North Adelaide Football Club
North Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed The Roosters, is an Australian rules football club affiliated with the South Australian National Football League. The club plays its home games at Prospect Oval, located in Prospect, a northern suburb of Adelaide. The club was formed in 1888 as the Medindie Football Club, changing its name to North Adelaide in 1893. North Adelaide's first premiership was won in 1900, and the club has won a total of fourteen senior premierships in the SANFL, most recently in 2018.
History
Formed in 1888 as Medindie, in 1893 the club renamed itself North Adelaide. It is the fourth oldest club still in operation in the SANFL. Although several other early clubs used the name of "North Adelaide", none of them bore ties to the current club .North Adelaide started playing at Prospect Oval in 1922 and it has remained their home ground ever since.
Ken Farmer – "The Bradman of Goalkickers" – kicked 105 goals in 1930 to become the first SA League player to kick 100 goals in a season. He was a prolific goalkicker, kicking 100 goals in a season in 11 consecutive seasons. Farmer also holds the record for the most goals in an SANFL match – 23 against West Torrens at Prospect on 6 July 1940. Farmer scored ten or more goals in thirty-seven matches, and 1,419 goals in total over his career, at an astounding average of 6.3 per match.
North Adelaide's other iconic player, Barrie Robran, played 201 League games for the Roosters and 10 State games, and won 3 Magarey Medals. He was the first SANFL player to be made a "Legend" in the Australian Football Hall of Fame, and the only "Legend" not to have played VFL or AFL.
North Adelaide competed in the first match played at Football Park in round 5, 1974. Their opponent was Central District. The match was won by Central District.
The longest serving coach for the club is Michael Nunan – 12 seasons from 1981 to 1992. The Captain's record is held by Ian McKay, captaining the team for 8 years from 1948–1955.
North Adelaide was a foundation member of the SANFL Women's competition in 2017. The Roosters have lost two grand finals in the league as of 2019.
Club song
North Adelaide have had many versions of their club song in the past. All versions have contained the same lyrics, but have been changed rhythm wise to keep up with the times. The lyrics and tune, by well known Australian singer/songwriter Johnny Mac, are the only completely original written in the league, as all the other clubs have written lyrics to well known tunes. The most recent version was brought in during the early 2000s, but all versions can still be found on the club song CD.Current playing list
Club achievements
Club records
- Home Ground: Prospect Oval
- Previous Home Grounds: Kensington Oval, Adelaide Oval, Jubilee Oval
- Record Attendance at Prospect Oval: 19,120 v Port Adelaide in Round 5, 1958
- Record Attendance: 56,525 v Glenelg at Adelaide Oval, 1973 SANFL Grand Final
- Record Attendance at AAMI Stadium: 50,617 v Glenelg, 1987 SANFL Grand Final
- Record Attendance since Adelaide Crows formation : 40,355 v Norwood at Adelaide Oval, 2018 SANFL Grand Final
- Record Attendance since Port Adelaide entry : 40,355 v Norwood at Adelaide Oval, 2018 SANFL Grand Final
- Most Games: 378 by Michael Redden plus 11 state games
- Most Goals in a Season: 134 by Ken Farmer in 1936
- Most Goals for the Club: 1419 by Ken Farmer
- First player to kick 100 goals in an SANFL season: Ken Farmer
- Most Years as Coach: 12 by Michael Nunan
- Most Premierships as Coach: 2 by P. Lewis, Ken Farmer, Mike Patterson and Michael Nunan
- Most Years as Captain: 8 by Ian McKay
- Most Premierships as Captain: 2 by John Reedman, Percy Furler, Ian McKay and Mike Patterson
- Most Best & Fairest Awards: 7 by Barrie Robran
- Highest Score: 34.22 v South Adelaide 6.12 at Adelaide Oval in Round 5, 1972
Premiership sides
2018 Premiership Side
North Adelaide 19.10 defeated Norwood 15.15Venue: Adelaide Oval
Attendance: 40,355
Date: 23 September 2018
Umpires: Bowen, Medlin, Harris
Jack Oatey Medallist: Mitch Grigg
Best: Schwarz Allmond Barns Tropiano Woodcock Castree
Goals:
4 – Barns
3 – Harvey, Woodcock, McInerney
2 – Hender
1 – Ramsey, Sweet, Wilkie, Young
1991 Premiership Side
North Adelaide 21.22 defeated West Adelaide 11.7Venue: Football Park
Attendance: 39,276
Date: 5 October 1991
Umpires: Laurie Argent and Mick Abbott
Jack Oatey Medallist: Darel Hart
Best: Hart, Perkins, Sanders, Krieg, Redden, Parsons, Sims
Goals:
7 – Hart
4 – Burton
2 – Hamilton, Parsons
1 – Atkinson, Clisby, Krieg, Nunan, Perkins, Sanders
1987 Premiership Side
North Adelaide 23.7 defeated Glenelg 9.9Venue: Football Park
Attendance: 50,617
Date: 3 October 1987
Umpires: Neville Thorpe, Rick Kinnear
Jack Oatey Medallist: Michael Parsons
Best:
Goals:
6 – Parsons
5 – Roberts
4 – Sims
3 – Burton, D. Jarman
2 – A. Jarman
1972 Premiership Side
North Adelaide 19.14 defeated Port Adelaide 10.12Venue: Adelaide Oval
Attendance: 55,709
Date: 30 September 1972
Umpires:
Best:
Goals:
6 – Sachse
3 – Hearl
2 – Marsh, R. Robran, von Bertouch
1 – Phillips, Plummer, Rebbeck, B. Robran, Webb
1971 Premiership Side
North Adelaide 10.19 defeated Port Adelaide 9.5Venue: Adelaide Oval
Attendance: 52,228
Date: 25 September 1971
Umpires:
Best:
Goals:
4 – Rebbeck
3 – Webb
2 – Sachse
1 – Collins
1960 Premiership Side
North Adelaide 14.11 defeated Norwood 13.12Venue: Adelaide Oval
Attendance: 54,162
Date: 1 October 1960
Umpire:
Best: Potts, Gilbourne, Hammond, Gambling
Goals:
7 – Potts
1 – Barbary, Hughes, Kent, D. Lindner, Thomas, Trenorden, Whitford
1952 Premiership Side
North Adelaide 23.15 defeated Norwood 6.9Venue: Adelaide Oval
Attendance: 50,105
Date: 4 October 1952
Umpire:
Best:
Goals:
4 – Kennett, McKenzie, Phillips
3 – Cox
2 – Proud
1 – Aldenhoven, Gilbourne, Griffin, Fuller, McKay, Renner
1949 Premiership Side
North Adelaide 13.17 defeated West Torrens 9.18Venue: Adelaide Oval
Attendance: 42,490
Date: 1 October 1949
Umpire:
Best:
Goals:
4 – Stringer
3 – Cox
2 – Peddler
1 – Arbon, Kennett, Pash, Phillips
1931 Premiership Side
North Adelaide 17.13 defeated Sturt 11.11Venue: Adelaide Oval
Attendance: 34,202
Date: 3 October 1931
Umpire:
Best:
Goals:
6 – Farmer
4 – Proud
2 – Furler, Willshire
1 – Burns, Hawke, Lock
1930 Premiership Side
North Adelaide 9.13 defeated Port Adelaide 9.9Venue: Adelaide Oval
Attendance: 23,609
Date: 4 October 1930
Umpire:
Best:
Goals:
4 – Farmer
2 – Barrett
1 – Burton, Furler, Hawke
1920 Premiership Side
North Adelaide 9.15 defeated Norwood 3.3Venue: Adelaide Oval
Attendance: Approximately 31,000
Date: 18 September 1920
Umpire:
Best:
Goals:
2 – Frost, Leahy
1 – Curnow, Lewis, Maloney, Sprigg, Trescowthick
1905 Premiership Side
North Adelaide 6.8 defeated Port Adelaide 1.6Venue: Adelaide Oval
Attendance: Approximately 11,000
Date: 9 September 1905
Umpire:
Best:
Goals:
4 – Jessop
1 – Fleet, Johns
1902 Premiership Side
North Adelaide 9.14 defeated South Adelaide 4.7Venue: Adelaide Oval
Attendance: not recorded
Date: 6 September 1902
Umpire:
Best:
Goals:
4 – Jessop
2 – Dickenson, Johns
1 – Daly
1900 Premiership Side
North Adelaide 4.3 defeated South Adelaide 1.8Venue: Adelaide Oval
Attendance: approximately 7,000
Date: 8 September 1900
Umpire:
Best:
Goals:
2 – McNamara
1 – Matthews, Shaw
Team of the Century (1901–2000)
Selected by a committee composed of Colin Walsh, Don Lindner, Tom McKenzie, Jeff Pash, Barrie Robran and Gordon Schwartz. Each member provided a list of candidates for each position and the Committee then set about the arduous task of selecting the final team. The selected team was formally announced at a gala dinner held on 7 October 2000.Club Icons
The North Adelaide Football Club has named two of their past champions as Icons. They are:- Ken Farmer – All-time leading SANFL goal kicker with 1,419 from 1929–41. Permiership player in 1930 and 1931. Premiership coach in 1949 and 1952. Since 1981 the leading goalkicker in each SANFL season has been awarded the "Ken Farmer Medal".
- Barrie Robran – Triple Magarey Medallist. Premiership player in 1971 and 1972.
Individual
Magarey Medallists- Phil Sandland 1901
- Tom MacKenzie 1905, 1906
- Tom Leahy 1913
- Harold 'Dribbler' Hawke 1937
- Jeff Pash 1939
- H.Ron Phillips 1948, 1949
- Ian McKay 1950
- Barrie Barbary 1960
- Don Lindner 1967^
- Barrie Robran 1968, 1970, 1973
- Tony Antrobus 1983
- Andrew Jarman 1987
- Brenton Phillips 1993
- Josh Francou 1996
- James Allan 2007, 2010, 2011
- Rhys Archard 2009
All-Australians
- Haydn Bunton 1956
- Don Lindner 1961
- Andrew Jarman 1986, 1987
- Anthony "Bos" Daly 1903, 1905
- Perc Lewis 1923
- Ken Farmer 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940
- W. McKenzie 1954
- Dennis Sachse 1967
- John Roberts 1987
- Daniel Hargraves 2002