The Adelaide Footy League, formerly known as the South Australian Amateur Football League (SAAFL), is a semi-professional Australian rules football competition based in Adelaide, South Australia. Comprising sixty-seven member clubs playing over one hundred and ten matches per week, the SAAFL is one of Australia's largest Australian rules football associations.
The league currently provides competition across eight Senior divisions with Reserves grades, accompanied by a separate C grade competition, all from Divisions 1 to 7. There are also two under 18 divisions named Red and Yellow divided by area.
The league was officially formed on 8 March 1911 and the first match was played on 6 May 1911. With the exception of recesses during the two World Wars, the competition has been continuous since that time.
The South Australian Football Association (later to be renamed to South Australian National Football League) had existed as a competition since 1877, but by the early 1900s was structured on an "electorate system" where players qualified for clubs on the basis of electoral boundaries. Adelaide University Football Club was keen to field a team in the SAFA competition and applied each year from 1906 to 1910. Each time the application was rejected as it was felt the inclusion of a university team would threaten the electorate system.
In 1910 the Adelaide University Sports Association thought the case for admission to SAFA would be strengthened if the University had a team playing successfully in regular competition. It was felt that this could be achieved by forming a purely amateur league with other clubs not already in an association. By late 1910 Glenferrie, Marlborough and St. Bartholomew clubs had agreed to join with University to form the new association based on amateur principles. By 1911, as preparations were in hand for the inaugural season, the four clubs had become five with the inclusion of St. Francis Xavier. The clubs also had agreed to admit late applicant Semaphore Central for the 1912 season.
In that first season only three ovals were used for matches - Jubilee Oval, Price Oval and University Oval. Price Oval (now known as Hawthorn Oval) in Mitcham and University Oval (at the corner of Sir Edwin Smith Avenue and War Memorial Drive) both still exist today. The Jubilee Oval however was built upon by the university in 1946.
Throughout the history of the league there have been many clubs join and leave the league. Affiliation peaked in 2001 with 72 clubs. Of the founding clubs, only Adelaide University remains.
The 2010 season marked the 100th year of the league, with the last day in September won by Henley, who won their first Division 1 premiership in history.
This table summarises the total Division 1 premierships and grand finals from 1911 to 2013.
Denotes club is now defunct.
1Previously known as University until 1969.
2Previously known as Adelaide Teachers College from 1972–79, Teachers College from 1935–72, Teachers Training College from 1923-34.
3Merged with Alberton United and Ethelton to form Portland in 1997.
4Moved to Southern Football League in 2009.
5Semaphore Central and Exeter merged to form Port District.
Grand Finals
The following list summarises the Division 1 Grand Final games from 1911 to 2013.
The following table summarises the member clubs of the league for the 2014 season.
Violence and Abuse
The league has received media publicity over a number of incidents occurring at matches in recent seasons:
2016
A Rosewater player was suspended for 8 games for abusive and threatening language towards an umpire during their June 18 game against CBC Old Collegians.
A Rosewater player was banned for 20 years, and the entire club removed from the competition, after he pleaded guilty to striking an umpire in a Division 5 game against Blackfriars Old Scholars on 16 July. Another player was reported for undue rough play in the same game and refused to leave the ground, before the umpire appealed to the Rosewater coach to remove him from the ground. Further controversy occurred the following weekend when a picture showing players doing a rude hand gesture and a caption reading "f*** u saafl" was posted by a senior player to social media.
2015
An Eastern Park player was suspended for 10 weeks for recklessly knocking out an umpire's tooth in an on-field collision on 12 April 2015.
Ingle Farm were forced to forfeit their C4 game against Pulteney on 9 May 2015 as a result of no players being available to play following an on-field brawl against Rosewater the previous week. One Ingle Farm player was banned for life following further investigation by the league's investigations committee.
Salisbury's Under-18 Coach was suspended for the remainder of the 2015 season and all of the 2016 season for failing to attempt to stop a melee that occurred during an Under-18 game against Mitcham on 10 May 2015, and for misleading the tribunal during the investigation. The club was also fined $500, one player suspended for six games and the team was forced to forfeit its following two games.
A Rosewater player was suspended for 4 games for abusive and threatening language towards an umpire during their June 13 game against Pulteney.
Salisbury North were given an 8 premiership point penalty against each of their teams and fined $4,000 following an incident in a C-Grade game against Plympton on 18 July. A player was suspended for 10 games for striking and misconduct, and the C-Grade team was withdrawn for the remainder of the season.
Four people were arrested, including two allegedly armed with knives, following a brawl between two warring families during a junior game between Rosewater and West Croydon.
Eastern Park and Salisbury West had all their junior games cancelled for one week as a result of an incident involving shoving and verbal abuse between parents from both clubs at an under-12 game on August 2.
2014
Smithfield were reinstated to the competition with stipulations around player behavior. An incident in its Under 18 team involving umpire abuse and intimidation resulted in that team being withdrawn, its coach being banned for 18 months, one player being suspended for 8 matches, 2 other players suspended for 4 and 2 games each, the club being fined $2,000, and the A-Grade and B-Grade teams being penalised 8 premiership points each.
Central United were docked 9 premiership points as a result of a player being suspended for spitting at and striking another player in a game played on 19 July 2014 against Blackfriars Old Scholars.
Salisbury and Ingle Farm's Under 18 teams were each penalized 6 premiership points for involvement in a melee.
A North Pines player was suspended for 32 weeks, resulting in a life ban, for attempting to headbutt, threatening and abusing an umpire and racial vilification during a Division 7 Semi-Final against Adelaide University. The same game resulted in a forfeit when the North Pines team walked off the field in protest against three of its players being reported. The incident resulted in the coach being suspended for 12 months, every North Pines player suspended for 4 games (suspended until the end of 2017 season) and a $2000 fine for the North Pines club.
2013
May 25: An alleged brawl involving up to 20 people occurred in the car park at a match involving Smithfield and Ingle Farm.
May 25: A Westminster Old Scholars player was allegedly attacked with a glass bottle during a match.
June 1: A Central United player was banned for life following a 'disgusting' act where he smeared faeces on the door of the umpires' changeroom following a match against Blackfriars Old Scholars.
June: One player was sentenced to 8 months jail following a "coward punch" against an opponent in a C2 Division match between Adelaide Lutheran and Seaton Ramblers.
June 15: Aboriginal Salisbury North coach Eugene Warrior was racially abused by a Henley supporter.
July 20: Two Smithfield players reported for striking a player and abusing umpires resulted in the Smithfield club being banned from the league.
September 7: Police were called and the Division 7 Grand Final between Ingle Farm and Angle Vale was called off with 10 minutes remaining when a wild brawl broke out between spectators.
September 27: A Salisbury North player was banned for life as a result of an incident in the Division 1 Grand Final. 2 other Salisbury North players were also suspended.
Central United had 10 Category A reports during the season resulting in a combined total of 36 games and a life ban.
Salisbury North had 8 suspensions for a total of 35 games.
Salisbury West had to resort to punishing 3 players who abused umpires by forcing them to officiate games without pay.
2012
May 19 - Police were called after a spectator wielded a knife and another used a broken beer bottle as a weapon in a fight during a match between Ingle Farm and Trinity Old Scholars. Ingle Farm had to hire security guards and ban drinking in certain areas for their remaining home games of the season.
June 10 - Three players were allegedly involved in an incident where their names were signed in permanent marker on a bar whilst representing the SAAFL in Tasmania as part of the Under-23 representative team.
2011
Spectators at West Croydon were approached by Sex Workers during junior games to offer their services.
Earlier Issues
2005 Div 4 Grand Final - Salisbury West forfeited promotion, had premiership points deducted for the following season and 5 players received a total of 38 games suspension following a violent incident during their heavy loss to Payneham Norwood Union.
The league received media coverage in 2014 due to extreme scores in a number of games.
Consideration was given to reorganising the divisional structure after Kilburn Football Club, in Division 3, was beaten by a combined 736 points in their first two games of the season, whilst forfeiting their B-Grade on the same two occasions. Kilburn later forfeited an A-Grade game against Salisbury when a few players misunderstood the start time and a few others could not find their way to the ground.
Brahma Lodge were dropped from the Division 4 competition after losing a number of players.
Mitchell Park and Flinders University were both reduced to one team each, with Flinders University taking the place of Mitchell Park's reserves in the Division 6 Reserves competition due to mass losses of players.
Blackfriars Old Scholars set a new SAAFL record score when they posted 71.30 (460) in a 429-point win against Angle Vale in Division 6. This resulting in the Angle Vale coach, Peter McMillan, quitting the following Tuesday night at a crisis meeting and being replaced by the Reserves coach Rob Warren.
Wingfield Royals forfeited a match in Division 7 against Smithfield on May 24 following 6 straight losses by an average of 198 points.
Both Kilburn (in Division 3 against Pembroke Old Scholars) and Angle Vale (in Division 6 against Ingle Farm) forfeited their A-Grade games on July 5.
Salisbury West requested to be dropped down 2 divisions from Division 3 to Division 5 due to losing more than half their squad when they did not pay them for the second half of the 2014 season.
An attempt to oust then President Gino Capogreco in October 2013 failed when the vote was defeated at an extraordinary meeting of the league. Mr. Capogreco was accused of altering a document and physically threatening a board member. Mr. Capogreco was later defeated at the following AGM.
