By David Leydon

The Fitzroy Football Club mourns the passing of our former player and coach Graham Campbell.

Graham played 151 games and kicked 154 goals for Fitzroy as a rover between 1956 and 1964. He won the 1957 FFC Best and Fairest award in a side that included Roys champions like Kevin Murray, Billy Stephen and Alan Gale.

He played in Fitzroy’s 1959 Night Premiership team and was a part of the 1960 finals campaign that saw us make the Preliminary Final.

After retiring as a player, Graham took on coaching and returned to Fitzroy to coach our 1974 VFL Reserves to a Premiership. In 1975 he headed to Western Australia and coached West Perth to the 1975 WAFL Premiership.

He became Fitzroy’s senior coach in 1978 and is credited with beginning the Roys resurgence as an on-field power again after winning the 1978 Night Premiership.

He left Fitzroy at the end of that season and headed back to West Perth for four years before a final two-year coaching stint at Glenelg in the SANFL.

The basis of that 1978 team that Graham had started to build went on to play in five finals series in the seven years after his departure. A great player and a very popular coach with all Fitzroy fans—he will be sadly missed by all.

The Club sends our condolences to his family and those who knew him.

Ron Alexander, Coach Graham Campbell and Garry Wilson celebrate the 1978 VFL Night Premiership win by Fitzroy.