Adelaide
Football has been in Adelaide since the 1860’s. An ad in the Adelaide Register on April 25 1860 proposed forming a football club, the next evening 16 men formed the Adelaide Football Club. From the very start, football attracted members of high social standing and newspapers reported who attended the games, not who played in them.
Rules of early games were not noted but teams of 35 people played. Port Adelaide was formed in 1870 and the club immediately had an impact on football in South Australia, something common with the game today. In 1873 there was an attempt to write a uniform set of rules. The only teams to agree with the rules were the stronger clubs, Adelaide, Port Adelaide and Kensington.
For a season during the 1870’s, it appeared that a rugby style of football was being played. This version of rules was soon overtaken by a set of rules that was almost Victorian. By 1877 the two states (Victoria and South Australia) were playing a similar enough game of football that teams from Victoria could travel to South Australia to play.
Norwood was formed in 1878, in there first season they conceded 1 goal winning all of there 12 games. Norwood won 6 flags in a row. In 1888 Norwood beat South Melbourne to become ‘Champions of Australia’. When the VFA was formed in 1877, one of its main objectives was to arrange games between Victorian clubs and teams in other colonies. But their were problems, with dates and venues for these games. Finally on July 1 1879 Victoria played South Australia at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground. Victoria won 7-14-56 to South Australia’s 0-3-3.
With the advent of the national league it was only natural the a major football state was to be included. The first time interstate clubs were admitted into the AFL, SANFL didn’t want to be apart of it, because of the $4 million licence and that they would be playing in the Victorian Football League.
In July 1990, Port Adelaide tried to gain entry into the AFL (the VFL changed it’s name to the Australian Football League before the start of the 1990 season). Meanwhile other South Australian clubs had started legal action to stop Port Adelaide negotiating with the AFL for a month. During this month the SANFL sent its own proposal to the AFL, saying it was going to field a composite side for the 1991 season. On September 19, 1990 the AFL clubs voted 13-1 in favour of a team from Adelaide joining the AFL and soon the deal with the SANFL was signed.
The Adelaide Crows immediately became competitive, especially at their home ground at Football Park. In the Crows debut season in 1991 they finished ninth. For the Crows first game, there were 44,902 people saw the Crows thrash Hawthorn. In 1993 the Crows played in the finals for they first time. They were beat by the Premiers, Essendon, in the preliminary final.
In Brief
Joined League: 1991
Premierships: 2
Premiership years: 1997- 98
Brownlow Medalists: None
