Merv Agars
Personal information
Full name Mervyn Stanley Agars[1]
Date of birth (1925-06-12)12 June 1925
Place of birth Elliston, South Australia
Date of death 8 August 2017(2017-08-08) (aged 92)
Place of death Nuriootpa, South Australia
Original team(s) Prince Alfred College
Height 186 cm (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Weight 76 kg (168 lb)[2]
Position(s) Follower[2]
Playing career
Years Club Games (Goals)
1946–1952 West Adelaide 106 (92)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
1948-1950s South Australia 8
Career highlights
Source: AustralianFootball.com

Mervyn Stanley Agars (12 June 1925 – 8 August 2017) was an Australian rules footballer and journalist. He played with West Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). An eight-time state representative, Agars went on to have a significant career in sports journalism and in 2002 was inducted into the South Australian Football Hall of Fame.[3] In 2018, Agars was posthumously inducted into the SA Media Awards Hall of Fame.

Early life

Born to John and Margaret, on a sheep farm close to Elliston, South Australia, Agars grew up as one of 10 siblings, with seven brothers and two sisters.[4] Aged 13, he began boarding at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide and studied there for three years before returning to the family farm.[4] Towards the end of World War II, Agars served in the Air Force Reserve.[4]

Career

Agars, a follower, began playing for West Adelaide in 1946 and in his second year of senior football was a member of their 1947 premiership team. He also played cricket for East Torrens and scored a century on his A-Grade debut in 1947.[5]

In 1948, he joined The Advertiser and worked in the printing office, while he continued to play football for West Adelaide and at representative level for South Australia.[4] He married his wife Margaret—the sister of state cricketer Phil Ridings—in a ceremony at an Anglican church in Adelaide in 1949.[6] Agars topped the goalkicking at West Adelaide in 1951, his penultimate season.

Retired from football, Agars transferred to the editing section of The Advertiser in 1953 and began work as a sports journalist.[4] He later became sports editor, a position he held for close to 20 years, the longest serving in the newspaper's history.[7]

During his journalism career, Agars covered four Summer Olympics.[4] He is the author of the book West Adelaide Football Club, Bloods, Sweat and Tears, a history of the club which was published in 1987.[3]

The Advertiser annually awards the Merv Agars Medal to the best player from the Australian Football League's two South Australian clubs.[8]

Personal life

One of Agars' West Adelaide teammates, Don Taylor, was his brother-in law, and a nephew, Leon Lovegrove, played in the club's 1961 premiership team.[8]

Agars' son, Graeme, is a noted golf and tennis commentator.[7]

Death

Agars retired and resided in the Barossa Valley until his death in 2017.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "World War Two Nominal Roll". Government of Australia. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 "Who's Who With South Aussies". Call. Western Australia. 11 August 1949. p. 6. Retrieved 17 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. 1 2 "Merv S Agars". Official website of the SANFL. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Barossa Village Grapevine (PDF) (100 ed.). July 2016.
  5. ↑ "Agars's First Century". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 6 January 1947. p. 5. Retrieved 17 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ "Today's Social News for Women". The News. South Australia. 19 April 1949. p. 13. Retrieved 17 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. 1 2 Young, Eric (12 September 2010). "Man of mystery behind the much-loved voice of sport". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  8. 1 2 Lawrie, Maddison (26 March 2013). "For the love of the game". Coastal Leader. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
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