The Fos Williams Medal has been awarded since 1981 to the best Australian rules football player from South Australia during Inter-State or Inter-Competition matches. The medal is named in honour of legendary South Australian National Football League (SANFL) player and coach Fos Williams.
Originally the award was made in respect of State of Origin matches. Since that competition folded in 1999, the medal has been awarded during games where the SANFL plays other state competitions in State League representative matches (e.g. WAFL v SANFL). The award is usually voted on by a panel selected by the SANFL from significant football identities present at the match, and may include past players, coaches and journalists.
* denotes State League clash, not an AFL-level Origin match
♦ South Australia played no state games in 1990 so the SANFL played a City v Country match at Football Park which was essentially an All-Stars game with teams divided into those recruited from SA's country leagues and those from Adelaide. The concept only lasted one season due to poor attendance.
Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where they are nicknamed the Power, while its reserves men's team competes in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), where they are nicknamed the Magpies. Since its founding, the club has won an unequalled 36 SANFL premierships and 4 Championship of Australia titles, in addition to an AFL Premiership in 2004. It has also fielded a women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW) league since 2022.
The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL, is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport.
Russell Frank Ebert was an Australian rules footballer and coach. He is considered one of the greatest players in the history of Australian rules football in South Australia. Ebert is the only player to have won four Magarey Medals, which are awarded to the best and fairest player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He is one of four Australian rules footballers to have a statue at Adelaide Oval, the others being Ken Farmer, Malcolm Blight and Barrie Robran. Football historian John Devaney described Ebert as coming "as close as any player in history to exhibiting complete mastery over all the essential skills of the game," and he is widely regarded as the Port Adelaide Football Club's greatest-ever player. Aside from his 392 games at Port Adelaide, Ebert played 25 games for North Melbourne in the 1979 VFL season and collected over 500 possessions as a midfielder for the club, which reached the preliminary final. Ebert was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, and he was posthumously elevated to Legend status in June 2022, the highest honour that can be bestowed onto an Australian footballer.
The Magarey Medal is an Australian rules football honour awarded annually since 1898 to the fairest and most brilliant player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), as judged by field umpires. The award was created by William Ashley Magarey, then chairman of the league. The current recipient is Aaron Young.
Foster Neil "Fos" Williams was a leading Australian rules footballer who played for and coached the Port Adelaide and West Adelaide Football Clubs and coached South Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) in a career spanning 1946–1978. He also played 34 interstate games for South Australia, captaining the team from 1954 to 1958 and he coached the team in 45 games from 1955 to 1969.
Representative matches in Australian rules football are matches between representative teams played under the Australian rules, most notably of the colonies and later Australian states and territories that have been held since 1879. For most of the 20th century, the absence of a national club competition in Australia and international matches meant that intercolonial and later interstate matches were regarded with great importance.
Paul Thomas is a retired Australian rules football player who played in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) with Central District Football Club. He has been announced as their Coach for the 2021 Season.
Gregory Anderson is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and the Essendon Football Club and Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Andrew Newton Jarman is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the North Adelaide Football Club and Norwood Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He is the older brother of Adelaide legend Darren Jarman and has won the Magarey Medal twice.
Stephen Scott Kernahan is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and for the Glenelg Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He also played 16 State of Origin games for South Australia and gained selection as an All-Australian five times. He later served for six years as president of the Carlton Football Club.
Jack Oatey was an Australian rules football player and coach.
Australian rules football in South Australia has long been the most popular sport in the state. It is governed by the South Australia National Football League.
Brett William Backwell is a former Australian rules football player who achieved some international notoriety in 2005 when he had a finger amputated to enable him to continue his chosen sport. Backwell played for Carlton in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 1999 to 2001, and won the J. J. Liston Trophy in 2001 and the Magarey Medal in 2006.
Barrie Barbary was an Australian rules footballer who played 213 games for North Adelaide and Woodville in the SANFL between 1957 – 1970. He was the 1960 Magarey Medalist and had a 14-year SANFL career. He is also a cousin to John Cahill and Darrell Cahill.
The 1988 Adelaide Bicentennial Carnival was the 22nd edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football State of Origin competition. Australia was celebrating its Bicentenary in 1988, so the carnival was known as the 'Bicentennial Carnival'. It took place over four days from 2 March until 5 March, and the matches were played at Football Park and Norwood Oval.
The 1983 Australian Football Championships was an Australian football series between representative teams of the three major football states. Games involving Victoria were played under State of Origin rules, whilst the match between Western Australia and South Australia involved players based in their respective states at the time. The competition was won by Western Australia.
The 1984 Australian Football Championships was an Australian football series between representative teams of the three major football states. Games involving Victoria were played under State of Origin rules, whilst the match between Western Australia and South Australia involved players based in their respective states at the time. The competition was won by Western Australia.
The 1985 Australian Football Championships was an Australian rules football series between representative teams of the three major football states. Games involving Victoria were played under State of Origin rules, whilst the match between Western Australia and South Australia involved players based in their respective states at the time. The competition drew controversy when the result of the game between Victoria and South Australia, originally a 57 point win to Victoria, was overturned and awarded to South Australia as a result of Victoria fielding too many players when coach Kevin Sheedy snuck Shane Heard into the squad and into the team as an extra player. The competition was won by South Australia, and it was their first Australian championship since 1911.
The 1987 Australian Football Championships was an Australian rules football series between representative teams of the three major football states. Games involving Victoria were played under State of Origin rules, whilst the match between Western Australia and South Australia involved players based in their respective states at the time. The competition was won by South Australia.
The City v Country West End Challenge was a one-off all-star game between two representative sides organised by the South Australian National Football League in the absence of a State of Origin game in 1990.