Darrell Peter Panizza (born 11 March 1959 in

Bunbury, Western Australia Bunbury is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, approximately south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's third most populous city after Perth and Mandurah, with a population of approximately 75,000. Located at ...

) 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 represented in the

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...

(WAFL) and the now-defunct

Woodville Football Club Woodville Football Club was an Australian rules football club that competed in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) from 1964 to 1990, when it merged in 1991 with the West Torrens Football Club to form the Woodville-West Torren ...

in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

(SANFL) during the 1980s and 1990s. He also represented and coached

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

in interstate football.

Playing career

Claremont

Panizza joined Claremont in 1979 from the Albany Royals and played in WAFL premiership teams in 1981, 1991 and 1993. He retired having played 274 matches in two stints, the first between 1979 and 1986; and the second between 1990 and 1995. He holds the record for the most games played at Claremont.

Woodville

In 1987 he moved to

(SANFL) club Woodville where he played 74 matches in three seasons.

Western Australia

Panizza played six games for

including the 1983 side that won the

Australian Championships The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

Coaching career

Claremont

In 1996, after retiring as a player he coached Claremont to a WAFL premiership.

Royals

Rejoining his boyhood club, Panizza took the Royals to unprecedented success, winning six Great Southern Football League premierships between 1999 and 2004.

Hall of Fame

Panizza was inducted into the WA Football Hall of Fame in March 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panizza, Darrell 1959 births Living people Claremont Football Club players Claremont Football Club coaches Woodville Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Western Australia West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Albany, Western Australia