InSouth Australia,Australian rules football (known simply as "football" or "footy") is traditionally a popular participation and spectator sport. It is governed by theSouth Australian Football Commission which runs theSouth Australia National Football League in the capitalAdelaide, the highest profile competition among the 24 spread across the state. Participation has fallen substantially in recent years to a current rate of 4.1%. There are 63,969 adults and 28,692 children playing, less than a quarter of which are female.[1] Prior to 2019 it was the most participated team sport in the state, however it dropped to third after both basketball andsoccer there surpassed it in 2024.[1]
Forms of football were played very early in the history of theColony of South Australia pre-dating the organisation ofAustralian rules football in Victoria and rivalled football's popularity there. In 1877, the colony officially adopted the code in order to compete in the very first intercolonial representative football match in Australia against Victoria. The first governing body, theSouth Australian Football Association (now SANFL) formed on 13 April 1877, remains the oldest in Australia. Its clubs rivalled Victoria's in popularity and won 9 of 19Championship of Australia titles from 1888 to 1975. Even with its current semi-professional status, it remains the second most popular and third strongest competition in the world in the sport.
Thestate team (the "Croweaters") hasdefeated every other state has the equal second most wins, and an intense rivalry withVictoria inspiring the popular catchcry "Kick a Vic". Adelaide hosted national carnivals in1911,1930,1953,1969,1975,1980 and1988.
South Australia has two fully professional teams competing in theAustralian Football League (AFL) andAFL Women's (AFLW), both based in the capitalAdelaide: theAdelaide Football Club (1990) andPort Adelaide Football Club (1870), the latter having the distinction of being the only pre-existing club to have entered the AFL from another league, as a founding member of the SAFA (SANFL). These two clubs compete against each other in the "Showdown". South Australia was chosen to host the inaugural 2023 'Gather Round' where all AFL matches are played in one state and has retained the event since.
It is the most watched sport and has the second largest television audience in the country.[2] From 1976 to 2003 the SANFL held the record for the largest attendance in the sport outside of Victoria. South Australia holds the world record for a non-VFL/AFL attendance with the1976 SANFL Grand Final drawing an estimated 80,000 spectators which remains the record crowd for any code of football in the state and the third highest official attendance outside of Victoria. The SANFL remains the second most attended league worldwide in the sport and attracts a television audience larger than that of some AFL clubs. Since 1991 South Australia has attracted an average AFL premiership season attendance of 35,919, second in the country, boosted with the 2014 upgrade of theAdelaide Oval the state's flagship venue.
The state has produced some of the greatest Australian Footballers of all time, including theAustralian Football Hall of Fame legends:Barrie Robran,Malcolm Blight,Jack Oatey,Russell Ebert andKen Farmer. In addition, it has produced almost a thousandborn and raised AFL/AFLW players, most notably: AFL playersCraig Bradley who has themost games with 375 andStephen Kernahan who has themost goals with 738. In women's Australian rules, AFLW playerErin Phillips is most notable with 2 league best and fairests, whileEbony Marinoff has themost games andAshleigh Woodland has themost goals.
The first recorded game of any "football" in South Australia was that of 'Caid' played inThebarton 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.[3][4]
In 1853 a group of Irishmen fromCounty Westmeath, Ireland placed an advertisement in theSouth Australian Register calling for Irishmen from another county of Ireland to join them inThebarton to play a game of football.[5]
In 1854 at the opening of a new school inMorphett Vale, at the end of the first day the students played a game of football amongst other activities.[6]
In 1855 William Anderson Cawthorne illustrated a series of images documenting South Australia's indigenous people including a pair of playthings, one being a sling and the other being a ball, referred to in Kaurna language as Pando.
In 1854 Adelaide businessmanJohn Acraman imported five round footballs from England and paid for the construction of goal posts atSt Peter's College in Adelaide's eastern suburbs.[7][8] St Peter's football matches were played between Frome Road and Adelaide Bridge, on a similar site to the currentUniversity Oval.Harrow football, involving kicking the ball but not running with it, was played.[9]
In June 1855 the Sunday School associated with St Jude's Church in Brighton included football for its children's activities.[10]
On 4 November 1856 a Temperance Festival with 400 participants included games of football.[11]
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.[12]
In 1859 the Gawler Institute ran a rural fete which included a game of football being staged.[13] The start of this match featured "a long first run to the ball".[14] On 12 March 1859 the town of Angaston held a farewell party for Charles Fuller which included football.[15] For the Prince of Wales Birthday the Drapers Assistants Association included a football game in their festivities at Waterfall Gully.[16] During a Christmas picnic in 1859 football was played by the employees of 'English & Brown' at Fourth Creek (River Torrens).[17]
The earliest recorded football club in South Australia was the originalAdelaide Football Club (unrelated to its modern namesake), formed on 26 April 1860.[18] The Adelaide club hosted intra-club matches to provide a platform for football games to be played. Later in 1860 two new teams were formed bearing the names North Adelaide Football Club and South Adelaide Football Club, also unrelated to their modern namesakes.
On 20 May 1861 the Adelaide Council were presented with a request by a party representing an "East Adelaide Football Club" (John Clark) to erect football goals in the East Park Lands but were refused.[19]
In 1862 the newly formedModbury and Tea Tree Gully Football Club was invited to play a match against the Adelaide team. A return match was held later in the year. The early years of football were poorly organised and dogged by argument over which set of rules to adopt. In fact, after a match betweenPort Adelaide and Kensington in 1873, it was remarked that neither side understood the rules clearly, and there was uncertainty over which team had won. However, as the years progressed, there became a growing push for uniformity and structure in South Australian football.
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 meetingCharles 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'.[9]
Following an initial meeting on Thursday 19 April 1877 at Prince Alfred Hotel[20] called byRichard Twopeny the Captain of the Adelaide Football Club two delegates each from the following Football Clubs -Kensington,South Park,Willunga,Port Adelaide, Adelaide, North Adelaide,Prince Alfred College,Gawler,Kapunda,Bankers, Woodville,South Adelaide and Victorian attended a meeting held at the Prince Alfred Hotel in King William Street, Adelaide held on 30 April 1877 to develop a uniform set of rules and establish a governing body.[21]
They formed theSouth Australian Football Association, the first governing body of its type for football in Australia, and adopted rules similar to those used in Victoria. The use of an oval ball,bouncing the ball andpushing from behind forbidden amongst the rules agreed. The inaugural1877 SAFA season was contested by 8 clubs.
A newly formed clubNorwood joined the South Australian Football Association in 1878, but Bankers (1877), Woodville (1877),Kensington (1877-1881), South Park (1877-1884), Victorian (1877-1884), Willunga, North Adelaide, Prince Alfred College and Kapunda had all left within the first 10 years. In 1879-1880 there was a growing call to create a junior competition for the growing number of other clubs which included amongst others - North Parks, St.Peter's College, Prince Alfred College, Royal Parks, West Torrens, Woodville, South Suburban, Hotham, and Middlesex.[22]
The first Annual General Meeting of the Adelaide and Suburban Association was held at Prince Alfred Hotel on 27 March 1882. The following clubs - North Parks, N.A Juniors, Kensington, Kent Town, Albion, Triton, and West Torrens were represented.[23]
The South Australian Junior Football Association was officially formed following meetings held at the Hamburg Hotel on 17 and 24 March 1885. It was decided to limit the Association to 10 clubs - Coromandel Valley, Prospect, Creswick, Medindie, Hindmarsh, Kingston, Lefevre's Peninsula, Semaphore, Albert Park, and Fitzroy.[24]
1887 saw existing clubs Gawler, Hotham and West Adelaide join the SAFA competition with the last of those bearing no relation to the modern day West Adelaide Bloods. The Association experienced a resurgence in the late 1880s. From the 1886 season to the 1887 attendances almost doubled.
1888 saw Medindie (which renamed to North Adelaide in 1893) joining the Association, but West Adelaide folded after just one season and Hotham (which had renamed North Adelaide for 1888) merged with Adelaide for 1889. For 1891 Season Gawler withdrew from competition games (having complained about the 1890 program when only given 5 home and 10 away games) but remained a member of the SAFA.
By the 1894 Season, the Association had been reduced to just four clubs (Port Adelaide, South Adelaide, Norwood, North Adelaide originally called Medindie until 1892) with the demise of the Old Adelaide Football Club (which was founded in 1860) at the end of the 1893 Season.
West Torrens (which joined as Port Natives in 1895 and renamed in 1897) andWest Adelaide (1897) meant the Association had expanded to six clubs until the turn of the century.
In 1898, theMagarey 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.
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 theSouth Australian National Football League. During World War II, the eight clubs merged to form four composite clubs over the period 1942–44.
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 andWoodville. The latter club Woodville being located less than 3 km away from Port Adelaide.
In 1982 theSANFL approached theVFL in regards to entering two sides, Port Adelaide andlongtime major rivalNorwood, in theVictorian league.[25] This action was also taken byWAFL clubEast Perth in 1980.[26] All approaches were ignored by the VFL at the time with the reason given byJack 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 includeCraig Bradley andStephen Kernahan in 1986.[27] 1982 also saw the first instance of the VFL expanding beyond Melbourne and Geelong with theSouth Melbourne Football Club being relocated to Sydney. ThePort 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.[28] 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.[29] 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.[30]
"What would be left of the SA league without the great clubs such as Norwood and Port Adelaide? It would drop to a miserable fourth-class contest. No one could blame Norwood and Port Adelaide for wanting to get out of the SA league into national ranks if they are further threatened by the dragging down process.
— Michael Robinson, in regards to impacts of gate revenue sharing adopted by the SANFL for the 1985 season on Norwood and Port Adelaide[30]
The following year the SANFL registered the name "Adelaide Football Club" in 1986 but ended up deciding against entering a team into the VFL.[31] In 1986Norwood 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.[29] In 1987 theWest Coast Eagles andBrisbane Bears were admitted to the Victorian Football League leaving South Australia as the only mainland state without representation in the VFL.
"In 1988 a deputation fromNorwood Football Club had announced it was interested in joining the VFL 'at any time in the future' and ... a private consortium headed byKen Eustice was interested in grabbing a licence".[32]
— Ross Oakley
By 1989 seven out of ten SANFL clubs were recording losses and the combined income of theSANFL andWAFL had dropped to 40% of that of theVFL.[31] The 1989 Port Adelaide annual report and November newsletter contrasted with the outlook of other SANFL and WAFL clubs. After its demolition ofNorth Adelaide in the1989 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".[33][34]
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 ofQuorn for entry in 1991.[36] A practice match organised by Port Adelaide andGeelong on 25 February atFootball Park attracted at over 30,000 spectators and illustrated the potential of a South Australian side in the newly renamed national competition.[37] 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.
"They [the SANFL clubs] are not going to make that decision until they are at the lowest possible ebb. They'd be voting themselves into obscurity [opting for a composite team] in their state."
— Ross Oakley, in regards to the other SANFL clubs opposing Port Adelaide's entry.[38]
When the knowledge ofPort Adelaide Football Club's negotiations to gain an AFL licence were made public, the otherSANFL 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.[31] 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. TheAdelaide 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.[25] In 2014 during an interview with the Adelaide Advertiser, Ross Oakley revealed that "In desperation to force (the SANFL’s) 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".[32]
| 1990 SANFL Grand Final Last game without AFL in SA. | G | B | Total | |||
| Glenelg | 13 | 15 | 93 | |||
| Port Adelaide | 16 | 12 | 108 | |||
| Venue:Football Park | Crowd: 50,589[39] | |||||
"These twenty blokes, everyone who has helped us, are sensational people and all the views that you have read in the press the one thing that really matters is that there will always be a Port Adelaide Football Club."
— George Fiacchi, upon accepting the 1990Jack Oatey Medal for best on ground at the 1990 SANFL Grand Final.[40]
"I want to tell you that you want to enjoy this moment for what it is because the good times are well and truly gone. Apart from Jack (John Cahill) and the players there are a couple of individuals out there who are responsible for that and make sure you enjoy tonight because the good times will not happen again."
— Glenelg coach and inauguralAdelaide coachGraham Cornes's address to the Port Adelaide change-rooms post the1990 SANFL Grand Final.[41]
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, the1990 SANFL Grand Final. In that game Port Adelaide, coached byJohn Cahill defeated Glenelg, coached byGraham Cornes, by 15 points. Graham Cornes ended up being selected to coach Adelaide for the1991 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.[42] Chris McDermott, captain of Glenelg in the 1990 SANFL Grand Final, was designated as the Crows inaugural captain.[42] Despite Port Adelaide being SANFL premiers in 1990, only 5 players from the team became part of the Adelaide squad of 52. Those players beingBruce Abernethy,Simon Tregenza,David Brown,Darren Smith andScott Hodges, with the last three joining Port Adelaide's inaugural AFL squad in 1997.[42][43]
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.[44] Port Adelaide defied this trend of falling SANFL attendances recording an increase of 13% from 1990 to 1993.[45]
"I only hope petty jealousies and fears within the S.A.N.F.L. don't short circuit a Port Adelaide proposal which clearly seems better than any other"
— Tony Greenberg, Inside Football, June 1994[46]
In 1994 the AFL announced that South Australia would receive a licence for a second team based in the state.[27] 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.
"The sub-licence should be granted to an amalgamation of two SANFL clubs"
— SANFL, Report on the Future Direction of Football in South Australia, 15 June 1994[47]
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".[48] 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.[49]
"In my opinion coming second [not getting the second South Australian AFL licence] means you die"
— Michael Aish,Norwood champion, August 1994[50]
On 2 October Port Adelaide won the1994 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.[51] 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".[52] Adelaide coachRobert Shaw was the only Adelaide official to confront the hoard.[52] 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 the1997 AFL season, one season later than initially planned and seven years after the clubs first failed bid in 1990.[53]
From 1997 to 2004 South Australian AFL clubs won three Australian Football League premierships.
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.
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 aserif font, whereas at Victorian grounds a sans-serif font is used.
According to Ausplay, there are 63,969 players and the overall participation rate per capita is 4.1%.[1] In 2019 was the only state in Australia where Australian rules football participation was higher than soccer, however soccer surpassed it in 2024.[1]
In 2007, there were 14,825 senior players in SA and total participation of 72,971.[54]
| Adult players | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 2019 | 2023/24 | |||
| 72,791[55] | 68,985[56] | 63,969[1] | |||
seeAustralian Football Hall of Fame
|
.jpg)
Thegoverning body is the South Australian Football Commission.
The South Australian Country Football Championships is contested annually, and comprises the following representative sides:
The South Australian representative team, also known as theCroweaters, have playedState of Origin matches against all other Australian states.
      South Australia |
The following venues meet AFL Standard criteria and have been used to host AFL (National Standard) or AFLW level matches (Regional Standard) or SANFL matches and are listed by capacity.[76]
| Adelaide | Adelaide | Adelaide |
|---|---|---|
| Adelaide Oval | Norwood Oval | Prospect Oval |
| Capacity: 53,500 | Capacity: 22,000 | Capacity: 20,000 |
 |  |  |
| Adelaide | Adelaide | Adelaide |
| Elizabeth Oval | Thebarton Oval | Alberton Oval |
| Capacity: 18,000 | Capacity: 15,000 | Capacity: 15,000 |
 | .jpg) |  |
| Adelaide | Adelaide | Mount Barker |
| Glenelg Oval | Unley Oval | Summit Sport and Recreation Park |
| Capacity: 14,000 | Capacity: 10,000 | Capacity: 10,000 |
 |  | |
| Lyndoch | Mount Gambier | Berri |
| Barossa Park | Malseed Park | Berri Oval |
| Capacity: 10,000 | Capacity: 7,500 | Capacity: 5,000 |
 |  |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| National governing bodies | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| By state or territory | |||||||||
| Leagues and competitions |
| ||||||||
| Related topics | |||||||||
