Ken Farmer

Ken Farmer
Farmer pictured in 1933
Personal information
Full name	Kenneth William George Farmer
Date of birth	(1910-07-25)25 July 1910
Place of birth	Adelaide, South Australia
Date of death	5 March 1982(1982-03-05) (aged 71)
Place of death	Adelaide, South Australia
Position(s)	Full-forward
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1929–41	North Adelaide (SANFL)	224 (1,417)
Coaching career
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
1949–52	North Adelaide (SANFL)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1941.
Career highlights
SANFL debut with North Adelaide in 1929 North Adelaide Leading Goalkicker 1929-41 SANFL Leading Goalkicker 1930-40 Kicked over 100 goals in an SANFL season 11 consecutive years (1930-40) North Adelaide Club Captain 1934-35, 1937-38, 1941 North Adelaide Best & Fairest 1936 SANFL All-time Leading Goalkicker 1,417 17 State games for South Australia North Adelaide Premiership Coach 1949, 1952 South Australian State Coach 1954 North Adelaide Football Club Team of the Century - Full-forward SANFL Team of the Century - Full-forward North Adelaide Football Club Life Member 1937 Official Icon of the North Adelaide Football Club SANFL Player Life Member Australian Football Hall of Fame Inductee 1998 South Australian Football Hall of Fame Inaugural Inductee 2002

Kenneth William George "Ken" Farmer (born 25 July 1910 in Adelaide, South Australia – died 5 March 1982 in Adelaide) was an Australian rules football player in the South Australian National Football League during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. He was a prolific goalscoring full forward and successful premiership winning coach for North Adelaide.

Farmer grew up in the North Adelaide area and attended North Adelaide school, where he played Australian rules football on Fridays, and soccer on Saturdays. His early prowess in the round ball code resulted in being selected in the State Schoolboys soccer team.

Farmer left school at 14 and did not play football again until 1927, when he played with North Adelaide Ramblers Seconds and the Marryatville amateur team. In 1928 he was invited to play with the North Adelaide juniors, where he demonstrated some talent at marking and goalkicking, winning the best and fairest award.

In 1929 the 18-year-old Farmer debuted in the North Adelaide League side. Playing at full-forward in his first season, he kicked an impressive 62 goals in only 14 games. In 1930 he became the first SANFL player to kick over 100 goals in a season. He repeated this feat for the next ten seasons.

He played in the winning 1930 Grand Final side despite the great personal distress of his brother Elliot's death weeks earlier from a motorcycle crash that also involved Ken. In 1931 he kicked his 125th goal (exceeding Gordon Coventry's VFL record of 124) in a winning Grand Final performance.

Farmer captained North for five seasons (1934–1935, 1937–1938, 1941) and was club best and fairest in 1936.

Farmer's great goal scoring came from many attributes. His goals came readily, from superb concentration and the ability to read the play and be in position. Not only was he a brilliant fast lead, but Farmer was described as having a very powerful grip and hence a strong mark. He was unnervingly accurate shooting for goals with the screw and flat punts (drop punts not being part of the game at that time).

Farmer's goalscoring prowess was also evident when representing South Australia in interstate matches, where he averaged five goals per game.

Farmer's playing career ended when he went into the wartime RAAF. He took over the reins of coach for North Adelaide for four seasons from 1949, winning the premiership twice (1949, 1952).