Maurice John Fowler (10 August 1944 – 8 May 2017) 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 the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Princes Park (stadium), Princes Park in Carlton North, Victoria, Carlton North, an inner suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The c ...

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 also played 120 games for the

Kyabram Football Club The Kyabram Football Netball Club, nicknamed the ''Bombers'', is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the town of Kyabram, Victoria. The club teams currently compete in the Goulburn Valley Football League (GVFL). History Kya ...

. In 1967 he was cleared to but later that year transferred to Williamstown in the VFA without playing a senior game for Footscray. In his one season with the VFA Seagulls in 1967, he played 16 games and kicked 15 goals. He then returned to the Goulburn Valley Football Netball League, playing one season with

Mooroopna Mooroopna is a town located north of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It is on the banks of the Goulburn River (Victoria), Goulburn River opposite the larger town of Shepparton. The Midland Highway (Victoria), Midland Highw ...

and one season with Kyabram, before accepting the position as playing coach of the Palm Beach Currumbin Football Club on the

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Gold Coast in 1970. He coached Palm Beach Currumbin to 2 premierships between 1970 & 1974 before returning to Victoria as playing coach of the Robinvale Football Club in the Sunraysia Football League. After only 1 season at Robinvale where the club finished third, Fowler was appointed playing coach of the Hay (NSW) Football Club in the Mid Murray Football League. Within six months Fowler was appointed General Manager of the Hay Services Club. Fowler retired as a player in 1977 but continued to coach Hay before accepting the position of General Manager of the Cobram-Barooga Golf Club on the NSW – Victorian border. During his time at Cobram Fowler returned to coaching in 1982 & 1983, taking Cobram into their first Murray League Grand Final appearance in 9 years. In 2016 he was diagnosed with

motor neuron disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and low ...

and died less than a year later.

References

External links

* *Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing. 1944 births 2017 deaths Carlton Football Club players Williamstown Football Club players Kyabram Football Club players Mooroopna Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Deaths from motor neuron disease in Australia 20th-century Australian sportsmen Deaths from motor neuron disease {{AFL-bio-1940s-stub