Sean Patrick Fagan is a Sydney, Australia based sports historian, author and journalist, specialising in early Australian history and particular the origins and local development of the popular football

Football

Football may refer to one of a number of team sports which all involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball with the foot to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer"...

 codes in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. He has written articles for Australian national daily newspapers, numerous sports magazines and official Australian Rugby League

Australian Rugby League

The Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...

 match day programs. He maintains the rugby league history website http://www.rl1908.com and has written two books The Rugby Rebellion (2005, Hachette Livre) and The Master - The Life and Times of Dally Messenger

Dally Messenger

Herbert Henry "Dally" Messenger was an Australian rugby union and rugby league footballer, recognised as one of the greatest ever players in either code. Messenger, or 'The Master' as he was dubbed, represented his country in both rugby football codes, playing two rugby union tests and seven...

(2007, London League Publications), co-written with Dally Messenger III.

Centenary of Rugby League

He was one of the college of 130 experts commissioned by the Australian Rugby League

Australian Rugby League

The Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...

 and National Rugby League

National Rugby League

The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...

 in 2007 to select Australian rugby league's 100 greatest players

Australian Rugby League's 100 Greatest Players

In late 2007, the Australian Rugby League and National Rugby League commissioned 130 experts to select the 100 best rugby league players in the game's 100-year history in Australia. From this list , a limited panel of experts picked a the "Team of the Century" - a team of 17 players considered to...

 for the code's Australian centenary celebrations in 2008.

He was a member of the Australian Rugby League

Australian Rugby League

The Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...

's Centenary Historian Committee selected to advise on aspects of the centenary. Fagan was appointed Consultant Historian on the National Rugby League

National Rugby League

The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...

's 2008 documentary series A Century of Rugby League and was a contributor to League of Legends, a travelling museum exhibition developed and presented by the National Museum of Australia

National Museum of Australia

The National Museum of Australia was formally established by the National Museum of Australia Act 1980. The National Museum preserves and interprets Australia's social history, exploring the key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation....

 in 2008.

Other

In 2007 Fagan delivered the 9th annual Tom Brock Lecture

Tom Brock Lecture

The Tom Brock Lecture is an annual scholarly lecture organised by the Australian Society for Sports History under the bequest of Australian sports historian Tom Brock. The topic of the lecture is the history of rugby league football...

, one of the ongoing activities conducted by the Australian Society for Sports History. He has provided sports history consultancy services to the Sydney Cricket Ground

Sydney Cricket Ground

The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...

Trust and to a number of corporations in the sports industry.

External links

• rl1908.com, rugby league history
• Rugbyaustralis | Sean Fagan: Rugby in colonial Australia
• Tribe13.com.au, rugby league blog authored by Sean Fagan
• Sean Fagan at abc.net.au
• 2009 Tom Brock Lecture