Early History[]
1901 to 1918[]
The Sturt Football Club was built from the foundations of the little known Unley Football Club. One of the spectators of Unley was Arthur C. Thomas who has been given the title "Father of the Sturt Football Club". Thomas felt that the club could be better organised and the oval greatly improved. On August 9, 1890, Arthur C Thomas formed the Sturt District Cricket Club, Thomas knew that the forming of this club would give the young men of Unley the chance to play cricket in their district. Thomas realized that to keep the cricket players fit during the winter a football team had to be put in place. In a successful application to the South Australian Football Association, Sturt Football Club were born in 1901. The club decides to use the two shades of blue of Oxford and Cambridge Universities as Unley Oval is situated on the junction of Oxford Terrace and Cambridge Terrace, hence the nickname of the "Double Blues". The first captain and coach of the club was Percy Kekwick, Highlights of the club's first season- they play Norwood at Norwood Oval in their first ever game, losing by 33 points, the first game at Unley Oval was against West Torrens which they lost by 30 points and the club's first ever win was recorded against South Adelaide by 27 points at Unley Oval.
See Also: 1901 Sturt Season
The club struggles in these formative years, finishing no higher than fourth in 1906, however ruckman Hendrick 'Taffy' Waye, who dominated the competition to the extent that opposition club's used two players against him becomes the club's first ever Magarey Medallist, winning in 1903.