Dick Head (footballer)
Australian footballer (1887-1940)

Henry Richard Head (3 April 1887 – 20 December 1940) was an Australian rules football player who played 143 games with West Adelaide in the South Australian Football League (SAFL).
Career
Head made his league debut in 1906 as a teenager, and, in 1909, became just the second ever West Adelaide player to win a Magarey Medal, following on from teammate James Tierney's win in 1908.
The Register described him as a deserving winner of the award. "The one man who shone above all others was Head, West Adelaide's centre pivot", the paper reported. "In nearly every match in which the red-and-blacks took part he was the best of the 36. On the ground he was too clever for all opponents, and in the air about the only player who eclipsed him was Hutton, of Norwood. Much of the success which West Adelaide achieved was due to his wonderful skill, resourcefulness and judgment, with which he associated considerable speed, absolute unselfishness and a gentlemanly demeanor. If anybody deserves the Magarey medal, Head does."
He was appointed club captain in 1913 and also captained the South Australia interstate side that year. Head was chosen to represent South Australia more often than not during his career, playing 17 games in total for his state.
In 1921, Head crossed to Sturt, but he managed just four games before announcing his retirement.
“Dick Head (footballer)” enters the record as australian footballer (1887-1940). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Dick, Head and footballer can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Dick Head (footballer)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Dick, Head and footballer provides the most credible route into that argument.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7326351. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1887, 1940, 1906 and 1909.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Dick Head (footballer)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Dick Head (footballer) primary sources, Dick Head (footballer) archive and Dick research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Dick Head (footballer)”?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Dick Head (footballer)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.