Port Adelaide to rebrand as Yartapuulti Football Club to celebrate Indigenous heritage over Sir Doug Nicholls Round
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The Port Adelaide Football Club will celebrate its rich Indigenous heritage by adopting a new name – Yartapuulti Football Club – for all future Sir Doug Nicholls and AFLW indigenous rounds.
The landmark decision to rename the club will elevate First Nations culture and language onto the national stage.
Its significance will be felt far and wide when the club kicks of Sir Doug Nicholls Round on Friday, May 19, marking the first time two AFL teams adopting its Indigenous name will play each other.
The Yartapuulti Football Club will host Narrm – the Indigenous name of the Melbourne Football Club – who pioneered the rebranding idea in 2022.
Past player and proud Kaurna man Uncle Mickey Kumatpi Murrutya O’Brien was one of the driving forces behind the name.
He said its meaning was deeply connected to the land near Port Adelaide.
“In Kaurna, ‘Yarta’ means place or land and ‘Puulti’ means sleep or death, which is the name the Kaurna people gave the land around the Port River,” he said.
“Language has always been a part of our landscapes and today we have this opportunity to have our name being Yartapuulti being used at Port Adelaide for this wonderful game that they are about to embark on.”
He said he was thankful and grateful to the football club.
Not only for the opportunity they gave me as a player who played at this wonderful club but this opportunity to share my culture and my connection to this place.”
Included in Port Adelaide’s rebranding is a new logo that has been carefully crafted by Brooke Rigney-Lively in collaboration with Ochre Dawn.
It features Indigenous art that represents the identity of Port Adelaide and the connection to its First Nations people in South Australia.
Port Adelaide Football Club CEO Matthew Richardson said the initiative was about celebrating Indigenous culture and the important role it plays in Australia’s game.
“Port Adelaide has a rich heritage of Indigenous players who have represented our club over many years and are intrinsic in the great eras of Port Adelaide,” he said.
“The opportunity for Yartapuulti Football Club to open Sir Doug Nicholls Round against Narrm Football Club and the significance of that moment is not lost on us.
“I couldn’t think of a more fitting moment for our club to be the Yartapuulti Football Club.”
Yartapuulti Football Club will also feature in the club’s second Sir Doug Nicholls Round clash against Richmond at the MCG on May 28.
The club will reveal its Sir Doug Nicholls Round guernsey in the coming weeks.