Racing
League
Rugby
Cricket
Golf
Motorsport
Combat Sports
Football
Netball
Basketball
Other Sports
Sport Nation
How former Roo Firrito received famous ‘Spud’ nickname
SEN • September 21st, 2025 11:10 am
Former North Melbourne star Michael Firrito had one of the most well-known footy nicknames of the 2000s and 2010s.
Known by all as ‘Spud’, Firrito played 275 games for the Kangaroos from 2003 to 2016, but it was long before he got to the top level when the nickname first stuck.
Instead, it was bestowed on him by his Eastern Ranges teammates once they found out their skipper grew up on a potato farm.
Given that Firrito grew up playing for Gembrook-Cockatoo Football Club where plenty of juniors grew up similarly , it wasn’t until he got to the representative level that his background was unique enough for a nickname.
“Gembrook is where I grew up and it’s where the footy journey began,” Firrito told This is Your Journey – thanks to Tobin Brothers.
“I grew up on a potato farm, but in the juniors, every second kid from Gembrook was a potato farmer.
“I didn’t have the nickname, ‘Spud’, then, it wasn’t until I got to the Eastern Ranges when the boys found out I was a potato farmer that they got onto Spud.
“I wasn’t that fond of it at the start, but no one gets a nickname that they like.
“But even my mum calls me Spud sometimes now, so it has stuck.”
The former defender recently departed Gembrook Cockatoo after serving as the Outer East club's senior coach for the last two seasons.
Firrito talked about his footballing journey and much more on this week’s episode.
Listen to the full special episode with Sam Edmund below.
