again. Despite not playing for Wales, Fitzgerald still turned out for county team Glamorgan,GENUK Newspaper extracts
Western Mail 4 April 1894. but in 1895 he severed himself from the union code when he 'Went North', joining

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staffor ...

International matches played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 466. * 1894 * 1894

Rugby league career

Fitzgerald joined

in 1895, before the forming of the

Northern Rugby Football Union Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

, but in February 1896 he switched to

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

club

, where he would play most of his professional rugby. Dai Fitzgerald played at in

's 10-3 victory over St. Helens in the 1897 Challenge Cup Final during the 1896–1897 season at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

on Saturday 24 April 1897, in front of a crowd of 13,492, and played at in the 7-0 victory over Bradford F.C. in the 1898 Challenge Cup Final during the 1897–98 season at

, In front of a crowd of 27,941, and played at in 6-0 victory over

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

in the 1901 Challenge Cup Final during the 1900–01 season at

, in front of a crowd of 29,563.Jenkins (1991), pg 59. Despite his club success, Fitzgerald was at the centre of a legal dispute which prevented him playing between the end of 1898 until May 1900. A Rugby League tribunal was set up to challenge the nature of Fitzgerald's employment as a coal agent. The tribunal decided that Fitzgerald had not followed his employment in a

bona fide In human interactions, good faith () is a sincere intention to be fair, open, and honest, regardless of the outcome of the interaction. Some Latin phrases have lost their literal meaning over centuries, but that is not the case with , which is ...

manner in breach of the professional law. Not only was Fitzgerald suspended for almost two years, but

was also fined 60 English pounds (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £23,630 in 2015). After his rugby came to an end, Fitzgerald returned to Cardiff to run a marine store business.

Bibliography

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References

External links

Profile at cardiffrfc.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Dai 1872 births 1951 deaths 19th-century Welsh sportsmen 20th-century Welsh sportsmen Batley Bulldogs captains Batley Bulldogs players Cardiff RFC players Glamorgan County RFC players Leigh Leopards players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Cardiff Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Cardiff Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players Welsh rugby league players