Fred Fitzgibbon (22 October 1917 – 24 January 1999) was an

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 Carlton 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) during the 1940s. Fitzgibbon spent his early career at

Victorian Football Association 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 ...

(VFA) club Brunswick but when the VFA suspended the competition in 1942 due to the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

, he decided to switch leagues and joined Carlton. Used mainly as a wingman, Fitzgibbon became one of Carlton's most physically aggressive players which at times saw him front the tribunal. The most notable suspensions came in the 1945 finals series and began with a four-match suspension for king-hitting Collingwood forward Len Hustler in the Preliminary Final, which meant he had to watch that year's premiership from the stands. The

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

was marred by many instances of violence, and when teammate Jim Mooring was flattened, Fitzgibbon jumped the fence in his street clothes to take part in a bench-clearing brawl, and exchanged punches with South's Ted Whitfield before police ejected him from the ground. Fitzgibbon was suspended for an additional four matches. He played every game in the 1947 season, including Carlton's one point win over

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 ...

in the 1947 Grand Final, to ensure the 1945 suspension wouldn't cost him the chance of playing in a premiership.

References

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Blueseum: Fred Fitzgibbon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgibbon, Fred 1917 births 1999 deaths Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Carlton Football Club players Carlton Football Club premiership players Brunswick Football Club players VFL/AFL premiership players 20th-century Australian sportsmen