1. Kenneth William George Farmer was an Australian rules footballer who played for the North Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League.
35 Facts About Ken Farmer
1. 2.
Ken Farmer is the only SANFL player to have scored 1,000 or more career goals in premiership matches, and coached North Adelaide to two premierships.
3.
Ken Farmer was the eldest of two sons born to William Thomas Ken Farmer, a labourer, and Ethel Ann.
4.
Ken Farmer's younger brother, Elliott Maxwell, was born on 16 December 1911.
5.
Ken Farmer was born and raised in North Adelaide and attended North Adelaide Public School, where he played Australian rules football on Fridays, and soccer on Saturdays.
6.
Ken Farmer did not play football again until 1927, when he played with North Adelaide Ramblers Seconds and the Marryatville amateur team.
7.
In 1929, the 18-year-old Ken Farmer debuted in the North Adelaide League side.
8.
Elliott was taken to Adelaide Hospital but died shortly after admission, while Ken Farmer was able to return home after treatment.
9.
In later years, Ken Farmer was said to suffer long periods of depression, most likely as a result of this accident.
10.
Ken Farmer played in the winning 1930 Grand Final side despite the great personal distress of his brother's death weeks earlier.
11.
Ken Farmer captained North for five seasons and was club's best and fairest player in 1936.
12.
Ken Farmer's goals came readily, from superb concentration and the ability to read the play and be in position.
13.
Not only was he a brilliant fast lead, but Ken Farmer was described as having a very powerful grip and hence a strong mark.
14.
Ken Farmer was unnervingly accurate shooting for goals with the screw and flat punts.
15.
Ken Farmer's goal scoring prowess was evident when representing South Australia in interstate matches, where he averaged five goals per game.
16.
Ken Farmer's playing career ended during World War II when he went into the RAAF, where he served as a sergeant from April 1942 to July 1946.
17.
Ken Farmer returned to North Adelaide after the war and was appointed coach of their reserves side in 1948.
18.
Ken Farmer took over as senior coach from Haydn Bunton, Sr.
19.
Ken Farmer was reappointed coach for the following season, in which the club finished fifth.
20.
In South Australia, Ken Farmer was known as the "Bradman of goal kickers", a reference to the contemporary prolific cricket run scorer Donald Bradman.
21.
In 13 seasons and 224 games for North Adelaide, Ken Farmer kicked 1,417 goals, making him the highest goal scorer in the history of the SANFL and elite Australian rules football, a record that stands to this day.
22.
Ken Farmer won the club leading goal-kicker award in every season he played, and won the league leading goal-kicker award in all except his first and last seasons at SANFL level.
23.
On 35 occasions, Ken Farmer kicked 10 goals or more, and he was held goalless only once, when he was carried off injured after 10 minutes of play.
24.
Ken Farmer's highest goal tally in a year was 134, but rather than kicking more in a season, he kicked 100 goals 11 times: his 1936 tally was a record until 1969, when it was broken by Fred Phillis of Glenelg.
25.
Ken Farmer played 17 interstate football games for South Australia and kicked 81 goals; if these matches are considered, his senior career total of 1,498 goals places him as the second-highest ever goalscorer in elite Australian rules football.
26.
Ken Farmer's total is ranked second behind only Peter Hudson.
27.
Ken Farmer holds the equal record for most goals kicked in a SANFL or elite match with 23.6 against West Torrens, out of his side's score of 26.11.
28.
Ken Farmer married Floris Edna Craig, a shop assistant, on 21 December 1935 at St Cuthbert's Anglican Church in Prospect.
29.
Ken Farmer saw his son for the first time after returning from war service.
30.
Ken Farmer died on 5 March 1982 at Modbury and was cremated.
31.
Ken Farmer was survived by his wife, son and grandchildren.
32.
Ken Farmer was made a life member of the North Adelaide Football Club in 1937.
33.
In 1980, the Ken Farmer Gates were dedicated on the eastern side of North Adelaide's home ground, Prospect Oval.
34.
Ken Farmer has been named as an official 'icon' of the North Adelaide Football Club, and in 2000 was selected as full forward in North Adelaide's official Team of the Twentieth Century.
35.
Ken Farmer was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1998, and was an inaugural inductee to the SANFL Hall of Fame in 2002.