Harold Oliver (Australian footballer)

Harold Oliver
Harold Oliver
Personal information
Full name	William Harold Oliver
Date of birth	12 August 1891
Place of birth	Waukaringa, South Australia
Date of death	15 November 1958 (aged 67)
Place of death	Adelaide, South Australia
Original team(s)	South Broken Hill (1908); Lyrup (1909); West Suburbans (1910)
Height	182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	83 kg (183 lb)
Position(s)	Utility
Playing career1
Years	Club
1910–15, 1919–22	Port Adelaide
1916	SA Railways (Patriotic League)
1916–17	Port Adelaide (Patriotic League)
Representative team honours
Years	Team
1911–1912, 1921	South Australia
	1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1922.
Career highlights
	Club 3× Champions of Australia team member (1910, 1913, 1914); 4× Port Adelaide premiership player (1910, 1913, 1914, 1921); 2× Port Adelaide patriotic league premiership player (1916, 1917); 2× Port Adelaide best and fairest (1911, 1912); Leader for 1912 Magarey Medal (but ineligible to win); The Sport (Adelaide) 'Best All-round League Player' (1911); Best on ground (Port Adelaide def. South Australia, 1914); Port Adelaide premiership captain (1921); Port Adelaide best junior (1910); Representative South Australia captain (Western Australia v. South Australia, 1921); 14 games for South Australia; 1911 South Australian state carnival championship team; Honours Port Adelaide's greatest team (right half-forward); Port Adelaide Hall of Fame (1998); Port Adelaide life membership (1922); SANFL hall of fame (2002);
	Source: AustralianFootball.com

William Harold Oliver (12 August 1891 – 15 November 1958) was an Australian rules footballer. Harold Oliver was a key player to some of South Australian football's most successful teams. He starred in South Australia's victorious 1911 Australian football championship along with Port Adelaide's 1914 "Invincibles" team. After being close to retiring from the game after World War I, he returned to captain both Port Adelaide to the 1921 SAFL premiership and South Australia in a game against Western Australia.^[9]^[10] His reputation as an early exponent of the spectacular mark—along with his general skill at playing the game—saw him regarded as one of the best players South Australia has produced.

^ Harold Oliver – Sporting Art Postcard Series. Adelaide: McMahons. 1921.
^ "Play and Players". Daily Herald. Adelaide. 4 August 1922. p. 7. Retrieved 17 October 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
^ Port Adelaide Football Club Yearbook 2014
^ "MAGAREY MEDALLISTS". The Register. Adelaide. 30 September 1912. p. 9. Retrieved 24 January 2020 – via Trove.
^ "CHAMPION FOOTBALLERS". The Register. Adelaide. 5 October 1912. p. 15. Retrieved 24 January 2020 – via Trove.
^ "Best All-round League Player". Sport. Adelaide. 14 October 1911. p. 10. Retrieved 8 May 2020 – via Trove.
^ "HAROLD OLIVER". Murray Pioneer and Australian River Record. Vol. 33, no. 27. Adelaide. 27 June 1925. p. 1. Retrieved 12 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "CARNIVAL FOOTBALL". The West Australian. Vol. XXXVII, no. 6, 030. 15 August 1921. p. 6. Retrieved 27 June 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "W (Harold) Oliver". SANFL.
^ "Harold Oliver". Australian Football.com.