Congear started playing football in 1902 with the Australs Football Club. In 1908 he started playing for Semaphore Centrals, an affiliate of the Port Adelaide Football Club who he would debut for later that year.[5]
Port Adelaide (1908–1922)
Angelo Congear debuted in Port Adelaide's fifth match of the 1908 SAFL season against Norwood at Adelaide Oval. In front of a then record crowd of 25,000 at Adelaide Oval, Congear would kick a goal on debut but Port Adelaide would end up losing the match by 13 points.[6]
During his career at Port Adelaide he played in seven Grand finals and won three Championships of Australia.[7] Upon his induction into the Port Adelaide Football Club Hall of Fame he was listed as having played over 150 games.[3]
A reporter for the Daily Herald of Adelaide considered him to be the best player during Port Adelaide's 1914 Championship of Australia victory over Fitzroy.[8]
Reputation
Angelo Congear was considered to be one of the finest rovers in South Australia in his era.[9]
Personal life
The Australian-born son of a Greek immigrant father from Kea, Cyclades Islands, Greece, John Angelo Congear, who migrated to Australia in 1861 and lived to be 101 years old.[10] For work Congear would do manual labour on the Port Adelaide wharves, including on the mornings of days he played football.[11]
^"Thirteen Seasons". The Daily Herald. Vol. XII, no. 3581. Adelaide. 9 September 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 10 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
^"FOOTBALL". The Register (Adelaide). Vol. LXXIII, no. 19, 211. South Australia. 9 June 1908. p. 8. Retrieved 19 November 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Thirteen Seasons". Daily Herald. Adelaide. 9 September 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 26 November 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Ports V. Carlton". Daily Herald. Adelaide. 5 October 1914. p. 2. Retrieved 15 July 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
South Australia 13.18 (96) def. Western Australia 3.5 (23), at Adelaide Oval, 5 August 1911 South Australia 13.13 (91) def. Tasmania 3.6 (24), at Adelaide Oval, 7 August 1911 South Australia 12.20 (92) def. New South Wales 2.9 (21), at Adelaide Oval, 9 August 1911 South Australia 11.11 (77) def. Victoria 5.4 (34), at Adelaide Oval, 12 August 1911
Victoria 14.13 (97) def South Australia 10.10 (70), at Melbourne Cricket Ground, 6 July 1912 South Australia 9.8 (62) def Victoria 6.7 (43), at Adelaide Oval, 10 August 1912
Victoria 10.9 (69) def South Australia 7.13 (55), at Adelaide Oval, 12 July 1913, crowd: 15,000 Victoria 16.12 (108) d South Australia 6.17 (53), at Melbourne Cricket Ground, 16 August 1913
South Australia 12.16 (88) d Western Australia 12.11 (83), at Sydney Cricket Ground, 5 August 1914 South Australia 32.18 (210) d Queensland 2.9 (21), at Sydney Cricket Ground, 7 August 1914 South Australia 16.20 (106) d New South Wales 10.3 (63), at Sydney Cricket Ground, 10 August 1914 South Australia 18.23 (131) d Tasmania 5.7 (37), at Sydney Cricket Ground, 12 August 1914 Victoria 11.11 (77) defeated South Australia 5.10 (44), at Sydney Cricket Ground, 15 August 1914, crowd: 12,000