Gerard FitzGerald (born 25 July 1957) 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

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

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 is most notable as the coach of the

North Ballarat Football Club The North Ballarat Football Club, nicknamed the Roosters, is an Australian rules football and netball club based at Mars Stadium in Ballarat. The club was founded in 1882 and has competed in the Ballarat Football Netball League (BFNL), and pr ...

in the

, where he won three premierships and is the league's all-time longest serving coach. FitzGerald made just three appearances in the Geelong seniors, all in the

1977 VFL season The 1977 VFL season was the 81st season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 2 April until 1 October, and comprised a 22-g ...

. In his second game he kicked three goals at Princes Park, against a strong Hawthorn team which amassed 191 points. Between 1980 and 1996, FitzGerald spent more than ten years as the senior coach of country Victorian football teams in

Sea Lake Sea Lake is a town in the Mallee district of north-west Victoria, Australia and is situated on the southern shores of Lake Tyrrell. The town is located on the Calder Highway, north-west of Melbourne, and west of Swan Hill. Sea Lake is in th ...

Mortlake Mortlake is a suburban district of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the south bank of the River Thames between Kew and Barnes, London, Barnes. Historically it was part of Surrey and until 1965 was in the Municipal Borough of Barnes ...

and Camperdown. For a time, he was the coach of the

Victorian Country Football League AFL Victoria Country is an Australian rules football governing body with jurisdiction over the state of Victoria outside metropolitan Melbourne on behalf of AFL Victoria. As well as administering and promoting the code in the regions, it often ar ...

representative team. He took over from

Alan Ezard Alan Ezard (born 15 April 1963) is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the VFL/AFL. Nicknamed 'The Lizard', he played 184 games for 200 goals, retiring in 1993. Originally from Broadford, Victoria, Ezard made his debut with the ...

as coach of

North Ballarat The North Ballarat Football Club, nicknamed the Roosters, is an Australian rules football and netball club based at Mars Stadium in Ballarat. The club was founded in 1882 and has competed in the Ballarat Football Netball League (BFNL), and pr ...

in the VFL in 1997 and remained with the club until the end of the 2002 season, leading the club to consecutive Grand Final defeats in 1999 and 2000. In 2002, he unsuccessfully contested the state seat of

Ballarat East Ballarat East is a suburb of Ballarat in Victoria, Australia. From 1857 until 1921 the suburb had its own council (see below). The suburb covers a large area east of the city centre. It is the oldest urban area in Ballarat and was the site of ma ...

for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

. He coached Springvale in 2003, then

Port Melbourne Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of the Melbourne central business district, located within the Cities of City of Melbourne, Melbourne and City of Port Phillip, Port Phillip Local government ...

in 2004, taking the club to the Grand Final. He returned to Ballarat in 2005, and was in charge of the

North Ballarat Rebels The Greater Western Victoria Rebels is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Talent League, the statewide under-18s competition in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. They recruit players from the Ballarat, Wimmera and Sou ...

in the

TAC Cup The Talent League (also known as the Coates Talent League under naming rights and previously as the NAB League and TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition based in Melbourne and run by the Australian Foot ...

in 2005 and 2006, before returning to the North Ballarat VFL club again in 2007. FitzGerald steered North Ballarat to its inaugural VFL premiership in 2008, and then to further premierships in 2009 and 2010. He coached at the club until the end of 2015, completing fifteen seasons with the Roosters; his contract was not renewed for the 2016 season. He will return to coaching the Rebels from the 2016 season. FitzGerald holds the record for coaching the most senior games in VFA/VFL history, finishing with 345 games following the end of the 2015 season. FitzGerald surpassed previous record-holder

Bill Faul William John Faul (8 June 1909 – 14 September 1974) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the South Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and for the Subiaco Football Club in the Western Australian ...

(313 games) in Round 7, 2014.

References

* *Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Gerard 1957 births Living people Geelong Football Club players Casey Demons coaches Port Melbourne Football Club coaches Mortlake Football Club coaches Camperdown Football Club coaches Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)