When you hear the name Fitzroy Football Club the now defunct Victorian Football League springs to mind. But in the 1960s, Launceston had its own premiership-winning Fitzroy club.
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Amongst confusion, the winning trophy ended up in the Victorian Fitzroy Club, but was donated to the Queen Victorian Museum and Art Gallery on Friday.
Fitzroy, the Melbourne club, realised they didn’t actually win a premiership in 1896 . . .
- QVMAG's Richard Mulvaney
QVMAG director Richard Mulvaney accepted the trophy at UTAS Stadium on Friday.
“Fitzroy, the Melbourne club, realised they didn’t actually win a premiership in 1896, so why was this trophy sitting in the Fitzroy clubrooms all these years? It’s a funny coincidence that it took someone so long to realise the disparity. There is no reference to Launceston anywhere over the trophy, so it is easily understandable why the mistake happened,” Mr Mulvaney said.
The trophy is made out of an emu egg.
“It’s been made out of silver and the emu egg adorns the top with a footballer on top. It was very common for 19th century trophies to use Australian fauna,” he said.
The trophy will be repaired and then be on show in the gallery’s sporting collection.