Alby Green yarn

[Dogwatcher]

A great story this one.
I love these type of yarns.
I'd love to write them.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl ... 5919880763

Magarey mystery of Alby Green

SOMEWHAT prophetically, three lines written in a newspaper in 1928 foreshadowed one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in Norwood Football Club (NFC) history.

``Some time after he retired . . . he went out to the back country in New South Wales. Nothing has been heard of him since. It was always believed that he had been lost in the bush.'' The News, January 20, 1928.

Eighty years later, nothing has changed.

Alby Green, the first Magarey Medallist, is still lost.

It is not known where he died, where he's buried or the whereabouts of his descendants.

And up until last week, his date of death was also unknown.

But records at St Peter's College - where Green went to school - have revealed he died in 1913.

Last month, NFC inducted Green into its Hall of Fame at a gala ceremony in the city. No one was there to represent him.

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Historians have spent much of the past 30 years painstakingly tracing his family bloodlines, but little has been found.

Fresh leads have emerged, including one suggestion his actual surname only became Green when his family moved to Australia from Europe. But still nothing.

Not that historians are giving up, for it's the thrill of chasing the truth that keeps the heart in most historians beating - especially the red and blue type as their club song attests.

One of those is former player Michael Coligan, now Norwood Football Club History Group chairman.

``I think it's absolutely fascinating. It's one of those projects you can't get out of your mind,'' Coligan said.

``He was the first (Magarey) medallist, the club has the medal and he seemed like a bit of an adventurer.

``Phil Robins and Ian Everett did a lot of work scanning through records with history societies and genealogy groups, but no one has come forward to say they're a direct descendent of Alby Green.

``We want to track them down to give them his (Hall of Fame) certificate. It would be a bit of closure on his story and his life.''

The Alby Green story is as remarkable as they come.

The private schoolboy won the SANFL's first Magarey Medal in 1898.

The medal, which is now back at the club after turning up at an interstate pawn shop is made of gold and while its value is unknown, $20,000 is thought to be the minimum.

But the real value is knowing what happened to Green and whether his descendants are aware of his place in history.

NFC chief executive Dominic Shepley said Green's name had been ``knocked around'' for a while when considering the five Hall of Fame inductees each year.

``The medal is a very cherished Norwood item,'' Shepley said.

``We know Alby Green because he was the first medallist, but the reality is he didn't play a lot of football and we don't know what happened to him.''

According to historian and journalist/author Mike Coward, Albert Green was born at Menindee, New South Wales, on January 28, 1874.

He was the 11th child of Patrick Green and his wife Eliza (nee Fairchild).

It is believed the family moved to Glenelg in the mid-1870s for Patrick's health but he died on August 12, 1877.

Alby went to Glenelg Grammar School, St Peter's Collegiate and, from 1889, Geelong Grammar, where his sporting prowess shone.

He captained the school's cricket and football teams, rowed in head of the river, was handy with a tennis racquet and could throw a cricket ball 107 yards - some 97 metres.

Records also show he played 13 games with Geelong in the Victorian Football Association in 1892, during which the Geelong Grammar Quarterly described Green: ``as a player is equal to the best who has ever left our walls.''

The following year he returned to Adelaide and, like his brother Tom, played for Norwood.

He represented SA in his first senior season in 1893 and five years later, won the league's first Magarey Medal.

Green was touring Perth with the South Australian cricket team when he was announced as the winner.

But his football career came to a sudden end when the introduction of compulsory electorate football meant he wasn't allowed to play for Norwood. Green was either very loyal, very stubborn, or both, because he retired immediately.

He continued as a clubman and helped financially, but that's where the details end.

It's thought he spent some time working for a broker in north Queensland before undergoing serious surgery in Sydney in 1907.

Poignantly, when his mother died in Sydney on February 3, 1913, ``Albert Green of NSW'' was listed among her surviving children.

But by 1915, those executing her will reported no response to advertisements seeking Green's whereabouts.

Twenty years later, Ted Heidenrich - who later became NFC president - was alerted to Green's Magarey Medal in an interstate pawn shop and bought it for the club for a little under two pounds.

Today, it sits in a glass frame, hanging on a faded red and blue ribbon at the football club.

``We don't think he had children, but he had six brothers so you would think his name continued on,'' Coligan said.

``We still think there are some family members in Adelaide and we're still seeking information from relatives.''

ARE YOU RELATED TO ALBY GREEN? CONTACT LOCALFOOTYSA.COM.AU BY CLICKING THE YOUR KICK LOGO ON THE HOMEPAGE TO EMAIL US.

[Big Phil]

Agree, it was a fantastic read DW...

And how amazing was it that his medal was found in a pawn shop over in Victoria !!