Career
Affectionately known as "Choco", Royal was a star rover from Bairnsdale who was recruited to the Footscray Football Club prior to the 1983 season. Royal represented his state on seven occasions and was an All-Australian representative. Despite his career coming to an abrupt end on 199 games and 299 goals due to a ruptured Achilles tendon against Essendon late in the 1993 season, Royal is remembered for his class as an elite midfielder throughout the 1980s, his unwavering courage and renowned ability to turn a game with his uncanny goal sense.
He spent all of his 199 matches with Footscray, wearing the number 33 throughout his career, which remains the club record for the guernsey.
Royal went on to enjoy a long career in coaching at American Federation of Labor-Congress level, highly regarded as an Assistant Coach at several clubs, including the Melbourne the Western Bulldogs and Richmond, the last two with Terry Wallace as senior coach. In December 2009, Royal joined the Street Kilda Football Club as a Development Coach.
After just one season at Street Kilda, Royal returned to Melbourne as an assistant coach in November 2010. He is now coaching in the VAFA, for the highly fancied Beaumaris Football Club.
