Australian rules football in South Australia


Australian rules football in South Australia has a history dating back to the early 1860s, and it has long been the most popular sport in the state.

History

Early examples of football (1843–1853)

The first recorded game of any "football" in South Australia was that of 'Caid' played in Thebarton by people of the local Irish community in 1843 to celebrate St Patrick's Day.
In 1844 there was debate amongst the South Australian Legislative Council whether it be allowed that "foot-ball" be played on Sundays, with arguments against preferring the quiet worship of God.

"Harrow rules" of St Peters (1854–1856)

In 1854 Adelaide businessman John Acraman imported five round footballs from England and paid for the construction of goal posts at St Peter's College in Adelaide's eastern suburbs. St Peter's football matches were played between Frome Road and Adelaide Bridge, on a similar site to the current University Oval. "Harrow rules" involving kicking the ball but not running with it.

Festive football games (1857–1859)

In 1857 a football match was held in Glenelg as part of the annual Commemoration Festival to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the proclamation of the colony of South Australia. In 1859 the Gawler Institute ran a rural fete which included a game of football being staged. On 12 March 1859 the town of Angaston held a farewell party for Charles Fuller which included football. During a Christmas picnic in 1859 football was played by the employees of 'English & Brown' at Fourth Creek.

Formation of designated clubs (1860–1875)

20 July Meeting (1876)

After a period of years with clubs fighting over technicalities of rules a meeting was held between representatives of the Adelaide, South Adelaide, Victorian and Woodville clubs. At the meeting Charles Kingston argued that "it was possible that someday an inter-colonial football match might be played, and it was desirable in that case that South Australian players should play the game as it was played in other colonies". During his plea to the other clubs at the meeting he compared the 'Old Adelaide rules' to those used in Victoria saying 'practically there was but little difference between them'.

Establishment of SAFA (1877)

In 1877, 12 of South Australia's football clubs met to develop a uniform set of rules and establish a governing body. They formed the South Australian Football Association, the first governing body of its type for football in Australia, and adopted rules similar to those used in Victoria. The inaugural 1877 season was contested by those 12 clubs: South Park, Willunga, Port Adelaide, Adelaide, North Adelaide, Prince Alfred College, Gawler, Kapunda, Bankers, Woodville, South Adelaide and Victorian.

Early years of organised competition (1877–1886)

joined the Association in 1878, but South Park, Willunga, North Adelaide, Prince Alfred College, Gawler, Kapunda, Bankers, Woodville, and Victorian all left the Association within the first 10 years. By 1886, the Association had been reduced from 12 to four clubs.

Growth as major pastime (1887–1915)

The Association experienced a resurgence in the late 1880s. From the 1886 season to the 1887 attendances almost doubled. The addition of West Adelaide, North Adelaide, West Torrens and only the demise of Adelaide, meant the Association was six clubs by the turn of the century. In 1898, the Magarey Medal was awarded to the fairest and most brilliant player for the first time. Sturt joined the Association in 1901 and in 1907, the Association was renamed the South Australian Football League.

War years (1916–1944)

The SAFL was suspended from 1916–18 due to World War I. Glenelg joined the league in 1921. In 1927, the South Australian Football League was renamed the South Australian National Football League. During World War II, the eight clubs merged to form four composite clubs over the period 1942–44.

Golden era (1945–1981)

The post war years saw the code become a part of everyday life with mass media providing greater coverage than ever before. After Port Adelaide had won its 8th premiership in the last 10 seasons the SANFL admitted two new clubs for the 1964 season, Central District and Woodville. The latter club Woodville being located less than 3 km away from Port Adelaide.

Move towards national club competition (1982–1989)

In 1982 the SANFL approached the VFL in regards to entering two sides, Port Adelaide and longtime major rival, in the Victorian league. This action was also taken by WAFL club East Perth in 1980. All approaches were ignored by the VFL at the time with the reason given by Jack Hamilton being that the VFL clubs thought that one or two SANFL teams would end up being too strong later admitting that they also wanted to continue to poach the states best players, which would soon include Craig Bradley and Stephen Kernahan in 1986. 1982 also saw the first instance of the VFL expanding beyond Melbourne and Geelong with the South Melbourne Football Club being relocated to Sydney. The Port Adelaide Football Club's annual report from late 1982 showed that the failure of the attempts made by South Australian and West Australian clubs to enter the VFL significantly impacted the club's understanding of its future. From this point Port Adelaide restructured the club in regards to economics, public relations and on-field performance for an attempt to enter the league in 1990. There was genuine feeling that failure to do this would result in the club ceasing to exist in the future. In 1985 Port Adelaide registered itself as a national football club. Sentiment at this time amongst the direction of Australian rules football in South Australia was succinctly encapsulated by a Michael Robinson article in the 1985 Football Times Yearbook that previewed the SANFL's upcoming season. In that article Robinson wrote about the disappointment of the equal gate sharing of match takings enforced by the SANFL for the upcoming season with the stronger South Australian clubs propping up ailing clubs such as Woodville.
The following year the SANFL registered the name "Adelaide Football Club" in 1986 but ended up deciding against entering a team into the VFL. In 1986 Norwood Football Club made an independent approach to the VFL with entry into the league discussed in great detail but these discussions ultimately failed to materialise. In 1987 the West Coast Eagles and Brisbane Bears were admitted to the Victorian Football League leaving South Australia as the only mainland state without representation in the VFL.
By 1989 seven out of ten SANFL clubs were recording losses and the combined income of the SANFL and WAFL had dropped to 40% of that of the VFL. The 1989 Port Adelaide annual report and November newsletter contrasted with the outlook of other SANFL and WAFL clubs. After its demolition of in the 1989 SANFL Grand Final holding its opposition to a single goal, the club claimed a profit in the annual report and hinted at its intentions the following year in the club newsletter by saying Port Adelaide was "far better than their nearest rival in the SANFL".

First South Australian AFL club (1990)

During early 1990 the SANFL had decided to wait three years before making any further decision. Frustrated with lack of progress, Port Adelaide were having secret negotiations in the town of Quorn for entry in 1991. A practice match organised by Port Adelaide and on 25 February at Football Park attracted at over 30,000 spectators and illustrated the potential of a South Australian side in the newly renamed national competition. Around the same time AFL was also seeking Norwood to join the national competition in 1990. However Norwood would eventually side with the SANFL after seeing the media reaction to Port Adelaide's attempts.
When the knowledge of Port Adelaide Football Club's negotiations to gain an AFL licence were made public, the other SANFL clubs saw it as an act of treachery. Subsequently, the SANFL clubs, led by Glenelg and Norwood, urged Justice Olssen to make an injunction against the bid, which he agreed to. In total the SANFL spent $500,000 in legal fees to stop Port Adelaide's entry into the AFL, with the latter simply unable to compete in the court room. The SANFL promptly created a composite team to beat Port Adelaide's bid. The Adelaide Football Club gained what was very close to being Port Adelaide's licence to the AFL and began playing in 1991. The new Adelaide club would adopt the moniker of "Crows" after the states inhabitants often used the nickname "Crow-eaters". During this time the SANFL began suing people involved with Port Adelaide, including people volunteering in unpaid positions, with the AFL quickly stepping in to guarantee the protection of the club and associated people. In 2014 during an interview with the Adelaide Advertiser, Ross Oakley revealed that "In desperation to force hand...we began dealing directly with two powerhouse clubs of the SANFL, Norwood and Port Adelaide...we were changing the league’s name to AFL – and we could not go without a team from Adelaide".
The front runners for the coaching job at the newly created club were both involved in the last SANFL game played in South Australia before the advent of a local AFL team, the 1990 SANFL Grand Final. In that game Port Adelaide, coached by John Cahill defeated Glenelg, coached by Graham Cornes, by 15 points. Graham Cornes ended up being selected to coach Adelaide for the 1991 AFL season. Cornes compiled a club list of the best players from South Australia, with few originating from other states, in what was almost a state side in the first year. Chris McDermott, captain of Glenelg in the 1990 SANFL Grand Final, was designated as the Crows inaugural captain. Despite Port Adelaide being SANFL premiers in 1990, only 5 players from the team became part of the Adelaide squad of 52. Those players being Bruce Abernethy, Simon Tregenza, David Brown, Darren Smith and Scott Hodges, with the last three joining Port Adelaide's inaugural AFL squad in 1997.

Race to be second South Australian AFL club (1991–1996)

The admission of Adelaide to the AFL had a devastating impact on the leagues attendances with the SANFL recording a 45% drop between 1990 and 1993. Port Adelaide defied this trend of falling SANFL attendances recording an increase of 13% from 1990 to 1993.
In 1994 the AFL announced that South Australia would receive a licence for a second team based in the state. The major bids competing with Port Adelaide this time around were from merger club proposals in Norwood-Sturt, and Glenelg-South. On 15 June the SANFL handed down a report recommending the second license go to a team formed from the amalgamation of two clubs.
On 16 June it was reported in The Age by Stephen Linnell that "the League's preference was for a single, established club to join the league". The final tenders were submitted to the SANFL on 14 September 1994 including Port Adelaide's second application, Norwood–Sturt's merged club bid with the remaining application coming from Woodville–West Torrens.
On 2 October Port Adelaide won the 1994 SANFL Grand Final, its fifth in seven years. On 13 December Port Adelaide won the tender for the second SA license over its various state rivals, however it was prevented from entering the competition before 1996 as stipulated in the Adelaide license agreement. In 1995 after an SANFL game at Football Park the Adelaide began carrying out a training session which was interrupted by a large hoard of Port Adelaide supporters chanting "We're coming to get you". Adelaide coach Robert Shaw was the only Adelaide official to confront the hoard. In 1996 Port Adelaide was left to wait again as a vacancy was required in the league.
It was announced on 27 October 1995 that Port Adelaide would be participating in the 1997 AFL season, one season later than initially planned and seven years after the clubs first failed bid in 1990.

National premierships (1997–2004)

From 1997 to 2004 South Australian AFL clubs won three Australian Football League premierships.

Adelaide Oval return (2009–2014)

After previous hosting the highest level of Australian rules football in South Australia from 1877 to 1973, Adelaide Oval once again became permanent the home of top level Australian rules football in South Australia after a major redevelopment of the ground.

Regional variation

Some variations of Australian Rules Football in South Australia compared with other Australian states still exist:
Points system: In South Australia, most leagues award two points for a win, and one for a draw. Elsewhere in Australia generally four points are awarded for a win and two for a draw.
Percentage: In South Australia, ladder percentage is usually calculated as "For" ÷ "For and Against" × "100". Elsewhere in Australia it is generally calculated as "For" ÷ "Against" × "100".
Behind posts: Behind posts have generally been coloured red in South Australia, as opposed to white elsewhere.
Goalkicker listings: Match reports in South Australia generally list goals and behinds scored by player, whereas elsewhere in Australia goals only are generally shown.
Field markings: The "50" on the 50-metre line at AAMI Stadium is in a serif font, whereas at Victorian grounds a sans-serif font is used.

Participation

In 2007, there were 14,825 senior players in SA and total participation of 72,971.

Attendance record

see Australian Football Hall of Fame

Legend

The governing body is the South Australian National Football League.

Leagues & Clubs

Professional clubs

Adelaide Metropolitan Leagues

The South Australian Country Football Championships is contested annually, and comprises the following representative sides:
The South Australian representative team, also known as the Croweaters, have played State of Origin matches against all other Australian states.

Principal venues