Peter Joseph Fitzgerald (16 June 1937 – 29 June 2013) was an Irish professional footballer. A centre forward Fitzgerald was one of the famous six Waterford brothers who played for the Waterford Blues. Tommy, Jack, Ned, Denny and Paul were the others. Along with

Alfie Hale Alfred "Alfie" Hale (born 28 August 1939 in Waterford, Republic of Ireland) is a former Irish association football, footballer and manager who played for several clubs in both the League of Ireland and the Football League, English League, most n ...

he made a scoring

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

debut at Kilcohan Park on

St Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...

1957 in a 3–1 win over Bohemians. His brother Jack setting up his goal which Peter finished with a grand header Along with two of his brothers Peter played in the 1959

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

Final against St Patrick's Athletic. He scored in the first game at

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish: ''Páirc Cnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known as D ...

and in the replay which the Blues lost 2-1 In May 1959 Fitzgerald was signed by Dutch Champions

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently compete in the Eredivisie, the top flight ...

. In the 1959–60 European Cup Fitzgerald played against Rangers in the quarter finals where they were eliminated after a playoff at

Highbury Stadium Arsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, London, which was the home of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006. It was popularly known as "Highbury" due to its location and was given the affectionate nickname ...

. He was signed by Leeds Manager Jack Taylor as his final signing before the start of the 1960–61 season. He was in the first-ever team selected by

Don Revie Donald George Revie OBE (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989) was an England international footballer and manager, best known for his successful spell with Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, which immediately preceded his appointment as England manage ...

. On 18 March 1961, Fitzgerald was at inside right, with

Jack Charlton John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English footballer and manager who played as a defender. He was part of the England national team that won the 1966 World Cup and managed the Republic of Ireland national team from 1986 to 199 ...

the emergency centre forward, in a 3–1 loss to Portsmouth. Fitzgerald moved on to

Chester City F.C. Chester City Football Club was an association football team from Chester, England that played in a variety of leagues between 1885 and 2010. The club played its home games at Sealand Road from 1906 to 1991 and moved to the Deva Stadium in 1992 ...

for a fee of £5,500 in July 1961. After a good two years, scoring 12 goals in 80 games, he returned home to Ireland in September 1963 to play for Waterford. The following month Fitzgerald made his debut for the

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the ''Airtricity League XI'' for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. For much of its ...

. In what was one of the greatest results for a League of Ireland selection they beat their English counterparts, who included Bobby Moore, 2–1 in front of 25,000 at Dalymount In August 1967 Fitzgerald had his testimonial game against Leeds Fitzgerald later had a spell as caretaker manager of Waterford United at the end of the 1995–96 League of Ireland season. He also played five times for the

Republic of Ireland national football team , FIFA Trigramme = IRL , Name = Republic of Ireland , Association = Football Association of Ireland (FAI) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , website fai.ie, Coach = Stephen Kenny (foot ...

, scoring twice in his second appearance, against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. His brother Jack scored 130 League of Ireland goals and his father Michael was Chairman of Waterford.

Honours

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

- 1965/66 * Munster Senior Cup: 2 **

Cork Hibernians Cork Hibernians F.C. were an Irish football club based in Cork. They played in the League of Ireland between 1957 and 1976 and, from 1962, played their home games at Flower Lodge. In 1971, they were League of Ireland champions. History The ...

- 1964/65 **

- 1965/66

References

Peter Fitzgerald
Post War English & Scottish Football League A - Z Player's Transfer Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Peter 1937 births 2013 deaths Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate association footballers Republic of Ireland international footballers League of Ireland players Waterford F.C. players Cork Hibernians F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Chester City F.C. players English Football League players Republic of Ireland football managers Waterford F.C. managers League of Ireland managers League of Ireland XI players Association footballers from County Waterford Sparta Rotterdam players Eredivisie players Irish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Association football forwards