William Magarey, first South Australian Football Association chairman, starts medal to fairest/most brilliant
The Magarey Medal, initiated by William Ashley Magarey, for the fairest and best player at the top level in Australian rules football in South Australia. Inset: The first medal winner Alby Green of Norwood club in 1898 and Port Adelaide's Russell Ebert (main image), the only player to win the medal four times (1971, 1974, 1976, 1980).
Lawyer William Ashley Magarey, great nephew of South Australian pioneers Thomas Magarey and Elizabeth Verco, was the first chairman of the South Australian Football Association (before it became the South Australian National Football League; SANFL) from 1897, introduced the Magarey Medal in the following year.
The medal, nicknamed “Beautiful Bill”, went to the player deemed by umpires to be the season’s fairest and most brilliant. The oldest individual award in Australian rules football, the medal fulfilled Magarey's aim to stamp out rough play and improve respect for umpires. The game had weathered strong criticism and tightened its rules after the death of young Bankers’ player Charles Poole in 1877, who had opponents trying to kick the ball out of his hands.
The inaugural winner of the medal was Norwood’s Alby Green. William Magarey presented every medal to the winner, followed by a congratulatory letter, until he died in 1929.
Magarey was partner with future South Australian chief justice George Murray in the law firm Murray & Magarey that continued into the 21st Century as Finlaysons Lawyers.
The SANFL Reserves medal also was called Magarey. Other medals developed for SANFL competitions included the McCallum and Tomkins that, until 2008, were awarded to best and fairest under-17 and under-19 players. These awards were merged in 2009 when the two under-age competitions were replaced by an Under-18s league.
The Jack Oatey Medal was awarded to best on ground in the SANFL grand final; first won in 1981 by Russell Ebert of Port Adelaide. Also that year, the Fos Williams Medal first recognised the standout performer (Peter Carey of Glenelg) for South Australia in interstate football. The R.O. Shearman Medal, from 2000, is awarded to the player voted on by the league's senior coaches for each home-and-away game.
The Bob Quinn Medal, for best afield in the Anzac Day games between previous grand finalists of the previous year, was first won in 2002 by James Gowans of Central District.
