Full name Adelaide Football Club Chairman Rob Chapman Coach Ryan O'Keefe | Nickname(s) Crows CEO Andrew Fagan Chairperson Rob Chapman | |
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Founded 1991 (AFL establishment)
2014 (SANFL entry) Colours Navy Blue Red Gold Competition South Australian National Football League | ||
The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed The Crows, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Originally established in 1990 for the national AFL competition, Adelaide was permitted entrance in the SANFL competition as a reserves team beneath the AFL team from 2014.
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History
The Adelaide Football Club was created as an entity in late 1990 as part of the Australian Football League's expansion into non-Victorian areas. The club first competed in the 1991 AFL season, finishing a respectable ninth on the ladder at the end of the season before first competing in a finals series in 1993.
From 2011, Adelaide club officials began expressing genuine interest in the formation of a stand-alone reserves side in the SANFL competition, rather than continuing with the draft policy which resulted in Adelaide-listed players being released to SANFL clubs when not selected for the senior team. Originally, considerable opposition from the SANFL clubs and the South Australia Football Commission resulted in the club being denied a SANFL licence; Chairperson John Olsen contending such a change would "compromise the SANFL competition" as well as have a negative impact on league depth, talent, competitiveness and gate takings.
In response, Adelaide made it clear that it intended to establish a stand-alone reserves team from 2014, and that it was prepared to field the team in the South Australian Amateur Football League or in another state if the SANFL continued to refuse it entry. Following improved negotiations between Adelaide executives and SANFL clubs, the Crows' bid for a SANFL stand-alone side was approved by a vote of 6-2 of club executive representatives in August 2013. The 15-year agreement results in Adelaide being required to pay an annual licence fee of $400,000 and commitments to retain the integrity of the SANFL, including an agreement not to rest players.
Adelaide's first premiership match in the SANFL was against North Adelaide on April 6, 2014.
Club structure
As part of the formation of a stand-alone Adelaide Crows team in the SANFL, several points of agreement were made to apply to the club once it began competing from 2014:
Ahead of the 2015 season, SANFL executives outlined additional new measures in relation to Adelaide's player list:
Home and away matches
As part of the agreement allowing Adelaide to field a stand-alone team in the SANFL, the Crows are required to play all their games on the road, visiting the home ground of their opponents rather than playing out of a home stadium as the senior AFL team does. However, in the club's two annual Showdown matches against arch-rival Port Adelaide, the Crows are permitted the use of a 'home' game in one of these matches. The other showdown match is played at the home ground of Port Adelaide, Alberton Oval.
Guernsey
When competing in the SANFL competition, Adelaide wears a guernsey that differs from the home guernsey of their AFL side. Rather than the traditional hoops design in club colours, the SANFL side wears a 'v-shape' style guernsey featuring the red, gold and navy colours of the traditional strip design in the upper third of the front of the guernsey, with a white base covering the remainder of the guernsey so as not to clash with any of the other SANFL clubs. Club members were asked to take part in a poll to decide from a range of Guernsey styles, with the current design being chosen by 36.59% of respondents.
Season results and honours
Premierships: 0
Runners up: 0
Minor premierships: 0
Wooden spoons: 0
Magarey Medalists: 0
Jack Oatey Medalists: 0
Ken Farmer Medalists: 0