Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where it is nicknamed the Power, while its reserves men's team competes in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), where it is nicknamed the Magpies. Since its founding, the club has won an unequalled 36 SANFL premierships and four Championship of Australia titles, in addition to an AFL premiership in 2004.
Founded in 1870, Port Adelaide is the oldest professional football club in South Australia and the fifth-oldest club in the AFL. The club was a founding member of the South Australian Football Association (SAFA), later renamed the SANFL. Port Adelaide has repeatedly asserted itself as a dominant force within South Australian football, going undefeated in all competitions in 1914, and enjoying sustained periods of success under coaches Fos Williams and John Cahill, who share a combined 19 premierships between them. Since entering the AFL in 1997, the club has claimed four minor premierships and one premiership.
Port Adelaide holds a unique status among AFL clubs, being the only pre-existing non-Victorian club to have entered the AFL from another league. It has an intense rivalry with its intra-city opponents, the Adelaide Crows; the two compete in a twice-yearly fixture known as the 'Showdown.' It has historically enjoyed a long-standing rivalry with fellow SANFL club Norwood. The club has played at their SANFL home ground, Alberton Oval, since 1880 and has used their AFL home ground, Adelaide Oval, since 2014. Port Adelaide first adopted the colours black and white in 1902, with their 'Prison Bar' guernsey. Following its entry to the AFL, the club adopted the colours of teal and silver, in order to differentiate it from Collingwood.
Club history
Early years (1870–1901) Port Adelaide was formed on 12 May 1870 as a joint cricket and football club, originating as an offshoot of the pre-existing Port Adelaide Cricket Club. The first training session of the newly formed club took place two days later. The Port Adelaide Football Club played its first match against a newly established club from North Adelaide called the Young Australian.
Prior to 1877, football in South Australia was yet to be formally organised by a single body, resulting in multiple set of rules being used across the state. In an effort to create a common set of rules, Port Adelaide was invited to join seven other clubs in the formation of the South Australian Football Association, the first ever governing body of Australian rules football.
In 1879, the club played reigning Victorian Football Association (VFA) premiers Geelong at Adelaide Oval in what was Port Adelaide's first recorded game against an interstate club. It played its first match outside of South Australia two years later, when it travelled to Victoria to contest a game against the Sale Football Club.
The club won its first premiership in 1884, when it ended a run of six consecutive premierships for Norwood. It later contested the SAFA's first grand final in 1889, as Port Adelaide and Norwood had finished the season with equal minor round records. Norwood went on to defeat Port Adelaide by two goals. Port Adelaide won its second SAFA premiership the following year, and went on to be crowned "Champions of Australia" for the first time after defeating VFA premiers South Melbourne.
1890 Championship of AustraliaScore 7 South Melbourne 6 Venue: Adelaide Oval Crowd: 6,000
As the 1890s continued, Australia was affected by a severe depression that forced many players to move interstate to find work. This exodus translated into poor on-field results for the club. By 1896, the club had finished last on-field, with the season being described as "the worst in the record of football in South Australia" during a club meeting. The following year, Port Adelaide rebounded to win their third premiership, with significant credit for the achievement given to club secretary Henry Hills. Stan Malin won Port Adelaide's first Magarey Medal in 1899.
During the 19th century, the club had nicknames including the Cockledivers, the Seaside Men, the Seasiders and the Magentas. In 1900, Port finished bottom in the six-team competition, which it would not do again in any professional league until 2024.
'Prison Bars' and the 'Invincibles' (1902–1915)
Port Adelaide began wearing black and white guernseys in 1902 after experiencing consistent issues finding magenta dye that would last its blue and magenta guernseys. After finishing the 1902 season on top of the ladder, Port Adelaide was disqualified from the season after the club refused to contest their scheduled finals game against , with the club disputing the use of an unaccredited umpire. The 1902 SAFA premiership was subsequently awarded to North Adelaide after they defeated South Adelaide in the Grand Final a week later. Port Adelaide offered to play North Adelaide after the conclusion of the season, but the SAFA refused to allow it. Port Adelaide won the premiership the following year.
1914 Championship of Australia G B Total Port Adelaide 9 16 70 Carlton 5 6 36 Venue: Adelaide Oval Crowd: 5,000
In the early 1910s, Port Adelaide became a consistent premiership contender, setting up the club to win three more Championships of Australia. Port Adelaide won the South Australian Football League (SAFL) premiership in 1910 defeating Sturt 8.12 (60) to 5.11 (41) in the Grand Final. The club would go on to defeat Collingwood for the 1910 Championship of Australia title, and defeated both Western Australian Football League (WAFL) premiers East Fremantle and a combined WAFL team in a pair of exhibition matches. Although Port Adelaide had success in the minor rounds the following two seasons, losing only a single game in 1911 and going undefeated in 1912, it was knocked out of contention by West Adelaide both times. The club won the SAFL premiership in 1913, losing only two games during the minor round and defeating North Adelaide in the Grand Final. They also defeated Fitzroy for the 1913 Championship of Australia.
Port Adelaide v South Australia G B Total South Australia 5 10 40 Port Adelaide 14 14 98 Venue: Jubilee Oval Crowd: N/A
The 1914 Port Adelaide Football Club season is unique in SANFL history, being the only occasion in which a team has gone undefeated. The club won all twelve minor round SAFL games, the semi final against Sturt, and the 1914 SAFL Grand Final where it held North Adelaide to a single goal for the match 13.15 (93) to 1.8 (14). It also became the first to score over 1000 points during the minor round. The club met Victorian Football League (VFL) premiers Carlton in the Championship of Australia, defeating them by 34 points to claim a record fourth title. At the end of the 1914 season, a combined team from the six other SAFL clubs played Port Adelaide and lost to the subsequently-dubbed "Invincibles" by 58 points.
Two World Wars and the Great Depression (1916–1949)
Port Adelaide's early-century success was hindered by World War I. During the war, the club lost three players as casualties. A scaled-back competition referred to as the 'Patriotic League' was organised by the club during wartime in which Port Adelaide won the 1916 and 1917 instalments. Following the war, Port Adelaide struggled to replicate its past success. Despite winning the 1921 premiership under the captaincy of Harold Oliver, the club would go on to finish seventh in 1923, their worst competition finish since 1900. Between 1922 and 1935, the club would only win a single premiership.
By the mid-1930s, Port Adelaide's form began to recover. It suffered two grand final losses in 1934 and 1935, before winning consecutive premierships the following two years. During 1939, Bob Quinn was appointed captain-coach and coached the team to a Grand Final win over West Torrens. Quinn resigned as captain-coach partway through the following season to enlist for military service, as would many Port Adelaide players during this time. 1939 SANFL Grand FinalLast Grand Final before War G B Total Port Adelaide 16 28 124 11 11 77 Venue: Adelaide Oval Crowd: 43,885 Just as had happened in 1914, the league was hit hard by player losses in World War II; the club suffered six player casualties during the war. Due to a lack of able men, the league's eight teams were reduced to four and Port Adelaide temporarily merged with nearby West Torrens from 1942 to 1944. The joint club played in all three Grand Finals during this period, winning the 1942 instalment, but losing the 1943 and 1944 editions to the Norwood-North Adelaide combination. While normal competition resumed in 1945, Port Adelaide was unable to regain its pre-war success in the rest of the decade. In particular, it lost the 1945 SANFL Grand Final after a remarkable comeback from West Torrens. The 'All Australian', predecessor to the modern 'All-Australian' team, was created by Sporting Life magazine in 1947, with Bob Quinn being named in the side as captain.
Fos Williams era and Jack Oatey rivalry (1950–1973)
During the 1950s, Port Adelaide re-established itself as a perennial contender, winning seven premierships. At the end of 1949, having missed two finals series in a row, the club's committee sought out a coach that could win the club its next premiership. Following a failed attempt to obtain Jim Deane, the decision was made to appoint Fos Williams, a rover from West Adelaide. In his second season as player-coach in 1951, Williams led the club to their first standalone premiership in 12 seasons, defeating North Adelaide by 11 points. In the 1951 post-season, Port Adelaide lost an exhibition match to reigning VFL premiers Geelong.
1955 Exhibition Match G B Total Port Adelaide 9 10 64 Melbourne 9 11 65 Venue: Norwood Oval Crowd: 16,400 In the mid-1950s, Port Adelaide and Melbourne, often the premiers of South Australian and Victorian leagues respectively, played multiple exhibition matches at Norwood Oval in contests that were likened to the Championship of Australia. Keith Butler, a scribe for The Advertiser, described the 1955 match as "the fastest and most thrilling game seen under electric light". The match was decided in the last 15 seconds, when Frank Adams kicked a behind to give Melbourne a one-point victory.
Geof Motley took over the captain-coaching role at the club in 1959 when Williams retired from his playing career and also took a break from coaching. That year, the club won the premiership and equalled a national record of six consecutive Grand Final victories, having won each premiership from 1954 to 1959. Port Adelaide's premiership streak was brought to an end in the 1960 preliminary final with a 27-point loss to Norwood. 1965 SANFL Grand FinalFos Williams's ninth premiership. G B Total Port Adelaide 12 8 80 12 5 77 Venue: Adelaide Oval Crowd: 62,543 Williams returned in 1962, and coached Port Adelaide to win three of the next four premierships. In 1965 he coached his ninth and last premiership in front of 62,543 people, the largest-ever sporting crowd at Adelaide Oval. After the 1965 Grand Final, Port Adelaide's success was limited by the dominance of Sturt, which won seven premierships over this period under the leadership of Jack Oatey. Despite playing in 6 of the next 10 grand finals, Port Adelaide failed to win another premiership in that span.
John Cahill, SANFL domination and AFL licence (1974–1996) 1977 SANFL Grand Final G B Total Port Adelaide 17 11 113Glenelg 16 9 105 Venue: Football Park Crowd: 56,717