George Albert Phillip Coates (3 July 1923 – 16 February 2014) 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 with

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 (VFL). Coates had a delayed start to league football due to the war. He served as a Leading Aircraftman with the No. 67 Squadron of the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

. A rover, he made his debut in 1947 and proved to be a consistent goal-kicker for Fitzroy, kicking at least 20 goals in three of his first four seasons. Coates played finals football in 1947 and 1952, ending up on a losing preliminary final team on each occasion. He represented Victoria in 1949. Once he left Fitzroy, Coates spent some time as coach of State Savings Bank in the Victorian Amateur Football Association. Coates was later a Fitzroy administrator for over 20 years. His son,

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

, played for the club in the 1980s. In 1965 he designed the prowling lion logo which was used by Fitzroy on their guernseys and adopted by the Brisbane Lions.''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald S ...

'
"New Brisbane Lion logo 'has no character', George Coates says"
10 December 2009, Damian Barrett

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coates, George 1923 births 2014 deaths Fitzroy Football Club players Fitzroy Football Club administrators Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Royal Australian Air Force airmen Military personnel from Melbourne People from Carlton North, Victoria