Tom Fitzmaurice


Thomas Joseph Cullinan Fitzmaurice was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League.

Football

A brilliant centre halfback, he commenced his career with Essendon Football Club 1918. Transferred to Sydney in 1921 with his employment, Fitzmaurice played that seasons in the local competition and captained New South Wales against Victoria and Tasmania. He rejoined Essendon in 1922 and later formed part of their very successful 1923 and 1924 premiership teams. In the famous Essendon "mosquito fleet" Fitzmaurice was the tallest member of the side at 189 cm.
Fitzmaurice left Essendon after the controversy at the end of the 1924 season when he felt that several Essendon players had deliberately lost a match against Victorian Football Association premiers.
He played in a premiership team at Geelong Football Club in his first year. Leaving Geelong after 1928, he played with Mortlake and then the VFA side, Yarraville. He returned to the VFL in 1932, playing with North Melbourne. Moving to the forward lines he became their leading goalkicker for three seasons.

Hall of Fame

In 1996 Fitzmaurice was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

Champions of Essendon

In 2002 an Essendon panel ranked him at 10 in their Champions of Essendon list of the 25 greatest players ever to have played for Essendon.

Footnotes