Adelaide Football Club
Names
Full name	Adelaide Football Club Limited, trading as Adelaide Crows[1]
Nickname(s)	Crows The Crom Indigenous rounds:Kuwarna
Motto	We Fly As One Made From South Australia
2025 season
After finals	5th (AFL) 6th (SANFL) 6th (AFLW)
Home-and-away season	1st (AFL) 6th (SANFL) 6th (AFLW)
Leading goalkicker	Riley Thilthorpe (60) (AFL) Chris Burgess (56) (SANFL) Eloise Jones (15) (AFLW)
Best and fairest	Jordan Dawson (AFL) Chris Burgess (SANFL) TBA (AFLW)
Club details
Founded	12 September 1990[2]
Colours	Navy blue, red, gold
Competition	AFL: Senior men AFLW: Senior women SANFL: Reserves men
Chairperson	John Olsen
CEO	Tim Silvers
Coach	AFL:Matthew Nicks AFLW:Matthew Clarke SANFL:Matthew Wright
Captain(s)	AFL:Jordan Dawson AFLW:Ebony Marinoff &Sarah Allan SANFL:Jack Madgen
Premierships	AFL (2) 1997 1998 AFLW (3) 2017 2019 2022 (S6)
Ground	AFL:Adelaide Oval (53,500) AFLW:Norwood Oval (10,000) Unley Oval (10,000)
Former ground	Football Park (1991–2013)
Training ground	Football Park Thebarton Oval (future)
Uniforms
Home Away Clash
Other information
Official website	afc.com.au
Current season

TheAdelaide Football Club, nicknamed theCrows, is a professionalAustralian rules football club based inAdelaide,South Australia that was founded in 1990. The Crows have fielded a men's team in theAustralian Football League (AFL) since 1991, and a women's team in theAFL Women's (AFLW) competition since 2017.^[3] The club's offices and training facilities are located in the western Adelaide suburb ofWest Lakes, at the site of the club's former home groundFootball Park. Since 2014 Adelaide have played home matches at theAdelaide Oval, a 53,500-seat stadium located on the northern bank on theRiver Torrens inNorth Adelaide.^[4]

The Crows were formed in 1990 as the de facto state team representing South Australia in the AFL. They were originally owned by theSouth Australian National Football League (SANFL), though they gained administrative independence in 2014.^[5] They played their first season in1991 and finished in 9th place, the highest ranking of any expansion club in the AFL in a debut year.^[6][7] The men's team won both the1997 and1998 grand finals, and have appeared in 15 finals series in their 33-year history. Adelaide is the most successful team in the AFL Women's competition, and is one of two clubs (the other beingBrisbane) that have won multiple premierships; winning in2017,2019 and2022 (S6). It also fields areserves team in theSouth Australian National Football League (SANFL), along with the other South Australian football team in thePort Adelaide Football Club.

The men's team is currently coached byMatthew Nicks and is captained byJordan Dawson.^[8][9]

After the VFL was renamed the AFL for the 1990 season, the SANFL clubs unanimously resolved, in 1990, that a team would not be entered into the AFL until 1992.^[10] The AFL refused to accept this, and revised negotiations with individual clubsPort Adelaide andNorwood.^[11] Two months later, thePort 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.^[12] On 19 September 1990, the AFL approved the bid for a new South Australian club to enter into the league rather than a single existingSANFL club.^[7][12]

The Adelaide Crows played their first season in the AFL in1991.^[13] Inaugural coachGraham Cornes^[14] and captainChris McDermott led Adelaide to a respectable ninth place out of 15 in the league, with 10 wins and 12 losses and apercentage of 89.44.^[15] Adelaide's first AFL game was againstHawthorn 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 (155) to 9.15 (69).^[16]

The 1992 preseason sawNigel Smart get his feet burned in an infamousfirewalking incident (that he had suggested in the first place). Smart was nicknamed "Not So" after the incident.^[17] Adelaide would again finish 9th place, this time with 11 wins and 11 losses and a percentage of 101.4.

The club reached its firstfinals series in the1993 AFL season, eventually losing toEssendon in the preliminary final.^[13]

The year 1997 marked the entry of a second South Australian club,Port Adelaide. The Crows finished fourth to qualify for its first finals series since 1993, and hosted fifth-placedWest Coast in the First Elimination Final. In the first final ever to be played atFootball Park, the Crows won 14.15 (99) to 9.12 (66). The next week, Adelaide benefited from thefinals system in use at the time and hosted the higher rankedGeelong, who had finished two places above the Crows but were forced to play away due to losing the previous week toNorth Melbourne. The Crows won narrowly in a controversial match, where a clear forward 50 mark to Geelong'sLeigh Colbert during a critical stage of the third quarter was not awarded by field umpire Grant Vernon, with the game concluding with the final scores as Adelaide 11.10 (76) to Geelong's 9.14 (68).^[18] This set up an away Preliminary Final against theWestern Bulldogs at theMCG. Despite losingColeman MedallistTony Modra, who had kicked 84 goals for the season, to anACL 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 (93) to 13.13 (91).Darren Jarman kicked a goal to put Adelaide in front with less than two minutes remaining, this qualified the Crows for their first AFL Grand Final, to be played againstSt Kilda at the MCG a week later.^[19]

St Kilda, chasing just their second premiership in VFL/AFL history, were warm favourites to win theGrand Final, havingtopped the ladder and won both of their finals by margins of 46 and 31 points, respectively, against an Adelaide side without Tony Modra,Mark Ricciuto and goalsneakPeter 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 (125) to 13.16 (94).Darren Jarman kicked six goals, five of which came in the last quarter, whilst utilityShane Ellen kicked a career-best five, whileTroy Bond kicked four.Andrew McLeod, who gathered 31 possessions across half-back and in the midfield, won theNorm 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.^{[citation needed]}

Few expected the Crows to successfully defend their premiership the following year. Adelaide often struggled in close matches during the1998 AFL season; seven of their nine losses were by 13 points or less, compared to only three wins by corresponding margins (they finished the regular season fifth on the ladder, with a record of 13–9). The Crows were well beaten byMelbourne in the qualifying final at theMCG 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 theSydney Swans at theSCG. 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 (161) to 13.15 (93). It was a complete contrast to the thriller that took place the previous year, withMatthew Robran kicking six goals andAndrew McLeod, opposed to renowned taggerTony Liberatore, booting seven.

Like the previous year, Adelaide went into theGrand Final as underdogs, playing againstNorth Melbourne, 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 (51) to 4.3 (27), 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 (105) to 8.22 (70), the result making Adelaide the only club during the decade of the 1990s to achieve the feat of winning back-to-back AFL premierships.Darren Jarman kicked five goals, whileAndrew McLeod won his second successive Norm Smith Medal, an unprecedented feat. Club legendMark Ricciuto won theCrows' Club Champion award in 1998. Following a disappointing year in1999, premiership coachMalcolm Blight resigned from the role, and the Crows entered the newmillennium with two premierships under their belt.

The Crows next made the finals in2001 AFL season, though they lost their opening three matches for the season. Adelaide played fifth-placedCarlton at theMCG in the First Elimination Final and were roundly defeated, 17.16 (118) to 6.14 (50). High-profile forwardDarren Jarman announced his retirement after the match. Adelaide's impressive2002 AFL season (in which they achieved a 15–7 win–loss record) 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, withTyson Edwards finishing runner-up.Brett Burton led the Crows' goalkickers with 51. Hart andMark Ricciuto were both named as All-Australians. Adelaide then exacted some revenge by defeating Collingwood in thepre-season competition in2003, the club's first win in that competition. The Crows' impressive 2003 season was eventually halted by theBrisbane Lions atthe Gabba in the semi-finals. That season, Adelaide captainMark Ricciuto became the first and (as of 2024) only Crow to win theBrownlow Medal for the best and fairest player in the AFL in a three-way tie withAdam Goodes andNathan Buckley.^[20] The Crows returned to finals in2005 and recorded a famous win in what remains the onlyShowdown match against rivalsPort Adelaide in the semi-finals. They then lost once more at the penultimate stage (preliminary final), to theWest Coast Eagles atSubiaco Oval by 16 points. This was repeated in2006 when they again lost to West Coast in the preliminary final, this time at home and by an even smaller margin of 10 points.

Adelaide would 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 biggest hurdle, knocking the Crows out of the finals race successively in2008 and2009.Andrew McLeod andBernie Vince won the club's best and fairest awards in that time.

Adelaide'sfinals runs in the 2000s

The Crows had their biggest rebrand in the club's history on the eve of the2010 season, shifting their logo to an entirely new design. 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 coachNeil Craig that the team did not make the finals. The season marked a turning point, with the likes of McLeod,Simon Goodwin and fellow starsBrett Burton,Tyson Edwards andTrent Hentschel all announcing their retirements during the season.^[21] Long-term defender and club stalwartNathan Bock announced he was leaving the club to join new sideGold Coast.^[22] These changes led to a disastrous2011 campaign, which became the worst season in the club's history to that point. After a 103-point loss to fading championsSt Kilda, the club's longest-serving coachNeil Craig stepped down, handing the reins to assistant coach and former premiership captainMark Bickley as caretaker for the remainder of the season.^[23]

Under Bickley the club won three of their next four games, but lost their final two toRichmond andWest Coast, finishing in 14th place with 7 wins and 15 losses.Scott Thompson won the Malcolm Blight Medal (best and fairest award) for the season. New coachBrenton Sanderson began his era at the club with a pre-season premiership in2012 and followed up that success with an above-expectationsregular season; the Crows finishing 17-5 and never once losing consecutive matches. Adelaide eventually qualified to faceminor premiersHawthorn at theMCG 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, in yet another heart-breaking finals series loss for the Crows. Adelaide would then fall down the ladder in the following2013 and2014 seasons, narrowly missing the top 8 on both occasions. Failing to reach the finals led to Sanderson being sacked at the end of the 2014 season. The club would move its home matches to the newly redevelopedAdelaide 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.

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 the2012 draft.^[24] At a hearing at AFL House in Melbourne, both the Adelaide Crows and CEO at the time, Steven Trigg, were fined $300,000 and $50,000 respectively.^[25] The Adelaide Football Club were also suspended from participating in the first two rounds of the2013 draft.^[26] It's widely accepted to be the league's biggest salary cap and list management scandal sinceCarlton in 2002.^[25]

In March 2014, over one week prior to the commencement of the new season, assistant coachDean Bailey died following a short battle with lung cancer.^[27][28][29]

On the eve of the new season, theSouth Australian Football Commission announced it had struck a deal with the Adelaide Football Club which required theSANFL 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 inSouth Australia.^[5][30]

The 2015 season started incredibly successfully for the Adelaide Football Club with a 77-point win over reigning preliminary finalistsNorth Melbourne. Newly appointed coachPhil 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 theEddie Betts affair, which became newsworthy following an allegation that Betts's transfer to the Crows fromCarlton had been illegally signed and approved as much as 18 months prior to his move.^[31]

Tragically, on 3 July, two days prior to Adelaide's then-scheduled round 14 match againstGeelong, coachPhil Walsh was stabbed to death by his son at the age of 55 in hisSomerton Park home.^[32] His son Cy Walsh would later be found not guilty of murder due to mental incompetence and placed under a lifetime psychiatric supervision licence, ordering that he be detained indefinitely in a secure psychiatric facility.^[33][34] The tragedy was followed by an outpouring of sympathy and tributes from the club's fans and the wider AFL community.^[35] The match against the Cats was cancelled, with both teams receiving two premiership points each.^[36] Adelaide'sSANFL team's match againstSouth Adelaide, scheduled for the next day, was postponed until later in the season.^[37]

On 6 July, assistant coachScott Camporeale was appointed interim coach for the remainder of the season, whileWest Coast premiership coachJohn Worsfold was hired as coaching director to support Camporeale.^[38] Inspiringly, the team rebounded to win six of their next seven games and qualify for the2015 finals series, where they defeated theWestern Bulldogs by seven points in a thrilling elimination final at the MCG. Their season ended when they lost to eventual premiersHawthorn the next week.^[39]

Star midfielder for many yearsPatrick Dangerfield left the club at the end of the 2015 season (a season in which he won the club's best and fairest) andDon Pyke, a former premiership player and assistant coach withWest Coast who had also been an assistant coach at Adelaide from 2005 to 2006, was appointed Adelaide's senior coach for at least three years.^[40] Adelaide was widely tipped to slide out of the finals in 2016^[41][42][43] but the Crows proved to be one of the successes of the season, comfortably qualifying for a home elimination final and defeatingNorth Melbourne by 62 points, before being eliminated the next week by eventual beaten grand finalists,Sydney in the semi-finals. The club had a dominant2017 season, winning their opening six games and never falling below second place for the entire season. Adelaide claimed their secondMcClelland Trophy as minor premiers.^{[citation needed]} The Adelaide Crows entered the 2017 finals series as favourites for the premiership; they defeatedGreater Western Sydney andGeelong by 36 and 61 points respectively to qualify for theGrand Final, their first since 1998, where they facedRichmond. 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.^[44]

The club struggled to replicate its 2017 form inthe 2018 AFL season. Prior to the season, Adelaide players went on a controversialpre-season camp that led to a decline in morale among the club's players.^[45] Adelaide struggled with injuries during the year, including CaptainTaylor Walker,Rory Sloane,Brad Crouch,Tom Lynch,Rory Laird, andRichard Douglas.^[46] Combined with the loss of Cameron and Lever, the Crows struggled throughout the year but held on to win twelve games, including against 2017 PremiersRichmond and soon-to-be 2018 PremiersWest 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.^[47] 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 and went on to play out his time as a one-club player.^[48]

There were lofty aspirations going into 2019, with many expecting them to play finals or even in the premiership.^[49][50] 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 likeBryce Gibbs,Josh Jenkins, andEddie Betts dropped on and off throughout the season due to issues of form.^[51] 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.^[52] Prior to the conclusion of the review, co-captain Taylor Walker resigned his captaincy after four years to focus on his football and family.^[53] A week later, Coach Don Pyke stepped down, a decision unrelated to the reviews that were occurring.^[54]

The 2018 Adelaide Crows pre-season camp was a summer camp undertaken by players of the Adelaide Football Club from 29 January to 2 February in the lead-up to the 2018 AFL season.^[55]In Eddie Betts' biography, he released details of what happened at the camp. These revelations caused many to question what had been said to that point regarding the camp.^[56]Following the release of Eddie Betts' biography,Josh Jenkins released a statement with further details from the camp. His opposition to aspects of the camp led to him being ostracised and was the reason he left the club.^[57]

Former Port Adelaide and Greater Western Sydney assistant coachMatthew Nicks was appointed as Adelaide's senior coach on 15 October 2019, replacing the outgoing Pyke. Under new coach Nicks, the Crows lost the first 13 matches of thecoronavirus-affected2020 AFL season and ultimately claimed their first wooden spoon in club history. However, the Crows' disastrous season did end with some optimism, as the Crows broke the drought in round 15 againstHawthorn and won three matches in a row towards the season's conclusion. The Crows received their highest-ever draft pick at the2020 AFL draft, used to draftRiley Thilthorpe.^[58]

The Crows won their first game of the2021 AFL season, beating the reigning Grand FinalistsGeelong in an upset victory. The Crows improved slightly over their disastrous 2020 campaign, losing only one of their first four games.^[59] Walker was banned from the AFL for six games between the 2021 and2022 AFL seasons due to racist comments directed towardsRobbie Young ofNorth Adelaide during aSANFL match.^[60] After requesting a move home to South Australia and subsequently nominating the Crows, high-valueSydney wingmanJordan Dawson was traded to Adelaide in the2021 trade period.^[61] The trade would prove influential in Adelaide's rise out of the bottom four in 2022.

The Crows hosted the first-ever Friday nightShowdown in Round 3, and claimed one of their best-ever wins via an after-the-siren bending kick from the recruit Dawson, who received best-on-ground honours.^[62] CaptainRory Sloane ruptured hisACL in round 5.^[63] In his absence, the role of captain rotated betweenReilly O'Brien,Ben Keays,Brodie Smith, andTom Doedee for the remainder of the season.^[64] Adelaide traded inIzak Rankine at a high price, leaving them no first-round draft picks in the2022 AFL draft until they matched the bid forMax Michalanney, son ofJim as the club's firstfather–son pick.^[65]

The Crows headlined the first-everGather Round,^[66] as they had a return to form, defeating multiple top-eight teams. Some controversial finishes, including one in round 23 againstSydney, when aBen Keays goal was mistakenly disallowed, cost the Crows their firstAFL finals series in seven years.^[67][68] Adelaide finished 2023 in 10th on the ladder, their best position since2017, in part due to the leadership of their new captainJordan Dawson. Despite high expectations,^[69]2024 was another disappointing year for the club,^[70] with a lack of on-field performance resulting in questions being raised around Nicks' coaching,^[71] particularly amid the choice to drop young forwardJosh Rachele.^[72] The club rocketed up the ladder in the2025 season, going on a nine-game winning streak in the back half of the season to finish in first and claim the club's thirdminor premiership. Despite this the Crows were eliminated from the finals series after home losses toCollingwood andHawthorn, to become the first minor premier to suffer a straight-sets finals exit since 1983.^[73]

The club is nicknamed the Crows in reference to "croweaters", an affectionate colloquial term for South Australians.^[74]

The official club mascot, Claude "Curls" Crow, is named after South Australian football legendNeil Kerley.

Adelaide currently has three guernsey designs which are used in different matches throughout the season. The club's guernseys are currently supplied by Irish sportswear companyO'Neills.^[75]

Thehome guernsey features navy blue, red and gold hoops.^[76] It is worn at all matches designated as home games for the club as well as in selected away games (currently onlyGeelong,Port Adelaide,Western Bulldogs, andSydney). The jumper is worn with navy shorts at all home and away games, except for awayShowdowns, where it is paired with white shorts. It has had only minor variations through its history since debuting with the club in1991, including adding a white outline to the numbers from1996 to2020 which has now been removed since the start of the2021 season, and the removal of yellow cuffs and addition of navy blue panels down the sides (due to manufacturers template design) in2006. In2009 the yellow cuffs and full hoops returned. In2010 the hoops were cut off again at the sides. For2016, 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 30-year history.^[77]

Adelaide's clash guernseys have historically used red or yellow bases, so that it will not clash with other team's guernseys in cases where the blue-based home guernsey is not appropriate. 2025's clash guernsey is predominantly red with singular yellow and blue stripes across the middle. Paired with white shorts, the clash guernsey features the club's new logo across the chest with a yellow outline.

The club's Indigenous guernsey has been a rotating design since it was first introduced in during the 2013 season vs. North Melbourne.^[78] The first iteration of the Adelaide Indigenous guernsey was a simple swap from Navy to Black, representing the colours in theAustralian Aboriginal flag. Since 2014 however, they guernsey has featured art on a navy base from a wide number of indigenous artists and past players, such as Andrew McLeod andBen Davis. The2023 edition of these guernseys was the first to be shared between the women's and the men's teams.^[79] The most recent of these was designed byIzak Rankine and his cousin Harley Hall, celebrating their sharedNgarrindjeri heritage. It was revealed in March 2024.^[80]

The club wore their first commemorativeANZAC guernsey in2024. The guernsey features the chevrons of thesergeant rank insignia of theAustralian Army, and a soldier with abugle. It marks a new design trend not before seen in Adelaide's guernseys, withchevrons used rather than the traditional hoops, and the use of a gradient.^[81] The guernsey was worn inround 7 againstNorth Melbourne.^[82] The proceeds of the auctioned player-issue guernseys will be donated to theRSL.

In previous seasons, the Crows have had variations of alternate guernseys.

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.^[83] This design would go on to inspire multipleclash guernseys and theGather Round 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.^[84] 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 theWestern Bulldogs in round 2 andCollingwood 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.

The clash guernsey was first introduced for season 2006 and was radically different from the "home" and "away" designs at the time.^[84] It was worn at all away games where the AFL deemed there to be a clash with the home team's guernsey design. Initially, the only clubs officially on the "clash list" wereCarlton,Essendon,Fremantle,Melbourne andRichmond. Despite this, the AFL forced the club to wear it against other teams, such asHawthorn andSt Kilda in 2007,West Coast in 2008 and theBrisbane Lions in 2008 and 2009. Eventually, the clash jumper was required to be worn in nearly all away games.

The first clash guernsey was red, and was worn from 2006 to 2009. The club first adopted a white clash guernsey in 2010. 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 continued to be changed a number of times over the years, but remained predominantly white until the end of the 2020 season.^[85]

There were yellow and red clash guernseys for 2021, before solely moving to the red guernsey for 2022 and 2023.^[86] These designs were similar to thealternative guernsey used from 2016 to 2017.In 2024, Adelaide wore a retro-style design for their clash guernsey. It features the flying crow found on the club's old logo. The crow is in blue, the above background yellow and the below background red.^[87] The design derives from the1996 preseason design, also found in the club's away guernsey from 2008 to 2009.^[88] A key factor behind this change is the popularity for the club'sGather Round guernsey, which debuted in 2023 and featured the same crow design in a "stealth" style.^[89]

Thealternative guernsey, worn in 2016 and 2017 was the same design as the white clash guernsey of the time, but with a gold base.^[90] 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 wereNorth Melbourne,Carlton,Fremantle andWestern Bulldogs football clubs. It was always worn with white shorts.

During the mid-2000s, the Crows adopted three different guernsey designs to wear during the AFL'sHeritage Round. The 2004 iteration featured the tri-colour home guernsey but with the AFC crest on the chest and removal of white stroke to the numbers. All heritage guernseys featured each player's name and debut number above the manufacturer's jock tag. Controversially during the 2005 heritage round, the Crows wore an adaptation of a 1930sSouth Australian state guernsey, with the AFC monogram replacing the SA monogram, which prompted outrage from Port Adelaide coachMark Williams.^[91] The club returned to a similar home design for the 2006 and 2007 Heritage Rounds, with the left panel of the guernsey featuring the colours of all SANFL clubs, before the Heritage Round was scrapped by the AFL.

The club song of the Adelaide Football Club is "The Pride of South Australia", and is sung to the tune of USMarines Hymn.^[92] The lyrics to "The Pride of South Australia" were written by the inaugural CEO Bill Sanders.^[93]

The first club song, and the song used in the club's inaugural AFL game and victory againstHawthorn, was "Here We Go Camry Crows".^[94]

Since inception in late 1990, Adelaide's training and administrative facilities have been located atFootball Park inWest Lakes. The club held their first training session at the ground on 29 October 1990.^[95] Initially the club's offices were restricted to small space under the SANFL members' grandstand, before being moved to a new brick building at the southern end of the stadium in 1992. Between 1993 and 1995 a $2.3 million player and training facility was constructed behind the eastern grandstands, featuring several sports training facilities described at the time as “the best in the league”.^[96] Additional offices were constructed at the northern end of the ground, and a $21 million renovation was concluded in 2009, which featured a 2500sq metre “Shed” for gatherings of fans and members, and upgrades to the indoor training and administrative facilities.^[96] When Football Park stopped hosting premiership matches at the end of the 2013 season, the grandstands were progressively torn down and the club's game-day facilities were merged with the administration offices, whilst the general public were granted access to the oval outside of Crows' training sessions.^[97]

In 2024, following prolonged negotiations with the local council and SANFL, the Adelaide Football Club announced it would move its training and administrative headquarters to an upgradedThebarton Oval, which will feature a 150m, two-storey wrap-around building and upgraded grandstands and new facilities for the club's AFL, AFLW and SANFL teams.^{[98][99][100]}

TheAdelaide AFLW team is the club's women's team in theAFL Women's league. A founding member of the AFLW, the football club launched a bid to enter a team in the2017 AFL Women's season in April 2016.^[101] The bid was constructed in partnership withAFL Northern Territory, with the club to share resources and facilities between its Adelaide base and AFLNT'sDarwin location.^[101] The bid became a success in June of that year when the league announced they had been awarded one of eight inaugural licences.^[102]

Under inaugural coachBec Goddard,^[103] the team won the first ever AFLW premiership in2017.^[104] The season was also a highlight for individual success, with co-captainErin Phillips winning the league most valuable player^[105] and best on ground in thegrand final.^[104] Missing the finals in2018, Goddard quit as coach^[106] and was replaced byMatthew Clarke for the2019 season.^[107] Winning six out of the seven home-and-away games, the club returned to finals and won itssecond premiership with a 45-point win againstCarlton.^[108] Erin Phillips repeated her individual success by winning the league MVP for the second time^[109] and the grand final best on ground despite leaving the ground injured in the third quarter.^[108] It was announced in August 2019 that the partnership between Adelaide and AFLNT would not continue.^[110] During theCOVID-19-interrupted2020 season, the Crows slumped to only two wins and failed to reach the finals. The club quickly rose back up the following year and won seven of nine home-and-away matches, and they claimed theminor premiership for the2021 season before going down to Brisbane by 18 points in the2021 grand final.^[111] Adelaide bounced back the next year to win the2022 AFL Women's season 6 Grand Final by 13 points, earning their third premiership, the most of any club in the league.

In 2022, AFL rivalsPort Adelaide were introduced into the women's competition. The two teams met in the first-everAFLW Showdown on the 30th of September.^[112] The occasion drew in a crowd of 20,652 atAdelaide Oval, which was the highest attendance for any game in2022 season 7. Following their historic back-to-back premierships, Adelaide had consecutive preliminary final exits in season 7 and2023, with loses to eventual runners-upBrisbane andNorth Melbourne respectively. Despite this, Adelaidefinished 1st in the 2023 home-and-away season, becoming the first team to achieve this on four occasions.^[113]Ebony Marinoff andSarah Allen became the club's new co-captains in2024. Another top-four finish ended in a bittersweet manner, as the Crows lost to both eventual grand finalistsBrisbane andNorth Melbourne, but Marinoff was crowned theleague's best and fairest.^[114]

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

The Adelaide Crows were granted a licence to field a stand-alone reserves men's team in theSouth Australian National Football League (SANFL) in 2014.^[115] 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. A fairly unsuccessful history thus far, the Crows finished last in 2018 but have appeared in four preliminary finals. RuckmanKieran Strachan has won the most best and fairest awards, with three to his name.

Adelaide has a fierce rivalry with fellow South Australian AFL teamPort Adelaide. Matches between the two teams are known as theShowdown. The Showdown rivalry 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.^[116] The Showdown is often considered the best, and most bitter, in the Australian Football League withMalcolm Blight,Australian Football Hall of Fame Legend, stating in 2009 that "there is no doubt it is the greatest rivalry in football".^[117]

In 2006, the club made history becoming the first club in VFL/AFL history to have more than 50,000 members (with 50,138). 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, barely maintaining their pole position, before slipping to 45,515 in 2010; however, the trend reversed and later breached all-time highs in 2014 when they signed 54,249, although five other clubs had surpassed their membership base by this point, with Collingwood leading with nearly 80,000 members by this point. Adelaide's membership peaked for the 2019 season with 64,437, and their 2022 membership was 63,009.^[118]

The club has enjoyed a long-standing partnership withToyota since its inception, leading the club to be known in promotional materials as the "Camry Crows".

Two-time Grand Slam tennis championLleyton Hewitt was made the club's number-one ticket holder in December 2002.^[119] International pop singerGuy Sebastian became the number-one ticket holder in April 2024.^[120] Former federal politicianKate Ellis is the number-one female ticket holder, whileGreg Champion, a musician and radio broadcaster, is the Melbourne number-one ticket holder.^[121] Australian golferAdam Scott is also an honorary member of the club.^[122]

Year	Membership		AFL				AFL Women's
			Ladder finish		Average home crowd		Ladder finish		Average home crowd
	Figure	Change	H&A	Finals	Figure	Change	H&A	Finals	Figure	Change
1991	25,087	—	9th	—	40,479	—
1992	38,673		9th	—	38,275
1993	40,100		5th	3rd	46,128
1994	40,611		11th	—	42,864
1995	41,654		11th	—	38,552
1996	42,283		12th	—	39,428
1997	41,395		4th	Premiers	40,116
1998	41,985		5th	Premiers	41,203
1999	42,120		13th	—	39,386
2000	42,896		11th	—	38,447
2001	42,014		8th	8th	39,627
2002	46,620		3rd	4th	43,068
2003	47,097		6th	5th	44,524
2004	45,642		12th	—	39,879
2005	43,256		1st	3rd	42,336
2006	50,138		2nd	3rd	42,329
2007	50,976		8th	8th	42,042
2008	48,720		5th	7th	40,678
2009	46,472		5th	5th	38,801
2010	45,545		11th	—	35,773
2011	46,520		14th	—	35,020
2012	45,105		2nd	3rd	36,829
2013	46,405		11th	—	33,703
2014	54,249		10th	—	48,046
2015	52,920		7th	6th	46,487
2016	54,307		5th	6th	47,056
2017	56,865		1st	Runners-up	47,675		2nd	Premiers	8,876	—
2018	64,739		12th	—	45,417		5th	—	6,037
2019	64,437		11th	—	44,514		1st (A)[b]	Premiers	14,698
2020	54,891		18th	—	10,927[c]		6th (A)[d]	—	6,857[e]
2021	60,232		15th	—	24,786		1st	Runners-up	5,811
2022	63,099		14th	—	31,429		1st[f]	Premiers	4,731
							3rd[f]	3rd	2,529
2023	68,536		10th	—	39,376		1st	3rd	4,181
2024	75,477		15th	—	41,421		4th	3rd	2,720
2025	81,067		1st	5th	45,553		6th	5th	2,805

The Adelaide Football Club established their Hall of Fame in 2015, for its 25th year in theAFL. It honours the greatest contributors to the club and specifically includes members who have made a "profound" impact. 12 members have been inducted, including nine players, two administrators, and a coach.^[124]

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.'^[126]

AnAll-Australian team is considered a "best-of" selection of players for each calendar year, with each player represented in their team position. Captains and vice-captains, indicated with (c) and (vc) respectively, are awarded to players who displayed leadership and excellence on the field during the season. Each team is selected by a panel of experts.^[131]

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• Adelaide Football Club coaches
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• Category:Adelaide Football Club players

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