Phelan Medal


The Phelan Medal is an annual award given in the Sydney AFL. It is awarded to best and fairest player of the Premier Division competition each year and is named after former NSW League official James E. Phelan. It is seen to be the Sydney AFL equivalent to the Brownlow Medal.
The best and fairest player in the Sydney League was first presented an unnamed award in 1926. In 1932, Mr Aub D.S. Provan, the NSW Australian National Football League president donated a trophy titled the "Provan Trophy" to the winner. The name was changed to the Phelan Medal in 1937.

Phelan Medallists

Multiple winners

The following players have won the Phelan Medal multiple times.
MedalsPlayerTeamSeasons
4Jack WilliamsonEastern Suburbs1933, 1935, 1937, 1938
4Rod PodburyBankstown/Campbelltown1983, 1986, 1987, 1990
2Billy McKoySydney1928, 1929
2Cliff BarnsleySydney1940, 1941
2Ken ChampionNorth Shore/Western Suburbs1947, 1948
2Wally BryceLiverpool1954, 1955
2Ralph TurnerSouth Sydney/Sydney Naval1959, 1961
2Brian TylerEastern Suburbs/South Sydney1969, 1974
2George AllenWestern Suburbs1973, 1975
2John PilkingtonNewtown1980, 1982
2Graham JonesWestern Suburbs/Baulkham Hills1984, 1995
2Troy LuffBalmain /UNSW-ES2002, 2006
2Shaun CraneNorth Shore2017, 2018

Phelan Medal wins by club


ClubTotal WinsYears
Balmain61956, 1970, 1976, 1985, 2000, 2002
Bankstown21960, 1983
Baulkham Hills/East Coast Eagles31995, 1998, 2016
Campbelltown61986, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1999, 2003
East Sydney/Eastern Suburbs/UNSW-ES121933, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1969, 1979, 1981, 1994, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2012
Holroyd-Parramatta11989
Illawarra21949, 1950
Liverpool/Southern Districts61954, 1955, 1957, 1968, 1971, 1978
Manly Warringah22013, 2015
Newtown51936, 1946, 1972, 1980, 1982
North Shore81930, 1939, 1947, 1951, 1962, 2005, 2017, 2018
Pennant Hills71983, 1988, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2019
South Sydney61934, 1952, 1958, 1959, 1964, 1974
St George81931, 1932, 1965, 1977, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997
Sydney51926, 1928, 1929, 1940, 1941
Sydney Naval31961, 1966, 1967
Sydney University41953, 1990, 2009, 2010
Western Suburbs/Inner-West71927, 1948, 1963, 1973, 1975, 1984, 1996