John Douglas Fitzallen (13 November 1934 – 11 October 2017) 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 in Tasmania during the 1950s and 1960s. He represented the state several times in interstate matches including the Brisbane Carnival in 1961. He was 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 2006.

Early career

Fitzallen grew up at Tunbridge in the

midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

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

and began his football career with that club as a teenager. In 1952 and 1953 he won the club's best and fairest award.

Longford

Fitzallen played for

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

in the Northern Tasmanian Football Association (NTFA) from 1954 to 1961. He was a member of the club's premiership teams in 1955, 1957 and 1958, and also played in the NTFA Grand Finals of 1959, 1961. Fitzallen's career came to a sudden and unexpected end when a railway work accident resulted in a broken leg prior to the start of the 1962 season. He was making a satisfactory recovery until mid-June that year when another accident at home resulted in the leg being broken again.''The Examiner'', 25 June 1962 'Fitzie' Breaks Leg Again

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzallen, John 1934 births 2017 deaths Longford Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Tasmania Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame inductees