Daniel Thomas Murray (19 December 1912 – 10 November 1992) 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 oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played for

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL).

Family

The son of Thomas Joseph Murray (1875-1947), and Ellen Murray, née Cameron, née Grist (1874-1961), Daniel Thomas Murray was born at

Colac, Victoria Colac is a small city in the Western District of Victoria, Australia, approximately 150 kilometres south-west of Melbourne on the southern shore of Lake Colac. History For thousands of years clans of the Gulidjan people occupied the region o ...

on 19 December 1912. He married Eileen May Dowdle (1913-1998) in 1933. Their son,

Kevin Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicized from , an ...

later played 300 games for Fitzroy (its only 300 game player) and was inducted into the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coa ...

as a legend.

Football

Murray was a halfback and first appeared for Fitzroy in 1933. He left to play with Prahan from 1934 to 1938, then returned to Fitzroy in 1938. Murray was suspended for 10 weeks by the VFA Tribunal in June 1937 on a kicking charge, which resulted in him missing out on playing in Prahran's 1937 VFA premiership. Murray was appointed as coach of the

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

in early 1939, along with secure employment at the Horsham furniture store of Patersons Pty Ltd. Fitzroy refused to clear him. Murray played for Fitzroy in round one, but then informed Fitzroy officials that he would be staying in Horsham. Murray was forced to resign as coach of Horsham and was replaced by former Footscray player, Bernie O'Brien. Murray was finally cleared to Horsham in early July 1939. Murray was appointed as coach of Horsham FC in November, 1939 for the 1940 season. In March 1940 Horsham FC decided to continue on for the season with Murray as coach at £5 per week. After Horsham's 1940 season was shortened due to

WW2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Murray returned to Melbourne to play the second half of the season with Fitzroy, after Horsham lost the

Wimmera Football League The Wimmera Football League is a major Australian rules country league based in Western Victoria, with clubs located in towns in the Wimmera region: the regional centres along the Western Highway from Ararat to Nhill as well as Minyip-Murtoa ...

preliminary final. Murray continued to play with Fitzroy in the early 1940's and was a reserve in their 1944 VFL premiership side. Murray was appointed to the Fitzroy FC committee in 1947 and was also their chairman of selector's. Murray was captain-coach of

Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...

in 1948, losing the

Ovens and Murray Football League The Ovens and Murray Football Netball League (O&MFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing ten clubs based in north-eastern Victoria, Australia, Victoria, the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Austral ...

grand final to North Albury. Murray returned to live in Melbourne in late September, 1948.

Military service

Murray also served in the Royal Australian Air Force during World War II.

References

External links

*
Dan Murray's playing statistics
from The VFA Project

1912 births 1992 deaths Fitzroy Football Club players Fitzroy Football Club Premiership players Prahran Football Club players People from Colac, Victoria Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Fitzroy Football Club administrators Albury Football Club coaches Military personnel from Victoria (Australia) {{AFL-bio-1912-stub