Long-time Fitzroy president Joan Eddy stands down after 12 years in top job
A key part in Fitzroy’s return to the football field, a drought-breaking flag and the boom in women’s football, Joan Eddy has some incredible achievements.
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It will be the end of an era next month for Fitzroy Football Club.
Long-time president Joan Eddy has decided to hang up the metaphorical boots after one of the most distinguished tenures in community sport.
Eddy has served 13 years on the Fitzroy board, 12 as president, playing a key role in the 2008-09 merger of the original Fitzroy Football Club and VAFA club Fitzroy Reds.
Her two crowning glories have been the introduction of women’s football, not only at the club but across suburban football, and the club’s first senior men’s premiership since 1944 in 2018.
Despite being a North Melbourne fan, there’s now more than a little maroon, blue and gold running in her veins.
“We’ve now got both our senior teams in Premier B, our senior men and women, and now it’s about consolidating and taking the next step and the club is absolutely ready for that,” Eddy said.
“Unless you have a solid and robust off-field infrastructure and plan the on-field stuff tends to go downhill pretty quickly and that was one of the first board’s biggest goals.
“To think this is where we are, nearly 140 years since the club was established – and the Fitzroy Reds in 1955 in the VAFA – it makes me really proud and is something a whole lot of people have done together.”
A secretary at the Fitzroy Junior Football Club for six years Eddy then joined the Fitzroy Reds when her son played under-19s and was asked to be vice chair on the transition board in 2008.
Eddy took the top job in 2010 from Craig Little and has seen the club rise from VAFA Division 1 to cement itself in Premier B.
Lions vice-president David Leydon is set to take the reins at the club’s AGM on February 13.
While the Lions men’s teams have thrived so too has women’s football, a success close to Eddy’s heart.
Seeing Fitzroy play in the second tier of VAFA football – Premier B – and former players such as Ash Riddell star on the big stage has been hugely rewarding.
It all started at the Fitzroy campus of the Australian Catholic University.
“There’s two on-field successes that are hard to separate, one is the establishment of women’s football and the other is the 2018 senior men’s premiership in Prem C,” Eddy said.
“(Women’s football) is a fantastic on and off-field story, women being able to play football at a senior level is a wonderful thing.
“The Australian Catholic University in Fitzroy reached out to us and said we’re really interested in supporting a women’s football team.
“ACU don’t have any major sporting facilities but they still participate in the University Games and in 2014 they put out a shout out and got absolutely slammed – I think they got 80 or 100 girls show up.
“We were delighted … we took ACU’s offer, they financed the team and are now a major community partner – they continue to sponsor our women’s team and under-19 men’s – and we established the team in the VWFL (in 2015).
“It’s been one of the best things for the culture of football generally.”
Fitzroy almost won a premiership in its first season after merging with the Reds, going down to Rupertswood in the Division 1 grand final but still securing promotion.
Nine years later, the ultimate.
“(The premiership) was just such a special moment for everybody involved in the club and I think everybody involved in community sport,” Eddy said.
Eddy’s parting gift to Fitzroy and the area is funding for a new social facility at the Brunswick Street Oval.
Together with the State Government, City of Yarra and precinct partners Edinburgh Cricket Club and Fitzroy Tennis Club, the development will provide much-needed community space.
While she is stepping away officially, Eddy will continue to be a familiar face around Fitzroy and hopes to see the club continue to grow into the future.
“We’ve just completed our four-year strategic plan and we’ll be launching that at our AGM,” she said.
“We’ll continue to work with the City of Yarra, our partner in looking after the facilities that we’ve got the privilege of playing in, to look at ways we get more grounds.
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“The junior and senior football club in Fitzroy are completely hemmed in now, we cannot expand because there’s not enough grounds to train and play on.
“We’re very hopeful, there’s lot of discussions with City of Yarra and Parks Victoria about establishing more sporting ovals around Fairfield.
“That’s a major aim – to increase access – for people to play footy at Fitzroy and sport generally across the City of Yarra.”
Fitzroy will also farewell director Kate Nolan after seven years at February’s AGM.
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