St Marys Football Club was formed in 1952 when Ted Egan, together with the Reverend Father Aubrey Collins, sought to provide Tiwi Islanders who were working for the Armed Services in Darwin, the opportunity to play regular organised football. At the time, with the exception of Wanderers Football Club, no other club from the Northern Territory Football League would allow ‘full blood’ Aboriginals to play in their teams. There were four other teams in the competition at the time (now the competition has eight). The initial team contained brilliant footballers but they played the game for fun and were not used to a competitive environment. The Club did not have much on-field success in its first year but they gradually learnt “to wear football boots, to play in the rain and to handle the rough stuff”. Within two years, St Marys had won its first premiership and it backed it up with another flag the following year. St Marys prides itself on its reputation of being the ‘family and community club’ and for developing local players who form the back bone of its teams. Indigenous Australians have always been an important component of the Club and have always been in the majority in all grades since formation. Through its sporting teams, St Marys strives to live by its motto “Recte Ad Metem” (Aim for the Middle). In operation of the Club, the mantra is “From Little Saints, Big Saints Grow”, with many players having progressed to the highest levels of competition – notably the AFL, SANFL and WAFL. The calibre of the Committee, administration, coaches and players involved in the early years of St Marys, and the values and standards that they set, has provided the foundation to what is now recognised to be the most successful senior football club in Australia.
