Gerald Brosnan (14 August 1877 – 29 July 1965) 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 the

Fitzroy Football Club The Fitzroy Football Club is an Australian rules football club currently competing in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA). Formed in 1883 to represent the inner-Melbourne municipality of Fitzroy, the club was a member of the Vi ...

in the early years of 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). He played as a key position forward and had an accurate left foot kick.

Family

Jeremiah Brosnan was born to Irish immigrants Patrick Brosnan and Ellen Berryman in 1877, however for most his adult life he used the name Gerald.

Football

Brosnan originally tried out with

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

in 1894 and

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington * Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport * Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United Ki ...

in 1895 but was let go by both sides. He then moved to Ballarat Football Club in 1896, playing for them until 1899. Buoyed by his good form for Ballarat, Brosnan decided to make another attempt at a VFL career and joined Fitzroy.Atkinson, p. 82. Brosnan made his league debut in the

1900 VFL season The 1900 VFL season was the fourth season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured eight clubs, ran from 5 May until 22 September, and comprised a 14 ...

and in his second season Brosnan won their Leading Goalkicker Award with 33 goals. Brosnan became club captain in 1903, leading Fitzroy to the

1903 VFL Grand Final The 1903 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Collingwood Football Club and Fitzroy Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 12 September 1903. It was the 6th annual Grand Fin ...

, losing by two points. In the dying seconds he had a chance to win the game after marking a pass from teammate

Percy Trotter Percival George "Percy" Trotter (1 September 1883 – 27 August 1959) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Fitzroy Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL), Essendon Association in the Victorian Football Association ...

thirty metres out from goal. The ball just grazed the outside of the goal post, and the final bell sounded immediately afterwards. Fitzroy however won premierships in 1904 and

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

, meaning that when Brosnan left the captaincy at the end of the 1905 VFL season he had led the club to the Grand Final in each of his three seasons in charge.

Interstate representative

Brosnan also captained Victoria in interstate matches before his retirement in 1909.

Coach

Brosnan also had three unsuccessful coaching stints; from 1910 to

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

and

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

he coached

University Football Club Melbourne University Football Club, often known simply as University, is an Australian rules football club based at the University of Melbourne. The club fields two teams, known as the "Blacks" and "Blues", who both compete in the Victorian Ama ...

for 72 games but only twelve wins, and in 1920, Brosnan coached

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, ...

for five wins in 16 matches.

Sports journalist

Following his coaching career Brosnan became a well-respected football writer.

References

Sources

* Atkinson, G. (1982) ''Everything you ever wanted to know about Australian rules football but couldn't be bothered asking,'' The Five Mile Press: Melbourne. . *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brosnan, Gerald 1877 births 1965 deaths Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents Geelong Football Club (VFA) players Fitzroy Football Club players Fitzroy Football Club Premiership players Melbourne Football Club coaches Ballarat Football Club players University Football Club coaches Two-time VFL/AFL Premiership players