1901 SAFA season


The 1901 South Australian Football Association season was the 25th season of the top-level Australian rules football competition in South Australia. Minor premier won its 12th premiership. The season marked the formation and debut of the new Sturt Football Club.

Season

The season was played under conventions similar to, but was amended from, the previous two seasons and the system used in the VFL in 1898–1900.
In the minor round, all seven clubs played a double round-robin of twelve matches, and in the major round, all seven clubs played a single round-robin of six matches.
If the minor premiers won the major round, then that team would automatically win the major premiership. If they did not, then the major round winner would be required to defeat the minor premiers in two separate challenge finals to claim the premiership, effectively giving the minor premiers a triple chance to win the premiership.
The minor premier was Norwood, which finished two games clear on top of the ladder with a 10–2 record; however, the club's major round performance was mediocre, finishing fourth with a record of 3–3. Conversely, Port Adelaide, who had finished fourth in the minor rounds with a 6–6 record, was the undefeated winner of the major round. If the major round had been counted as part of the minor round, then Norwood would have been minor premiers with a 13–5 record, while Port Adelaide would have finished second: both they and North Adelaide finished 12–6, but Port Adelaide had a superior percentage.
Norwood then defeated Port Adelaide by four points in the first challenge match to win the club's twelfth premiership.

Minor round


Major round


Challenge Final

Notable events