Brian Royal

Brian Royal
Personal information
Full name Brian Royal
Nickname(s) Choco
Date of birth (1961-12-12) 12 December 1961
Original team(s) Bairnsdale (LVFL)
Height 175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 79 kg (174 lb)
Position(s) Rover
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1983–1993 Footscray 199 (299)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1993.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Brian Royal (born 12 December 1961) is a former champion Australian rules footballer, Western Bulldogs Hall of Fame Inductee, and Rover in the Club's 'Team of the Century', who played for the(Footscray Football Club)/Western Bulldogs for eleven seasons.

Affectionately known as 'Choco', Royal was a star rover from Bairnsdale who was recruited to the Footscray Football Club prior to the 1983 season. In his first year for the Bulldogs, he won the Charles Sutton Medal, the Club's Best and Fairest award and went on to have an extremely distinguished career, despite never winning a premiership with his beloved 'Dogs. Royal represented his state on seven occasions and was an All-Australian representative. Despite his career coming to an abrupt end on 199 games and 299 goals due to a ruptured Achilles tendon against Essendon late in the 1993 season,[1] Royal is remembered for his class as an elite midfielder throughout the 1980s, his unwavering courage and renowned ability to turn a game with his uncanny goal sense.

[2]

He spent all of his 199 matches with Footscray, wearing the number 33 throughout his career, which remains the club record for the guernsey. A favorite son, Royal was a prolific ball winner, exceptional mark for his size and freakish goal sneak. [3]

Royal went on to enjoy a long career in coaching at AFL level, highly regarded as an assistant coach at several clubs, including the Melbourne[4] the Western Bulldogs and Richmond, the last two with Terry Wallace as senior coach.[5]

In December 2009, Royal joined the St Kilda Football Club as a Development Coach.[6] After just one season at St Kilda, Royal returned to Melbourne as an assistant coach in November 2010.[7][8] He is now coaching in the VAFA, for the highly fancied Beaumaris Football Club.

References

  1. ↑ Piesse, Ken (1993). The Complete Guide to Australian Football. Sydney, Australia: Pan Macmillan. p. 273. ISBN 0330357123.
  2. ↑ Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2002). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (4th ed.). Melbourne, Victoria: Crown Content. p. 568. ISBN 1-74095-001-1.
  3. ↑ Biography at Full Points Footy
  4. ↑ Rohde chosen to coach Bulldogs
  5. ↑ Wallace wields the axe at Richmond
  6. ↑ Royal joins Saints Archived 23 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ Royal returns to Melbourne
  8. ↑ Cullen, Mic (4 November 2010). "Dees name Royal new assistant". AFL BigPond Network. Archived from the original on 7 November 2010. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
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