Sampson Hosking (4 January 1888 – 20 October 1974) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian Football League (SAFL). He was twice a recipient of the Magarey Medal, an individual award given in recognition of being the best and fairest player in the SAFL. After his playing career Hosking was also an accomplished football coach successfully leading Port Adelaide and the West Torrens Football Club to a combined six premierships. In 1929 he was described in the Register as "one of the most prominent figures in the game during the past 20 years. Combining exceptional pace with a football brain of rare fertility".
Early life
Hosking was born on 4 January 1888 in Glanville, South Australia. He was the son of Cornish immigrant James Hosking and Port Adelaide local Jane Hampton McKenzie. Hosking grew up in close proximity to the Port River, living in Exmouth Street, Glanville.
For his education Hosking went to the Le Fevre Peninsula School. Around the age of twelve Hosking started working at the Glanville Pipe Works, alongside other family members, where he remained employed for 52 years.
When Hosking was very young he dislocated his left elbow, leading his father James, out of an abundance of caution, to rule that his son should never play football. To circumvent his father's ruling and ire, when Hosking played junior football with the Marist Brothers, and later the Semaphore Centrals, he did so under a false name. The pseudonym that Hosking used during these early years was H. Sampson. During his time at Semaphore Centrals his teammates often joked "who is this H. Sampson anyway?" and that "he is picked but never turns up!". Hosking was part of the Semaphore Centrals team that lost the Adelaide and Suburban Football Association Grand Final to the Norwood Seconds in 1906. Whilst at Semaphore Centrals Hosking purchased a short-brimmed hat, similar to that worn by an Adelaide comedian at the time known as Harry Shine, and was subsequently given the nickname "Shine" by his friends.
Around this time Hosking was working alongside Tom Leahy who was already a league footballer and was trying to convince his younger co-worker to join him at his then club, West Adelaide. Hosking did not tell his father about his football exploits until he was formally invited to play with Port Adelaide in 1907. His father's caution was not unfounded as Hosking suffered shoulder injuries throughout his entire football career. Whenever he played football Hosking preferred to wear a long-sleeved guernsey to hide his permanently taped left shoulder from opponents.
Playing career
Hosking made his senior debut for Port Adelaide in a win over Sturt on Unley Oval on 4 May 1907. A couple weeks later during a game Lewis Corston, Port Adelaide's captain, physically kicked Hosking telling him to work harder and threatened him with being dropped from the side if he did not "get into the game a bit more". This confrontation proved a lasting one in the memory of Hosking, who years later, recalled it as formative. In his first season of league football Hosking played in the 1907 SAFL Grand Final against Port Adelaide's traditional rival Norwood. That match was attended by a then-record crowd for football in South Australia with 25,000 spectators present at Adelaide Oval to witness Norwood win by 28 points. Hosking was given a gold medal by Port Adelaide in recognition of being the "most improved junior" for his club in 1907.
Hosking was named as one of Port Adelaide's best players in a 1908 post-season game against Essendon on Adelaide Oval of which the visitors won by one goal.
The third game of Port Adelaide's 1909 SAFL season against Norwood was severely effected by rain and wind with only one goal scored, by Hosking, for the whole match, a goal which Roy Hill described as a "fluke". On 19 July 1909 whilst at work Hosking was badly injured when a ladle of hot metal spilled on his legs and feet. He was severely burned. The injury prevented Hosking joining Port Adelaide's mid-season trip to Melbourne. Hosking had recovered enough by the time the club returned from Victoria to take his place back in the side when they faced Sturt on 21 August. Port Adelaide qualified for the 1909 SAFL Grand Final and by this stage Hosking had largely recovered from his work injury and was playing relatively well, kicking a goal during the match, but it was not enough, with West Adelaide winning the premiership decider by 18 points.