The Stanley Football Association was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

competition based in the

Clare Valley The Clare Valley is a valley located in South Australia about north of Adelaide in the Clare and Gilbert Valleys council area. It is the river valley formed by the Hutt River but is also strongly associated with the roughly parallel Hill Riv ...

region of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, Australia. It operated between 1915 and 1936 with breaks in 1916-17 and 1919 due to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Brief history

The Stanley Football Association was formed in 1915 and featured teams (at times) from North Clare, South Clare, Blyth, Stanley Flat,

Sevenhill The Australian monastic town of Sevenhill is in the Clare Valley of South Australia, approximately 130 km north of Adelaide. The town was founded by members of the Jesuit order in 1850. The name, bestowed by Austrian Jesuit priest Aloysius ...

Farrell Flat Farrell Flat (formerly Hanson) is a town in South Australia. The town is located east of Clare and southwest of Burra on the former Peterborough railway line, in the Regional Council of Goyder. At the 2006 census, Farrell Flat and the surrou ...

, Watervale, Kybunga and Snowtown. The three foundation clubs were North Clare, South Clare and Blyth, all located in the cadastral County of Stanley, a historic administrative area, centred on Clare, from which the association drew its name. The association joined the

Mid North The Mid North is a region of South Australia, north of the Adelaide Plains and south of the Far North and the outback. It is generally accepted to extend from Spencer Gulf east to the Barrier Highway, including the coastal plain, the southern ...

Association following the 1936 season. The three original foundation clubs now compete in the

North Eastern Football League The North Eastern Football League is an Australian rules football competition based in the Mid North region of South Australia, Australia. It is an affiliated member of the South Australian National Football League. 8 teams are in the league. ...

Awards

The premiers of the competition won the Stanley Shield. It was first awarded in 1921. The "A. E. Fryar" medal, was awarded to the player judged (by umpire votes) the fairest and most brilliant footballer during the regular season. The award was given by

Albert Fryar Albert Edmund Fryar (2 December 1875 – 23 July 1944) was a noted South Australian philatelist and sportsman.

, a well-known

philatelist Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is possi ...

and sportsman originally from Clare and first awarded in 1926.

Jack Cockburn Jack Cockburn (26 December 1911 - 21 September 1990) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and for South Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Cockburn ...

won the Fryar Medal a record three times (1929, 1930 & 1932). He would go on to win the

Magarey Medal 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 Willia ...

for the fairest and most brilliant player in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), 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. Originally formed as the ...

(SANFL) in 1935. He was also inducted into the SANFL Hall of Fame in 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Former South Australian Regional Leagues Defunct Australian rules football competitions in South Australia Mid North (South Australia) 1915 establishments in Australia 1936 disestablishments in Australia

Brief history

Awards

See also

References