See: Video Allison Ferrall reflects on her career at Norwood after her retirement at the end of 2023
On field, Ferrall played as a defender who modelled her game on Corey Enright and Tom Stewart (as she is a staunch Geelong supporter). An intercept player, Ferrall was not afraid to run off her opponent and play as an attacking defender, but was also able to do a lock down role when required to. Although not fast on her feet, Ferrall prided herself on her ability to read the play well.
One of seven siblings, Farrall grew up playing junior Netball at the Gazelles Netball Club, winning trophies there as the Best and Fairest in 1999, 2000 and 2001. One of her brothers was playing underage football at North Adelaide and she would go and support him and kick a ball around on the ground afterwards, but despite her passion and interest, playing football herself did not seem a viable option at the time.
Female football pathways were slowly opening up in the mid-2010s and Ferrall joined the Morphettville Park Football Club in 2016. That year, she was selected alongside South Australia’s best women’s footballers to play in the third All-Stars match. Playing for the Red team in the number 5 guernsey, the match was played at Adelaide Oval as a curtain raiser to the Showdown. The Red and the Blue teams included a plethora of future AFLW and SANFLW stars, as well as future Norwood team mates Rebekka McMahon, Cassie Tsoumbris, Demi Sonneman, Leah Cutting, Nicola Burns and Tess Baxter.
Meanwhile, Ferrall’s club team had a dominant season but in the Preliminary final, Ferrall injured her knee early in the third quarter and sadly, she missed out on winning the premiership the following week.
A knee reconstruction followed, meaning Ferrall had to stand out of football in 2017. It also meant missing an opportunity to seek to play in the inaugural year of the SANFLW competition. However, Ferrall filled the void by coaching the B grade women’s team at Morphettville Park.
Prior to the second SANFLW season in 2018, Ferrall was invited out to Norwood by coach Steve Symonds whilst she was on her honeymoon in the United States. That year, she was a member of Norwood’s Grand Final team which lost to South Adelaide. The following year she was appointed Vice Captain and, playing for her local club, she was selected in the Adelaide Footy League’s Division 1 Team of the Year.
In 2020, Ferrall was elevated to Captain of the Norwood women’s team – an appointment she describes as her greatest accomplishment in football, and one which she held for four seasons until her retirement at the end of 2023. This makes Ferrall Norwood’s longest serving Captain of the women’s team. In 2020, Ferrall and team mate Jo Hill tied as Norwood’s leading goalkicker for the season.
The following year, Ferrall was a coach for the SANFLW Futures All Star Program and in 2022, she was awarded the SANFL Leadership Award – which was a $10,000 prize towards studying with the Torrens University. Amidst all the awards, Ferrall also broke her arm that year.
2023 was Ferrall’s final year as a player. She played her 50th SANFLW league game and later that year, her 57th and final game for Norwood before retiring at the age of 33. In a romantic twist, Ferrall had the ball in her hands when the final siren sounded and her final kick was a goal after the siren. Although her team lost a Preliminary final that day to eventual 2023 premiers Central District, there were surreal scenes after the game as Central celebrated a Grand Final berth and the Lady Legs celebrated Ferrall’s last moment as a league football player, and as Captain. Ferrall was chaired off the ground with both teams forming a guard of honour for the highly respected person and player.
In her final year as a player, Ferrall also coached the Norwood u/16 girls and was an Assistant Coach for the SA u/16 girls team. In 2024, Ferrall was appointed coach of the Women’s Development League team, which finished runner up.
Away from football, Ferrall works at Westpac in Financial Crime and Fraud Prevention. In her spare time away from work and football, she enjoys cricket, sprint car racing at Speedway, and attending home games of the Adelaide Crows with a bag of hot chips in her seat in the ‘Eddie Betts pocket’ at Adelaide Oval. A Geelong supporter for life, she maintains her Geelong membership (and a Crows membership!) and went to the AFL Grand Final to watch Geelong win the 2022 premiership.
Chris Brown, October 2024