Australian Football

In 1898, Albert Green (aka 'Alby') achieved a kind of football immortality when he became the inaugural winner of league football's longest running major individual award, the Magarey Medal.

Born in Medindee, New South Wales, Green moved to Adelaide with his family soon afterwards. From a very young age he demonstrated considerable sporting prowess. In 1889 he was sent as a boarder to Geelong Grammar School where he became captain of the cricket and football teams, besides exhibiting excellence at athletics, shooting, tennis and rowing. Over two and a bit seasons, from 1891 to early 1893, he managed to find the time between schools commitments to play 27 games of VFA football with Geelong, where he impressed on a half back flank or as a rover.

In 1893, Alby Green returned home to South Australia. As far as football was concerned, he threw in his lot with Norwood, and quickly showed himself to be a supremely skilled, and almost preternaturally fair, performer, whether roving or in the centre. He was a key member of Norwood's 1894 premiership side but by 1897, debilitated by illness, he appeared to be past his best, despite being aged just 23.

In 1898, however, Green recaptured his very best form, and his combination of consistent, match-winning brilliance and impeccable sportsmanship made him a logical choice for an award designated as being for the best and fairest player in the competition. Green was presented with the Magarey Medal at the SAFA's annual meeting in April 1899, and promptly retired. The SAFA had introduced a compulsory electorate rule that year which would have meant Green leaving Norwood, and this he refused to do; consequently football supporters in South Australia were denied the prospect of perhaps another five years of eye-catching performances from one of the colony's most gifted footballers.

Author - John Devaney