South Australian National Football League
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The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL as it is usually referred to, is the premier league for Australian Rules football in the state of South Australia. Established in 1877, the league now comprises of nine clubs representing different areas of metropolitan Adelaide. The competition is renowned for high-quality football and is generally accepted to be the second best football league in Australia, behind the AFL.
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Clubs
- Central District Bulldogs
- Glenelg Tigers
- North Adelaide Roosters
- Norwood Redlegs
- Port Adelaide Magpies
- South Adelaide Panthers
- Sturt Double-Blues
- West Adelaide Bloods
- Woodville-West Torrens Eagles
History
Pre-1877
The early years of football in South Australia were poorly organised and dogged by argument over which set of rules to adopt. In fact, after a match between Port 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 they years progressed, there became a growing push for uniformity and structure in South Australian football.
1877-1900
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In 1877, 12 of South Australia's football clubs met to develop a uniform set of rules and establish a governing body. They formed the South Australian Football Association, the first governing body of its type for football in Australia, and adopted rules similar to those used in Victoria. The inaugural 1877 season was contested by those 12 clubs; South Park, Willunga, Port Adelaide, Adelaide, North Adelaide, Prince Alfred College, Gawler, Kapunda, Bankers, Woodville, South Adelaide and Victorian.
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Norwood joined the Association the following season in 1878, and went on to win the next six premierships. Norwood, along with South Adelaide and Port Adelaide, dominated the early years, winning 23 of the first 24 premierships between them. However, club numbers were dimininshing. South Park, Willunga, North Adelaide, Prince Alfred College, Gawler, Kapunda, Bankers, Woodville, and Victorian all left the Association within the first 10 years. By 1886, the Association had been reduced from 12 to four clubs.
But the Association experienced a resurgence in the late 1880s and early 1890s. The addition of West Adelaide (1887), North Adelaide (1893), West Torrens (1897) and only the demise of Adelaide (1893), meant the Association comprised of six clubs by the turn of the century. In 1898, the Magarey Medal was awarded to the fairest and most brilliant player for the first time (see #Magarey Medal).
1901-1913
The Sturt Football Club joined the Association in 1901, but performed poorly initially, finishing last in its first three seasons. In 1902, Port Adelaide adopted its now famous black and white colours, and the competition was beginning to take a more familiar form. In 1907, the Association changed its name to the South Australian Football League.
Heavyweights Norwood and Port Adelaide continued their domination of the league, and were joined by West Adelaide and North Adelaide and between them, the four clubs won all premierships between 1901 and 1913. Amazingly, West Adelaide followed three straight wooden spoons from 1904-06 with four out of the five premierships from 1908-1912. This was to be the most successful period in West Adelaide's history.
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World War I
The SAFL managed to maintain competition for the first two years of World War I, 1914 and 1915, with Sturt winning their first premiership in 1915. But by 1916, clubs were sustaining high losses to war and competition was suspended and did not resume until 1919.
1919-1938
Sturt won the first premiership of the post-war era, beating North Adelaide in the Grand Final replay. Glenelg became the newest addition to the league in 1921 and started poorly with five consecutive wooden spoons. In 1927, the South Australian Football League, changed its name for a third time, adopting the now familiar, South Australian National Football League. Meanwhile, Port Adelaide celebrated a golden era during the inter-war years, with 12 grand finals yielding five premierships.
World War II
As with World War I, the SANFL managed to continue competition for the first few years of World War II. However, by 1942, the war forced all clubs to merge in order to field a side. Mergers were geographically determined with Port Adelaide merging with West Torrens, West Adelaide merging with Glenelg, Sturt merging with South Adelaide and Norwood merging with North Adelaide. This wartime competition continued from 1942-44.
1946-1959
Norwood began the post-war era in superb style winning three premierships by 1950. However, this period was dominated by Fos Williams' Port Adelaide, winning seven premierships, including an amazing six in a row from 1954-59.
1960-1969
Port Adelaide continued their dominance of the competition with three more premierships by 1965. In 1964, for the first time in 60 years, the SANFL admitted two new clubs, Central District and Woodville. Both clubs performed poorly, and many questioned the purpose of introducing two more teams, in particular Woodville, who were closely surrounded by existing clubs, Port Adelaide and West-Torrens. Meanwhile a new power, Sturt, hit the competition, winning five straight premierships from 1966-70. Sturt shared a fierce rivalry with Port Adelaide whom they played in four consecutive Grand Finals.
1970-1979
North Adelaide began the 70s with back-to-back premiership victories over Port Adelaide. Port Adelaide continued their success, winning two premierships themselves, and finishing lower than 3rd only once for the decade. The SANFL made the biggest shift in its history, moving all operations to the new Football Park in 1974. Central District and North Adelaide played the first ever match at the ground on May 4, 1974. The first SANFL Grand Final was played at the Ground the same year, the first away from Adelaide Oval. During the 1970s, football in South Australia experienced an increase in players moving across the border to play in the higher standard VFL competition.
1980-1989
The exodus of quality players to the VFL continued in the 1980s and inevitably the quality of competition began to drop. Sensing the change, in 1981 the SANFL submitted a bid to enter a composite South Australian team in the VFL, but were rejected. Following this failed attempt, the SANFL introduced a Player Retention Scheme in 1988. The aim of the Scheme was to provide financial insentives to top players to remain in South Australia. While this Scheme saw a short-term increase in the quality of the competition, attendences soon began to drop again.
Meanwhile, on-field, night football came to the SANFL in 1984 with floodlights installed at Football Park following a long battle with nearby residents. The heavyweights Port Adelaide, Norwood and Glenelg dominated the competition, winning eight premierships between them.
1990-1999
The 1990s was the most turbulent decade in the history South Australian football. The SANFL continued to resist the temptation to enter a side in the AFL. However matters came to an abrupt head on July 31, 1990, when the Port Adelaide Football Club, feeling it was subsidising the other SANFL clubs, made an independent bid to the join the AFL. The shock announcement took everyone by surprise and instigated the most controversial period in South Australian football.
The SANFL was left with little option by to submit its own bid to enter the AFL. In a thirty-minute meeting the SANFL formed the Adelaide Football Club, a composite side made up of players from all SANFL clubs. While Port Adelaide had by far the largest supporter base in South Australia, they could not compete with the SANFL's offer of a composite club and the use of Football Park.
In November 1990, following a vicious legal battle, the AFL announced the Adelaide Football Club had been granted the license and would enter the competition in 1991.
After a tumultuous summer, the Adelaide Crows debuted in 1991 wearing the state colours of navy blue, red and yellow. While the Adelaide Crows enjoyed crowds of over 40,000 every week and dominated local media coverage, crowds at local SANFL matches plummeted. The 1990s was the first decade in the SANFL's history that it was not South Australia's premier football event every weekend.
Locally, Port Adelaide dominated the competition winning seven premierships.
Sources
Magarey Medal
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The Magery Medal is awarded to the fairest and most brilliant player in the SANFL each season and is the oldest of its type in Australia.
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The medal is named after William Ashley Magarey, a former SANFL administrator. In 1897, Magarey became chairman of the South Australian Football Association, as it was then known. In 1898, in an effort to stamp out rough play and improve respect of umpires, Magarey instituted the medal to be awarded the player deemed by umpires to be the fairest and most brilliant for that season. The inaugural winner of the medal was Norwood's Alby Green. Magarey died in 1929, but his name lives on and the Magaery Medal is still awarded to the fairest and most brilliant SANFL player each season.
Sources
External links
- Official SANFL website (http://www.sanfl.com.au/)
- FootySA.com (http://www.footysa.com)
Clubs
- Central District (http://www.cdfc.com.au/)
- Glenelg (http://www.glenelgfc.com.au/)
- North Adelaide (http://www.nafc.com.au/)
- Norwood (http://www.go-redlegs.com/)
- Port Adelaide (http://www.portmagpies.com.au/)
- Sturt (http://www.sturtfc.com.au/)
- South Adelaide (http://www.safc.com.au/)
- West Adelaide (http://www.westies.com.au/)
- Woodville - West Torrens (http://www.wwtfc.com.au/)