Meet Patrick O’Connor - the latest addition to the Brisbane Lions’ stable.

O’Connor is a hard-running midfielder for Fitzroy’s VAFA Premier C Division side whose standout 2010 campaign culminated in his name being etched on the Greg Roughsedge Perpetual Trophy as the team’s Best & Fairest player at the club’s annual ‘Redlow’ end-of-season presentation evening.

The Lions put their support behind Fitzroy - and O’Connor in particular - by sponsoring the amateur football journeyman throughout the 2011 season.

Sponsoring one of the Fitzroy FC players will become an annual commitment for the Lions who, together with the Reds Foundation, have pledged further support towards their brother club in the VAFA.

For O’Connor, player sponsorship from the Lions is due recognition for his years of hard work and dedication which has seen him apply his football trade in both Victoria and Queensland.

“I came through the Under 18s down here in Victoria and then moved up to Queensland for a couple of years to play with the Mayne Tigers in the QAFL,” O’Connor said.

“I actually played quite a few games with Aker back in those days.”

“Then I moved back home and played for Box Hill in the VFL for about 4-5 years.”

O’Connor eventually joined Fitzroy three years ago when one of his good mates suggested they play together again at his local club.

“My mate and I both said we’d be keen to have a couple more years of playing footy together,” O’Connor said.

“He lived around the corner from the Brunswick Street Oval, so I just came down off the street and had a bit of a run around. I loved it from the moment I came here.”

“This is my third season now and I absolutely love it. It’s a thrill to just play here at the Brunswick Street Oval almost every week. It’s definitely the best footy experience I’ve ever had.”

The proud Fitzroy history and spirit still lives on at the Brunswick Street Oval and O’Connor said it has helped create a fantastic football environment for him and his team-mates.

“You definitely get that sense of history,” he said.

“Former Club greats like Kevin Murray and Bill Stephen often come down here to watch our games and talk to the team beforehand.”

“There’s plenty of famous old Fitzroy people in the stands watching our games and they even play the Fitzroy song when you run out onto the ground.”

“You can really see how much it means to these people. It’s fantastic. It’s an incredible privilege and honour playing here.”

O’Connor is the Brisbane Lions’ first ever sponsored player from Fitzroy and said it was a “massive thrill” to receive this acknowledgement from the Club.

“A lot of my best mates are Brisbane Lions supporters so I’ll be getting on the phone to them straight away and telling them about this,” O’Connor said.

“It means a lot to have the support of the Brisbane Lions, and the fact our local footy club has an AFL connection is super important.”

Lions fans can see O’Connor running around in the Number 9 guernsey in Fitzroy’s final match of the VAFA season from 2pm this Saturday 27 August at the Brunswick Street Oval.

While last week’s eight-point loss to third placed Mazenod ended Fitzroy’s chances of playing finals in 2011, they will head into this Saturday afternoon’s match against bottom side MH SOB keen to finish their season on a high note.

O’Connor hopes that a big crowd can turn out at Fitzroy’s spiritual home ground to support the team.

“Please come down. It would mean so much to us if we could get a couple of thousand people down here for a game,” he said.

“We have a great group of supporters who are out here each week watching us play. They often have their old Fitzroy jumpers on and come out to the huddle at three quarter time. To be part of that playing local footy is something special.”

The Fitzroy player sponsorship program was coordinated through long-time supporter of Fitzroy/Brisbane Lions Peter Hille and the Reds Foundation - a program designed to raise funds for the local club.

“The Reds Foundation was set up five years ago and its purpose was to provide some financial support for Fitzroy. We’ve grown from a membership base of around 30 to over 100 this year,” Hille said.

“We’ve run a number of key projects over the past few years including the player sponsorship program.”

“It’s terrific to have the Brisbane Lions involved in sponsoring one of the players and having that as an ongoing situation.”

The Lions will adopt another Fitzroy player next year, but won’t know who until just before the 2012 season when a player is nominated by the Reds Foundation.