Christian Fagan (born 23 June 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 oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who is the senior coach of the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of the Melbourne-based 1883 foundation VFL c ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL). He spent his entire playing career in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, playing 263 senior games with

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

, Sandy Bay, and Devonport. Before being appointed head coach of Brisbane in October 2016, Fagan had spent long periods as an assistant coach at

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

(1999–2007) and

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

(2008–2016).

Playing career

Fagan was born in

Queenstown, Tasmania Queenstown is a town in the West Coast region of the island of Tasmania, Australia. It is in a valley on the western slopes of Mount Owen on the West Coast Range. At the , Queenstown had a population of 1,808 people. History Queenstown's his ...

. He played 263 senior games in the Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL) and

Tasmanian Football League The Tasmanian State League (TSL), colloquially known as the "Tasmanian Football League (TFL)" (formerly known as the "Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL)" and several other short-term names) is the highest ranked Australian ru ...

(TFL) with

, Sandy Bay and Devonport and kicked 430 goals in his career. He represented Tasmania on 11 occasions and played in two Premiership teams – Hobart in 1980 and Devonport in 1988.

Coaching career

Tasmania

Fagan spent two years as an assistant coach at North Hobart before being appointed senior coach of Sandy Bay for 1993 and 1994. He was the inaugural coach of the

Tassie Mariners The Tassie Mariners is an under-18 Australian rules football club representing the state of Tasmania. They currently play in the AFL Under 18 Championships and also played in the Victorian statewide under-18s competition (then known as the TAC Cu ...

from 1995 to 1997. He was the 181st person to be inducted into the

Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame The Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame was established to help recognise outstanding services and overall contribution made to the sport of Australian rules football in Tasmania. Any participant of the sport, including players, umpires, media person ...

in 2007.

AFL

Melbourne Football Club assistant coach (1999-2007)

Fagan was an assistant coach at the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

under senior coach

Neale Daniher Neale Francis Daniher (born 15 February 1961) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was later the coach of the Melbourne Football Club between 1998 and 20 ...

between 1999 and 2007, during which the club reached the

2000 AFL Grand Final The 2000 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Melbourne Football Club and the Essendon Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 2 September 2000 rather than in its usual last Sa ...

, where they lost to .

Hawthorn Football Club assistant coach and general manager of football (2008-2016)

He served two roles at the

Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawt ...

between 2008 and 2016, where he was instrumental in the club's

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

premiership victories. He was head of coaching and development between 2008 and mid-2013, while he was also the general manager of football alongside senior coach

Alastair Clarkson Alastair Thomas Clarkson (born 27 April 1968) is an Australian rules football coach and former player who is currently the head coach of the North Melbourne Football Club. He was previously the head coach of the Hawthorn Football Club in the ...

between mid-2013 and the end of 2016. In September 2022, following his departure from the club, he was alleged to have been involved in the isolation and separation of indigenous players from their partners and families, allegations which came to light as part of an external review into historical racism commissioned by Hawthorn. Investigations into the allegations are ongoing.

Brisbane Lions senior coach (2016–present)

On 4 October 2016, Fagan was appointed as the senior coach of the

, replacing

Justin Leppitsch Justin Leppitsch (born 1 October 1975) is a former professional Australian rules footballer and the former coach of the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early life Leppitsch was raised in Berwick, Victoria. In 1992, he ...

. He is one of the few AFL coaches appointed in recent years without AFL playing experience. Fagan took the Lions to the finals in his third season as coach and was subsequently honoured by the

AFL Coaches Association The AFL Coaches Association (AFLCA) is the representative body for Australian Football League coaches. History The AFLCA was founded in 2002, and as of 2015 had 178 members. Every year annually since 2003, the AFLCA has released a set of awards ...

with the

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Allan Jeans Senior Coach of the Year Award.

Head coaching record

Honours and achievements

Playing honours

Team * TANFL premiership player (

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

* TFL Statewide League premiership player ( Devonport):

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

Individual **

(2007 Inductee)

Coaching honours

Individual * AFLCA Allan Jeans Senior Coach of the Year Award:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fagan, Chris 1961 births Brisbane Lions coaches Living people Hobart Football Club players Sandy Bay Football Club players Devonport Football Club players Sandy Bay Football Club coaches People from Tasmania Australian rules footballers from Tasmania Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame inductees