Maurice John Fowler (10 August 1944 – 8 May 2017) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Me ...

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). He also played 120 games for the

Kyabram Football Club The Kyabram Football Netball Club, nicknamed the ''Bombers'', is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the town of Kyabram, Victoria. The club teams currently compete in the Goulburn Valley Football League (GVFL). Kyabram was ...

. In 1967 he was cleared to but later that year transferred to Williamstown in the VFA without playing a senior game for Footscray. In his one season with the VFA Seagulls in 1967, he played 16 games and kicked 15 goals. He then returned to the

Goulburn Valley Football Netball League The Goulburn Valley Football Netball League is an Australian rules football and netball competition based in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria, Australia. It is a member of the Victorian Country Football League and has won the Victorian Co ...

, playing one season with

Mooroopna Mooroopna is a rural town located north of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is on the banks of the Goulburn River opposite the larger town of Shepparton. The Midland Highway crosses the river between the two towns. At the 2016 census, Moor ...

and one season with Kyabram, before accepting the position as playing coach of the Palm Beach Currumbin Football Club on the

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

in 1970. He coached Palm Beach Currumbin to 2 premierships between 1970 & 1974 before returning to Victoria as playing coach of the Robinvale Football Club in the Sunraysia Football League. After only 1 season at Robinvale where the club finished third, Fowler was appointed playing coach of the Hay (NSW) Football Club in the Mid Murray Football League. Within six months Fowler was appointed General Manager of the Hay Services Club. Fowler retired as a player in 1977 but continued to coach Hay before accepting the position of General Manager of the Cobram-Barooga Golf Club on the NSW – Victorian border. During his time at Cobram Fowler returned to coaching in 1982 & 1983, taking Cobram into their first Murray League Grand Final appearance in 9 years. In 2016 he was diagnosed with

motor neuron disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

and died less than a year later.

References

External links

* *Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing. 1944 births 2017 deaths Carlton Football Club players Williamstown Football Club players Kyabram Football Club players Mooroopna Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Neurological disease deaths in Australia Deaths from motor neuron disease {{AFL-bio-1940s-stub