John Abley (18 October 1930 – 19 August 2011) 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 ...

er who played with

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

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) between 1950 and 1961.

Hawthorn reserves (1949)

John Abley grew up in Melbourne. During the

1949 VFL season The 1949 VFL season was the 53rd season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 16 April until 24 September, and comprised a ...

he played reserves football with

Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawt ...

but turned his back on a possible career with the club in the seniors when he moved to

Adelaide, South Australia Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

Move to Adelaide

When Abley moved to Adelaide it initially looked like he would be playing for Glenelg (as his younger brother

Kevin Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicized from , an ...

did) instead of Port as after the area he planned on residing in was part of Glenelg's recruiting zone. Port Adelaide officials, at the suggestion of Bob McLean, hastily arranged alternate accommodation in the hope of acquiring his services and Abley debuted for Port Adelaide in 1950.

Port Adelaide (1950-1961)

A fullback, Abley first played in that position for Port in a "Challenge match" in

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

at the end of his debut season and after impressing was kept there for the remainder of his career. He was a member of the famed Port team which won six premierships in succession from 1954 to 1959, an Australian record. Abley was a regular South Australian interstate representative and played a total of 23 games for his state. On three occasions Abley was selected as an

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

for his performances at the carnivals, in 1956, 1958 and 1961. In 1959, Abley was named as a life member of the Port Adelaide Football Club because of his talent, his warmth off the field and being one of only six players to play in all of Port Adelaide's premierships in the 1950s (1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958 and 1959).

Personal life

Abley died on 19 August 2011, aged 81, after a short illness.

Honours

In 1998, Abley was inducted into the

South Australian Football Hall of Fame The South Australian Football Hall of Fame enshrines those who have made a most significant contribution to the game of Australian Football. The Hall of Fame was established in 2002 when 114 outstanding individuals became inaugural inductees. S ...

. In 2001 Abley was named as the fullback in Port Adelaide's official "Greatest Team", taking into account all players to have represented the club since 1870. In 2020, Abley was inducted into the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coa ...

References

External links

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Port Adelaide obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abley, John Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Port Adelaide Football Club (SANFL) players Port Adelaide Football Club players (all competitions) All-Australians (1953–1988) South Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees 2011 deaths 1930 births Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian rules footballers from Adelaide