See main article: Adelaide Football Club.
| Clubname: | Adelaide |
| Color1: |
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| Color2: |
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| Color3: | solid #ff0000 |
| Fullname: | Adelaide Football Club |
| Nicknames: | Crows, Crom, "Whites" |
| Motto: | Natus Ad Magna Gerenda (Born to do great things) |
| Season: | 2023 |
| Position: | 3nd |
| Home&Amp;Away: | 3rd |
| Afterfinals: | 3rd |
| Topgoalkicker: | Lachlan Gollant (42) |
| Founded: | 1991 (AFL establishment) 2014 (SANFL entry) |
| Colours: | Navy Blue Red Gold |
| League: | South Australian National Football League |
| Coach: | Michael Godden[1] |
| Captain: | Jack Madgen[2] |
| Ground: | Various - see "List of home grounds" |
| Pattern B1: | _adelaide_sanfl_2021 |
| Pattern So1: | _hoops_red_gold |
| Body1: | FE2712 |
| Shorts1: | ffffff |
| Socks1: | 0B2240 |
| Url: | afc.com.au/SANFL |
The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Crows, is an Australian rules football reserves team which competes in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Though the Adelaide Football Club was formed in 1990 for the national AFL competition, it was not until 2014 that the club was granted a license to field a dedicated reserves team in the SANFL.[3]
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.[4] 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 AFL 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.[5]
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.[6] Following improved negotiations between Adelaide executives and SANFL clubs,[7] the Crows' bid for a SANFL stand-alone side was approved by a vote of 6-2 of club executive representatives in August 2013.[8] 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 SANFL premiership match was against North Adelaide on April 6, 2014.[9]
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:[10]
Ahead of the 2015 season, SANFL executives outlined additional new measures in relation to Adelaide's player list:[11]
The Crows are permitted the use of one home game from its two annual matches against the reserves team (nicknamed the Port Adelaide Magpies). However, as part of the agreement allowing Adelaide to field a stand-alone team in the SANFL, the Crows are required to play all other regular season games at the home ground of their opponents. The only exception to this was the Round 15 2016 match, when it hosted at Thebarton.
| Years | Venue | Location | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Clare Oval | SANFL Showdown I | ||
| 2015 | Balaklava Oval | SANFL Showdown III | ||
| 2016 | Mannum Oval | SANFL Showdown V | ||
| 2016 | Thebarton Oval | Vs. Sturt | ||
| 2017 | Woodville Oval | SANFL Showdown VII | ||
| 2018 | Kadina Oval | SANFL Showdown X | ||
| 2019 | Port Pirie Oval | SANFL Showdown XI | ||
| 2021 | Adelaide Oval | North Adelaide | SANFL Showdown XIII |
Since competing in the SANFL competition, Adelaide has worn a guernsey that differs from the home guernsey of their AFL side. From 2014 to 2019, the SANFL side wore a "v-shape" style guernsey, chosen by members, that featured the red, gold and navy colours of the traditional strip in the upper third of the front of the guernsey, with a white base covering the remainder of the guernsey.[12] [13] Ahead of the 2021 season, the Crows switched to a hooped guernsey similar to the traditional AFL strip, but with gold and blue hoops on a predominantly red base.[14]
| Season | Ladder | W–L–D | Finals | Coach | Captain(s) | Best & Fairest | Leading Goalkicker | Kit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8th | 7–11–0 | DNQ | Ian Callinan | Ian Callinan (27)[15] | Puma | |||
| 7th | 8–9–1 | Ian Callinan (2) | James Podsiadly (46)[16] | BLK | ||||
| 4th | 11–7–0 | Preliminary Finalist | Harry Dear (37) | |||||
| 2017 | 8th | 7–11–0 | DNQ | Ryan O’Keefe | Alex Keath & Hugh Greenwood | Scott Thompson | Troy Menzel (24) | ISC |
| 2018 | 10th | 1–17–0 | Ryan O’Keefe | Rotating Captains (Alex Keath, Tom Doedee, Cam Ellis-Yolmen, Reilly O'Brien, Paul Hunter) | Patrick Wilson | Ben Davis (22) | ||
| 3rd | 11–6–1 | Preliminary Finalist | Heath Younie | Patrick Wilson (2) | Tyson Stengle (30) | |||
| 2020 | Did not field a team due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |||||||
| 8th | 5–13–0 | DNQ | Billy Frampton (24) | O'Neills | ||||
| 2nd | 12–6–0 | Preliminary Finalist | Kieran Strachan (2) | Matthew Wright (35) | ||||
| 3rd | 13–5–0 | Lachlan Gollant (42) | ||||||
| — | — | — | — | — | ||||
1 (2018)
Magarey Medalists: 0
Jack Oatey Medalists: 0
Ken Farmer Medalists: 0