Frank "Dinky" Barry is a former footballer for the South Adelaide Football Club. Barry played his first game for South in 1911 aged 17. Barry represented South Australia in the 1914 interstate carnival. Barry won the Magarey Medal in 1915 where the medal whereabouts is unknown[1].
Early Life[]
Francis Martin Barry was born in 1894, one of five children of Irish immigrant parents. He attended Christian Brothers College and was one of its star footballers[2].
Football Career[]
Frank began with South Adelaide in 1911 at 17, and in 1913 started to come into his own as “one of the finest of South Australia’s rovers“. Barry became known for his strong mark, cool and calm approach and precision with hand and foot - “he usually essays a run, and if challenged, tries an impossible dodge and can lose the ball". In 1914, in the Inter-State Carnival in Sydney, he was runner-up for the Tassie Medal. His last season was in 1915, when South improved to finish third and Barry played in his only final.
Barry also helped South Adelaide star Dan Moriarty gain selection within the side.
Magarey Medal[]
In 1915, Barry won the Magarey Medal in a very close vote. Frank Barry, Port Adelaide's Shine Hosking and Norwood’s Charlie Perry were equal on votes at the end of the count, but Barry was the umpires’ final selection. Chairman of the SAFL, Mr E. E. Cleland KC, who commented “he has done honor to his club, as he had lived in South Adelaide all his life and had been tutored by that club”, presented the medal to Barry. The Magarey Medal given to Barry remains unknown, one story is Barry was challenged by 'Shine' Hosking in the street on his medal win, which Barry retorted -- “you can have it!” and threw the medal at Hosking. Barry also received a congratulatory letter from William Magarey, who had been unable to attend the presentation. The letter survives to this day.
SAFL Suspension[]
The competition was suspended from 1916 to 1918 owing the the war. On the night that he was presented with the medal at the Prince of Wales Hotel, Barry announced that “he hoped to do as well at Gallipoli as on the football field, and if VC's were about he would be a trier. “ he embarked on the 27th of October with the 10th Btn. He fought in the horrific conditions and carnage of the Western Front, contracting trench foot and requiring periods of time in hospital. He achieved the rank of second lieutenant, but there were lapses of discipline. He was discharged in 1919 under the cloud of a court-martial and did not receive his service medals and entitlements until later. An older brother, John, had been killed in action in France In 1916.
Frank did not play league football after the War, probably because of ongoing problems with his foot, but he did briefly coach a Barossa Valley team. He managed a River Murray fruit block and then settled in Wayville, working for the SA Produce Board. He married twice but had no children.
Death[]
Returning home from an SANFL game in 1963 he suffered a heart attack and died aged 69.
Speaking at his funeral, celebrated former ruckman and fellow Magarey Medallist Tom Leahy said, “No greater rover did I knock the ball to than Dinky Barry. He was truly a brilliant footballer, who, if he were playing today, would hold his own against any rover in the state.”
Legacy[]
Frank’s great-nephew George Barry was a drinks steward at the club for twenty-one years and is a life member. George’s son Brett played in premiership teams in South’s junior grades, and daughter Kelly was employed at the Club.
Frank Barry’s nephews, Jim and Brian became well known winemakers. Jim Barry established the renowned winery in the Clare Valley, now run by his son, Peter. Brian is a keen South supporter and witnessed the 1938 and 1964 premierships.
So there were many ways in which the Barry story played out, but Frank Barry himself remains an elusive character. Wartime priorities and lack of newspaper coverage arguably diminished his stature in the annals of the SANFL. The brevity of his career probably precluded consideration in South’s Greatest Ever Team.
Achievements[]
Magarey Medal: 1915