William Magarey was born in Adelaide, South Australia. A lawyer by vocation, he had an enduring interest in sports, although he did not play football. He was, however, an active sports administrator who, in 1897, became the inaugural Chairman of the South Australian Football Association. The sport at that time was known for often rough play, and Magarey wanted to help combat this, and help gain more respect for umpires. In 1898 Magarey presented the first Medal to South Australia’s "fairest and most brilliant player" of that season. Similar best and fairest player awards followed in other state-based competitions, notably the Sandover Medal in Western Australia from 1921 and Brownlow Medal in Victoria from 1924. The Magarey Medal has been awarded in every year of SANFL competition since 1898, with the exception of 1900, 1904, when the competition was suspended due to war 1916-1918, and when a restricted competition was held during the war period of 1942-1944. After each match, the three field umpires confer and award 3, 2 and 1 point to the players they regard as the best, second best and third best during the match. Players suspended for a reportable offence during the season are ineligible to win the award though they can continue gaining votes leading to times when an ineligible player would poll the most votes in the medal count but not win the medal. This occurred in 1912, 1968, 1983 and 1987. In the 1990s the awarding of the medal was changed so that players tied on the most votes would share the medal. Prior to this, a countback system was used, whereby the player with the most "best on ground" performances would be awarded the medal. In 1998, ten players who had finished runner-up over prior years owing to the countback rule were retrospectively awarded the Magarey Medal. A single design for the medal was used after this.
signifies that 1 vote was awarded by 1 umpire each game.
signifies two umpires each awarded 3,2,1 votes each game.
signifies two umpires each awarded 5,3,1 votes each game.
Those without an asterisk signify a maximum of 3 votes awarded each game along with 2 and 1.
Players who polled the most votes but were ineligible due to suspension: Peter Darley ; Stephen Kernahan ; Garry McIntosh. In 1912 votes were not awarded; Harold Oliver was unanimously considered the competitions best player, but was declared ineligible for the award due to a fight with Ed Edwards of Norwood.
Multiple recipients
The following players have been multiple recipients of the medal. Malcolm Blight, JohnPlatten and Nathan Buckley are Magarey Medallists who subsequently won a Brownlow Medal as best and fairest players in AFL/VFL competition.
