Adelaide Football Club


The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The club has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League since 1991, and a women's team in the AFL Women's competition since 2017. The club's offices and training facilities are at Football Park in the western Adelaide suburb of West Lakes, the site of the club's old home ground between 1991 and 2013. Since 2014 Adelaide have played home matches at the Adelaide Oval, a 53,500-seat stadium located a few hundred metres north of the Adelaide CBD. The club song is "The Pride of South Australia", to the tune of the US Marines' Hymn.
The Crows were formed in 1990 as the de-facto state team representing South Australia in the AFL. They were originally owned by the South Australian National Football League, though they gained administrative independence in 2014. They played their first season in 1991 and finished in 9th place, the highest ranking of any expansion club in the AFL in a debut year. The men's team won both the 1997 and 1998 Grand Finals, and have appeared in 15 finals series in their 28-year history. Adelaide is the most successful team in the AFL Women's competition, being the only club to have won multiple premierships; in 2017 and 2019. It also fields a reserves team in the South Australian National Football League, though has been less successfull in that competition.
The men's team is currently coached by Matthew Nicks and captained by Rory Sloane, who was appointed co-captain alongside Taylor Walker prior to the 2019 season. Don Pyke permanently succeeded the late Phil Walsh as head coach in October 2015
before departing the club at the end of 2019.

History

1990s: Foundation and back-to-back triumph

After the VFL was renamed the AFL for the 1990 season, the SANFL clubs unanimously resolved, in May 1990, that a team would not be entered into the AFL until season 1993. The AFL refused to accept this, and revised negotiations with individual clubs Port Adelaide and Norwood. Two months later, the Port Adelaide Football Club reached terms of agreement with the AFL to enter a team into its competition in season 1991. The other nine SANFL clubs reacted strongly and entered into litigation in an endeavour to halt Port's bid. As the terms offered were more favourable than previously offered, talks were resumed. On 19 September 1990, the AFL approved the bid for a new South Australian club to enter to the league, rather than a single existing SANFL club.
The Adelaide Crows played their first season in the AFL in 1991. Inaugural coach Graham Cornes and captain Chris McDermott led Adelaide to a respectable ninth place out of 15 in the league, with 10 wins and 12 losses and a percentage of 89.44. Adelaide's first AFL game was against on Friday 22 March at their then home ground, Football Park. The Crows defeated the eventual premiers by a hefty 86-point margin, winning 24.11 to 9.15. The club reached its first finals series in the 1993 AFL season, eventually losing to Essendon in the preliminary final.

Premiership glory in 1997 and 1998

The year 1997 marked the entry of a second South Australian club,. The Crows finished fourth to qualify for its first finals series since 1993, and hosted fifth-placed in the First Elimination Final. In the first final ever to be played at Football Park, the Crows won 14.15 to 9.12. The next week, Adelaide benefited from the finals system in use at the time and hosted the higher ranked, who had finished two places above the Crows but were forced to play away due to losing the previous week to. The Crows won narrowly in a controversial match, where a clear forward 50 mark to Geelong's Leigh Colbert during a critical stage of the third quarter was not awarded by field umpire Grant Vernon. Final scores: Adelaide 11.10 to Geelong 9.14. This set up an away Preliminary Final against the at the MCG. Despite losing Coleman Medallist Tony Modra, who had kicked 84 goals for the season, to an ACL injury in the first quarter and trailing by 31 points at half time, the Crows kicked four unanswered goals in the last quarter to record a two-point victory, 12.21 to 13.13, with Darren Jarman kicking a goal to put Adelaide in front with less than two minutes remaining. This allowed the Crows to qualify for their first AFL Grand Final, to be played against at the MCG a week later.
St Kilda, chasing just their second premiership in VFL/AFL history, were warm favourites to win the Grand Final, having come first in the minor round and won both of their finals by margins of 46 and 31 points, against an Adelaide side without Tony Modra, Mark Ricciuto and goalsneak Peter Vardy due to injury. However, the Crows again overcame a half-time deficit, kicking 14 second-half goals to win by 31 points, 19.11 to 13.16. Darren Jarman kicked six goals, five of which came in the last quarter, whilst utility Shane Ellen kicked a career-best five and Troy Bond kicked four. Andrew McLeod, who gathered 31 possessions across half-back and in the midfield, won the Norm Smith Medal for the best player on-field in the Grand Final. The win is arguably one of the finest moments in South Australian sporting history.
Few expected the Crows to successfully defend their premiership the following year. Adelaide often struggled in close matches during the 1998 AFL season; seven of their nine losses were by 13 points or less, compared to only three wins by corresponding margins. The Crows were well beaten by Melbourne in the qualifying final at the MCG by 48 points, and at the time, looked far from a premiership threat. Since season 2000, a loss in the finals by a team outside the top four would result in instant elimination, but the Crows benefited from a quirk in the McIntyre finals system that was in use during the 90's and still progressed to the second week, drawn to play a semi final against the Sydney Swans at the SCG. The Crows bounced back from their disappointing first finals loss and recorded a comprehensive upset 27-point win against the Swans in the wet, which set up a Preliminary Final rematch against the Western Bulldogs. Despite going into the match as underdogs, the Crows played some of their best football of the year to soundly beat the Dogs by 68 points - 24.17 to 13.15. It was a complete contrast to the thriller that took place the previous year, with Matthew Robran kicking six goals and Andrew McLeod, opposed to renowned tagger Tony Liberatore, booting seven.
Like the previous year, Adelaide went into the Grand Final as underdogs, playing against, who had won the premiership in 1996 and had won eleven consecutive matches leading up to the Grand Final. North Melbourne led by 24 points at half-time, 6.15 to 4.3, with only their inaccurate goalkicking keeping Adelaide in the contest. However, as they had in the previous year, Adelaide dominated the second half to win by 35 points, 15.15 to 8.22. Darren Jarman kicked five goals, while Andrew McLeod won his second successive Norm Smith Medal, an unprecedented feat. Club legend Mark Ricciuto won the Crows' Club Champion award in 1998. Following a disappointing year in 1999, premiership coach Malcolm Blight resigned from the role and the Crows entered the new millennium with two premierships under their belt.

2000s: Finals and near misses

The Crows next made the finals in 2001 AFL season, this after losing their opening three matches for the season. Adelaide played fifth-placed at the MCG in the First Elimination Final and were roundly defeated, 17.16 to 6.14. High-profile forward Darren Jarman announced his retirement after the match. Adelaide's impressive 2002 AFL season came undone at the penultimate stage, losing to Collingwood in the Preliminary Final at the MCG. Ben Hart won his second Malcolm Blight Medal in 2002, with Tyson Edwards finishing runner-up. Brett Burton led the Crows' goalkickers with 51. Hart and Mark Ricciuto were both named as All-Australians. Adelaide then extracted some revenge by defeating Collingwood in the pre-season competition in 2003, a first win of its kind for the club. The Crows' impressive 2003 season was eventually halted by the at the Gabba in the semi-finals. That season Adelaide captain Mark Ricciuto became the first Crow to win the Brownlow Medal for the best and fairest player in the AFL in a three-way tie with Adam Goodes and Nathan Buckley. The Crows returned to finals in 2005 and recorded a famous win in what to this day remains the only Showdown match against rivals in the semi-finals. They then lost once more at the penultimate stage, to West Coast at Subiaco Oval by 16 points. This was a feat the club unfortunately repeated in 2006 when they again lost to West Coast in the preliminary final, this time at home and by an even smaller margin.
Remarkably, Adelaide went on to qualify for finals for each of the remaining seasons in the 2000s, falling short at the elimination or semi-final on each occasion. Collingwood proved to be the most obvious of villains, knocking the Crows out of the finals race successively in 2008 and 2009. Andrew McLeod and Bernie Vince won club best and fairest awards in that time.
Adelaide's finals runs in the 2000s
YearLost inOpponentMargin of defeat
2001Elimination Final68 points
2002Preliminary Final28 points
2003Semi Final42 points
2005Preliminary Final16 points
2006Preliminary Final10 points
2007Elimination Final3 points
2008Elimination Final31 points
2009Semi Final5 points

2010s: Rebuilding and tragedy

Adelaide had a disastrous start to the 2010 season, losing their first six matches of the home and away season. They did recover to some extent in the back half of the year, finishing 11th with nine wins and thirteen losses, the first time under coach Neil Craig that the team did not make the finals. The season marked a turning point, with the likes of McLeod, Simon Goodwin and fellow stars Brett Burton, Tyson Edwards and Trent Hentschel all announcing their retirements during the season. Long-term defender and club stalwart Nathan Bock announced he was leaving the club to join new side. These changes led to a disastrous 2011 campaign, which proved to be the worst season in the club's history. After a 103-point loss to fading champions, the club's longest-serving coach Neil Craig stepped down, handing the reins to assistant coach and former premiership captain Mark Bickley as caretaker for the remainder of the season. Under Bickley the club won three of their next four games, but lost their final two to and, finishing in 14th place with 7 wins and 15 losses, both club worsts. Scott Thompson won the Malcolm Blight Medal for the season. New coach Brenton Sanderson began his era at the club with a pre-season premiership in 2012 and followed up that success with an above-expectations regular season; the Crows finishing 17-5 and never once losing consecutive matches. Adelaide eventually qualified to face minor premiers at the MCG in the First Preliminary Final. Hawthorn led for most of the match and despite Adelaide taking the lead with five minutes remaining, the Hawks responded to win the match by five points, yet another heartbreaking finals series loss for the Crows. Adelaide would then fall under the weight of expectations to some degree in the 2013 and 2014 seasons, narrowly missing the top 8 on both occasions. This led to Sanderson being sacked at the end of the 2014 season. The club moved home matches to the newly redeveloped Adelaide Oval at the start of the 2014 season, though to this day the Crows retain their training and administrative headquarters at their old home stadium, Football Park.

2012: Scandal and Investigation

At the end of 2012, it was revealed that Adelaide had been found guilty of breaching the salary cap and tampering with the draft. As a sign of cooperation with the AFL, Adelaide forfeited themselves from the first two rounds of the 2012 draft. At a hearing at AFL House in Melbourne, both the Adelaide Crows and current CEO at the time, Steven Trigg, were both fined $300,000 and $50,000 respectively. The Adelaide Football Club were also suspended from participating in the first two rounds of the 2013 draft. It's widely accepted to be the league's biggest salary cap and list management scandal since Carlton in 2002.

2014: Transfer of SANFL licence

In March 2014, on the eve of the new season, the South Australian Football Commission announced it had struck a deal with the Adelaide Football Club which required the SANFL to transfer its ownership of the Crows' licence to the club, in exchange for payments totalling $11.326 million between 2013 and 2028. The arrangement marked the first time the Adelaide Football Club had independent control of its own administration and came in conjunction with measures designed to solidify the SANFL's control of game development and the sport in South Australia.

2015: Death of Phil Walsh

The 2015 season started successfully for the Adelaide Football Club with a 77-point win over reigning preliminary finalists. Newly appointed coach Phil Walsh oversaw a rapidly improving team that became known for their skilled ball use and ability to grind out wins. During the season, Adelaide was cleared of any wrongdoing by the AFL in the Eddie Betts affair, which became newsworthy following an allegation that Betts's transfer to the Crows from had been illegally signed and approved as much as 18 months prior to his move.
On 3 July, two days prior to Adelaide's then-scheduled round 14 match against, coach Phil Walsh was stabbed to death by his son at the age of 55 in his Somerton Park home. His son Cy Walsh would later be found not guilty due to mental incompetence and placed under a lifetime psychiatric supervision licence, ordering that he be detained indefinitely in a secure psychiatric facility. The tragedy was followed by an outpouring of sympathy and tributes from the club's fans and the wider AFL community. The match against the Cats was cancelled, with both teams receiving two premiership points each. Adelaide's SANFL team's match against, scheduled for the next day, was postponed until later in the season. On 6 July, assistant coach Scott Camporeale was appointed interim coach for the remainder of the season, while premiership coach John Worsfold was hired as coaching director to support Camporeale. Inspiringly, the team rebounded to win six of their next seven games and qualify for the 2015 finals series, where they defeated the Western Bulldogs by seven points in a thrilling elimination final at the MCG. Their season ended when they lost to eventual premiers the next week.

2016–2019: Don Pyke era

Star midfielder for many years Patrick Dangerfield left the club at the end of the 2015 season and Don Pyke, a former premiership player and assistant coach with who had also been an assistant coach at Adelaide from 2005 to 2006, was appointed Adelaide's senior coach for at least three years. Adelaide was widely tipped to slide out of the finals in 2016 but the Crows proved to be one of the successes of the season, comfortably qualifying for a home elimination final and defeating by 62 points, before being eliminated the next week by eventual beaten grand finalists, in the semi-finals. The club had a dominant 2017 season, winning their opening six games and never falling below second place for the entire season. Adelaide claimed their second McClelland Trophy as minor premiers. The Adelaide Crows entered the 2017 finals series as favourites for the premiership; they defeated and by 36 and 61 points respectively to qualify for the Grand Final, their first since 1998, where they faced. Despite starting as rampaging hot favourites, the Crows lost the match by 48 points and finished runners up for the first time in their history.
The club struggled to replicate its 2017 form in the 2018 AFL season. Adelaide struggled with injuries during the year, including Captain Taylor Walker, Rory Sloane, Brad Crouch, Tom Lynch, Rory Laird, and Richard Douglas. Combined with the loss of Cameron and Lever, the Crows struggled throughout the year but held on to win twelve games, including against 2017 Premiers and soon-to-be 2018 Premiers West Coast. The club finished 12th on the ladder with 12 wins, 10 losses, and a percentage of 104.1, and below crosstown rivals Port Adelaide who finished 10th, but with 3.5 more percentage points. This put Adelaide out of the finals for the first time since 2014. One highlight towards the end of the year was Rory Sloane who, despite rumours of a trade home to Victoria, signed a five-year contract to effectively play out his time as a one-club player.
There were lofty aspirations going into 2019, with many expecting them to play finals or even in the premiership. Despite fewer injuries, the club failed to meet these lofty expectations of finals, finishing 11th with 10 wins, 12 losses, and 100.9 percentage points. There was much media coverage given to the team throughout the season, with concerns raised about player retention and the coaching staff, especially with players like Bryce Gibbs, Josh Jenkins, and Eddie Betts dropped on and off throughout the season due to issues of form. Following the end of their season, the club began an external review of their football operations, with many musing about the future of players and coaching staff. Prior to the conclusion of the review, co-captain Taylor Walker resigned his captaincy after four years to focus on his football and family. A week later, Coach Don Pyke stepped down, a decision unrelated to the reviews that were occurring.

Club symbols

Club guernsey

Adelaide currently has two guernsey designs which are used in different matches throughout the season.

Present

;Home guernsey
The home guernsey features navy blue, red and gold hoops. It is worn at all matches designated as home games for the club as well as in selected away games. The jumper is worn with navy shorts at all home and away games, except for away Showdowns, where it is paired with white shorts. It has had minor variations through its history since debuting with the club in 1991, including adding a white outline to the numbers in 1996, and the removal of yellow cuffs and addition of navy blue panels down the sides in 2006. In 2009 the yellow cuffs and full hoops returned. In 2010 the hoops were cut off again at the sides. For 2016, the club removed the side panels, returning to the full hoops of the original design. The original base design/idea has never changed in the club's 27-year history.
;Clash guernsey
The clash guernsey is a predominantly white based design, worn in away games where the standard home guernsey may cause a clash of colours with the home team. It features three hoops around the sternum in the club's colours of red, yellow and navy blue, and is always worn with white shorts. The current clash guernsey was introduced in 2016, and is more similar to the home strip than those of previous years.

Past

In previous seasons, the Crows have had variations of alternate guernseys.
;Pre-season guernsey
The club briefly used an alternate design in the pre-season competition. It was still in the club colours, but featured the club logo prominently on the front and continuing over onto the back.
;Away guernsey
The away guernsey was originally intended for use in all matches designated as away games, except finals. The design had changed several times over the years since it was first used in 1999. From 2006 the red was removed from the top of the guernsey, moving it closer to the home guernsey. Its usage had waned since the introduction of the "clash" guernsey, to the point where it was only used twice in 2007, against the Western Bulldogs in round 2 and Collingwood in round 22. In a few away matches that year, the club also continued to use the traditional "home" guernsey, something which had rarely been done since the away strip was introduced. In response to this, a new away guernsey was introduced in 2008 featuring more red and yellow with a flying crow on the front – similar in design to the mid-90s pre-season jumper.
;Clash guernsey
The clash guernsey was first introduced for season 2006 and was radically different from the "home" and "away" designs at the time. It was worn at all away games where the AFL deemed there to be a clash with the home team's guernsey design. Those clubs officially on the "clash list" included Carlton, Essendon, Fremantle, Melbourne and Richmond. Despite this, the AFL forced the club to wear it against other teams, such as Hawthorn and St Kilda in 2007, West Coast in 2008 and the Brisbane Lions in 2008 and 2009. The first clash guernsey was red, and was worn from 2006–2009. The club first adopted a white clash guernsey in 2010, which is worn in the majority of away games, meaning the traditional home jumper was rarely worn away from home. It featured the club logo on the front with stylised curves in club colours on the front and back with navy stripes down the sides. The design has been changed a number of times over the years, but has remained predominately white. The club now wears the clash guernsey in away games against all clubs aside from the Sydney, Geelong and Port Adelaide football clubs.
; Alternative guernsey
The alternative guernsey was the same design as the current clash guernsey, but with a gold base instead of white. It was worn in away games in which it provided a greater contrast with the home team than either the home or white clash guernseys. Those teams were North Melbourne, Carlton, Fremantle and Western Bulldogs football clubs. It was always worn with white shorts.

Rivalries

Port Adelaide

Adelaide has a fierce rivalry with fellow South Australian AFL team Port Adelaide. Matches between the two teams are known as the Showdown.
The rivalry between Adelaide and Port Adelaide is often considered the best, and most bitter, in the Australian Football League with Malcolm Blight, Australian Football Hall of Fame Legend, stating in 2009 that "there is no doubt it is the greatest rivalry in football."
The Showdown's intense rivalry can be traced back to Port Adelaide's pre-existing rivalries within the SANFL, particularly Norwood. The Norwood–Port Adelaide rivalry began in 1878 when the two clubs first played one another, however it was not until 1882 that the Norwood–Port Adelaide rivalry grew bitter. That year Port Adelaide's first win over Norwood, held at Adelaide Oval, was controversially overruled by the league, with a follow up game overshadowed by a misunderstanding at the gate which almost prevented Norwood players accessing the venue.
The Showdown rivalry also significantly draws upon the bitter, winner take all, competition for the two South Australian licences to join the AFL in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Membership base and sponsorship

In 2006, the club made history becoming the first club in VFL/AFL history to have more than 50,000 members. They broke that record in 2007, signing up 50,146 members after only round one of the season. The club failed to continue this record run and subsequently signed 48,720 members in 2008. The club has enjoyed a long-standing partnership with the Toyota brand since its inception, leading the club to be known in promotional materials as the "Camry Crows".
Two-time Grand Slam tennis champion Lleyton Hewitt has been the club's number one ticket holder since December 2002. Federal politician Kate Ellis is the number 1 female ticket holder and Greg Champion, a musician and radio broadcaster, is the Melbourne number 1 ticket holder. Australian golfer Adam Scott is also an honorary member of the club.

Season figures

Club honour board

Club achievements

Records

Premierships

Premiership teams

"Team of the Decade"

While some sides named their "Team of the Century" to coincide with the AFL centenary celebrations in 1996, Adelaide only joined the league in 1991, and so later on named their "Team of the Decade", covering the period from 1991 to 2000. As well as earning selection in the team, Mark Ricciuto was named 'Player of the Decade' and Mark Bickley 'Team Man of the Decade.'

Coaches

*Gary Ayres was told that his contract would not be extended when it expired after the 2004 season, and he decided to quit immediately. Assistant coach Neil Craig took over from round 14 as a caretaker coach and was later appointed senior coach for 2005 and beyond.
**Neil Craig resigned the day after a 103-point loss to, allowing assistant coach Mark Bickley to coach the remaining six games in the season. Post-season, the club underwent a search for a new coach and hired Brenton Sanderson for the role from 2012.
***Phil Walsh died midway through his first year as coach, the victim of stab wounds in a domestic incident. Assistant coach Scott Camporeale was appointed interim coach for the remainder of the season. After the season, Don Pyke was appointed senior coach from 2016.

Captains

*Nathan van Berlo missed the entire 2014 season after injuring his right Achilles tendon in pre-season training. Rory Sloane and Patrick Dangerfield acted as co-captains during his absence.

Current playing list and coaching staff

Past players

See List of Adelaide Football Club players

Pre-season competition

AFL Women's team

The Adelaide AFLW team is the club's women's team in the AFL Women's league. A founding member of the AFLW, the football club launched a bid to enter a team in the 2017 AFL Women's season in April 2016. The bid was constructed in partnership with AFL Northern Territory, with the club to share resources and facilities between its Adelaide base and AFLNT's Darwin location. The bid became a success in June of that year when the league announced they had been awarded one of eight inaugural licences.
Under inaugural coach Bec Goddard, the team won the first ever AFLW premiership in 2017. The season was also a highlight for individual success with co-captain Erin Phillips winning the league most valuable player and best on ground in the grand final. Missing the finals in 2018, Goddard quit as coach and was replaced by Matthew Clarke for the 2019 season. Winning six out of the seven home and away games, the club returned to finals and won its second premiership with a 45-point win against. Erin Phillips repeated her individual success by winning the league MVP for the second time and the grand final best on ground despite leaving the ground injured in the third quarter. It was announced in August 2019, the partnership between Adelaide and AFLNT would not continue.

Current squad

Season summaries

^ Denotes the ladder was split into two conferences. Figure refers to the club's overall finishing position in the home-and-away season.

SANFL team

The Adelaide Crows were granted a license to field a stand-alone reserves men's team in the South Australian National Football League in 2014. Prior to this date AFL-listed players at the club were drafted to SANFL clubs, and would play for them when not selected for the AFL team.

Other ventures

In May 2017 Adelaide announced that they had acquired Australian E-Sports team Legacy eSports, whose divisions include League of Legends and Rocket League. In 2018 the Club also acquired the Australian Baseball League franchise Adelaide Bite.