Arabic version: كريس فاغان يتنحى بعد ثلاثية الأسود المتتالية

According to ABC News, Chris Fagan has told Brisbane Lions players and football staff he will step down as coach after guiding the club to three consecutive AFL premierships. The 65-year-old said delivering the news was “one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life”.

Fagan leaves after a decade in charge with 148 wins from 243 games, the most by any Brisbane Lions coach. Appointed in late 2016 after the club finished second-last, he oversaw a dramatic rise following a 2017 season in which Brisbane ended on the bottom of the ladder with 17 losses.

The Lions returned to the finals in 2019 and made the Gabba a formidable venue, winning 49 of 53 regular-season home games there from 2019 to 2023. Brisbane reached its first grand final in 19 years in 2023, losing to Collingwood by four points.

Fagan’s team then won the 2024 grand final against Sydney, 120-60, before defeating Geelong 122-75 in the 2025 decider. In 2026, Brisbane recovered from a qualifying-final loss to Sydney, beat Adelaide and Hawthorn, and reached a fourth straight grand final.

Against Fremantle in the 2026 final, the Lions trailed by 17 points with a little more than four minutes remaining before kicking four unanswered goals to win by seven points. Fagan said the club had been on a mission to become “the most entertaining and competitive team in the competition”, adding: “We have done that.”