SAFA/SAFL/SANFL member clubs - 1877 to 2007

[Benchwarmer]

I have listed all the SAFA/SAFL/SANFL from 1877 to 2007, with their affiliation years from the Full Points Footy site.

Also for a bit of trivia, have there been any mooted locations for SANFL teams apart from Darwin and Tasmania - I'm pretty sure that the South East was floated a while back?


AFFILIATION DATES FOR SENIOR FOOTBALL
Adelaide (1877-1880) merged with Kensington
Adelaide (1885-1893)
Adelaide-Kensington (1881)
Bankers (1877)
Central District (1964-)
Gawler (1887-1890)
Glenelg (1921-)
Hotham (1887)
Kensington (1877-1880) merged with Adelaide
Medindie see North Adelaide
North Adelaide (1883-1884) formerly Victorian
North Adelaide (Medindie 1888-1892, North Adelaide 1893-)
Norwood (1878-)
Port Adelaide (1877-1996)
Port Adelaide Magpies (1997-)
Port Natives (1895-1896) see West Torrens
Royal Park (1882)
South Adelaide (1877-)
South Park (1877-1884)
Sturt (1901-)
Victorian (1877-1882) renamed North Adelaide for 1883
West Adelaide (1887) merged with Adelaide for 1888
West Adelaide (1897-)
West Torrens (Port Natives 1895-1896, West Torrens 1897-1990)
Woodville (1877)
Woodville (1964-1990)
Woodville-West Torrens (1991-)

NON-SENIOR SIDES
Central District (1959-1963)
Prospect (1909-1910)
Semaphore Central (1909-1910)
Woodville (1959-1963)

* The dates listed are years of affiliation and are not meant to represent their year of formation.

[Aerie]

Were Port Natives to West Torrens the same as Medindie was to North Adelaide?

[Benchwarmer]

Well done!


WEST TORRENS
Affiliated: Adelaide & Suburban Association 1894; SAFA 1895-1906; SANFL 1907-1990
Formed: 1894 as Port Natives; changed name to West Torrens in 1897

[Leaping Lindner]

Some additions/notes off the top of my head

Gawler (1887-1890) Were known as "The Tigers"
Hotham (1887) Changed name to North Adelaide in 1888. No relation to current North Adelaide or the previous one.Were going to merge with Medindie at end of the season but at the last minute merged with Adelaide. It was a merger in name only Adelaide's name,colours and jumper were kept.
They also wore red and white (same as Medindie) but the Association made them add the colour blue to their jumpers so as not to clash with Medindie.
Victorian (1877-1882) changed name to North Adelaide (1883-1884). Folded just prior to the 1885 season for reasons unknown.
West Adelaide (1887) At the end of the season "merged" with Adelaide.
North Adelaide (Medindie 1888-1892, North Adelaide 1893-). Medindie was originally formed in 1881 by students from Prince Alfred College and (the now defunct) Whinham College. Joined the league in 1888. Personally I believe the Princes influence is where the colours and (early) jumper comes from.
I think Port Natives was formed by Port players that were having trouble cracking a regular spot at Alberton. They mostly lived around the Hindmarsh area and trained and played at the oval there.

IIRC correctly (seem to remember reading this somewhere) there was talk of a University team and a team from Gawler/Barossa Valley joining the SANFL (SAFL) just prior to World War One. Nothing come of this - obviously. I'll have to look into/double check that.

[Benchwarmer]

The SAAFL history book (Bloch, p. 6) mentions that University were knocked back in 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909 and 1910.

The SAAFL history also mentions Kapunda, Prince Alfred College and Willunga as SAFA members.

[heater31]

didn't Semaphore Centrals play in the reserves in the early days before joining the SAAFL??????

[Benchwarmer]

From memory they did (so did Centrals), but I am keeping it to senior level only. Maybe we can add on a list of B Grade sides as an appendix.

[THE BARKING SPIDERS]

Also for a bit of trivia, have there been any mooted locations for SANFL teams apart from Darwin and Tasmania - I'm pretty sure that the South East was floated a while back?

mid 80s there was a suggestion that western border have an affiliated side join sanfl

[Mark_Beswick]

I thought I might share a portion of my database club history notes on Natives/West Torrens and Port Natives... This is some of my research which I will EVENTUALLY get around to publishing with my database hopefully in a decades time.

Let me know what you think
Regards
Mark Beswick

The first known reports of a West Torrens Football Club can be traced to 1879. This side was captained by a Mr W. Dishley two years after the SAFA was formed. This West Torrens club wore red attire and was aptly nicknamed the "Butchers" as they played their games at the West Park Slaughter Yards near the Old Adelaide Gaol. In 1884, some six years later, this club now wearing red and white, joined the Adelaide and Suburban Association with great success. They competed in this competition until the end of the 1886 season, but records following this date and the eventual demise of this entity are yet to be established.

Junior clubs in various associations existed in a variety of competitions in the late 19th Century, but none of these were B-Grade sides directly affiliated with senior clubs. The Alberton Football Club was a successful junior club with local ties to the Port Adelaide League Club. After a disagreement with the Port Adelaide Senior Football Club, the Alberton Football Club altered its name to the Port Natives, a relative of the West Torrens Club that played in the SANFL until recently.

After a short period of time, the Port Natives Club which competed in the Adelaide and Suburban Association, decided to set their sights higher discussing the possibility of applying for a position in the SAFA. This idea was to be taken by the Port Natives management to the members. As a result, an advert was lodged and posted in the Advertiser Newspaper on Thursday February the 28th 1895 announcing that a meeting of members was to take place at the Admiral Hotel to discuss the possibility of forming a senior football club. A follow-up meeting was then arranged on the 1st of March at Dr Ralph Pott's Surgery at 74 Grenfell Street, Adelaide.

On Friday, March the tenth 1895, a third meeting was held at the Port Admiral Hotel and it was here that the members voted in favour of forming a new senior football club. The vote affirmed the managements desire to have a senior club. The new entity was to be known as the Natives Football Club. The name for this new club was carefully chosen avoiding any affiliation to any given geographical locale. The colours of Blue and Gold were then adopted and were believed to be inspired by a visiting team from the Yorke Peninsula.

With the confidence and support of members, management representing the Natives Football Club sent a communique to the South Australian Football Association asking to be accepted into the senior competition. The request was received by the SAFA on the 1st of April, 1895 and the SAFA delegates discussed and declined the application after a tied vote.

The SAFA's decision was not final as this bad news was accompanied with a glimmer of hope. The letter requested more information, specifically asking the Natives for a financial statement and a list of players' names. The Natives adhered to the new request and submitted a financial statement and a list of 51 players, many who represented the defunct Port Natives 1894 Premiership side in the Adelaide and Suburban Association.

A special meeting at the Exchange Hotel was held by the SAFA upon receiving the Native's financial statement and players list on Monday April 8. After sifting through the reports and playing lists, the SAFA delegates discussed the merits of admitting a new team into the competition. After much debate, a second and final vote was held and the club was admitted with thirteen delegates to five in favour of the Natives joining the SAFA. The news was greeted with delight by the Natives board and they subsequently named Dr Ralph Potts as their first patron.

The Natives first game saw the players wear a yellow Guernsey and stockings with a yellow band draped across the right shoulder. The colours after that game reverted to the agreed Blue and Gold as decided upon by the members at the March thirteen meeting.

[JamesH]

Wasn't the first Natives jumper yellow and black

[Aerie]

Very interesting and thorough Mark. Great stuff! I have heard West Torrens were known as the "Master Butchers" because of the slaughter house connection.

Just did a quick google search and came across this info on http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/manning/sa/sp ... m#football

Histories of football clubs are in the Advertiser,
11 July 1908, page 11b (Norwood),
18 July 1908, page 9a (South Adelaide),
25 July 1908, page 9a (Port Adelaide),
1 August 1908, page9 (North Adelaide),
8 August 1908, page 9a (West Torrens),
15 August 1908, page 9a (Sturt);
"Ups and Downs of Football - The Aspirations of Sturt" on
15 May 1909, page 9h.
For additional information on the West Torrens club see The News,
25 September 1924, page 10a.

[McAlmanac]

NON-SENIOR SIDES
Central District (1959-1963)
Prospect (1909-1910)
Semaphore Central (1909-1910)

Woodville (1959-1963)

[Mark_Beswick]

Cheers Eerie

I have a copy of all those 1908 histories from many years ago. The one Manning missed was WAFC 1908

"The Rise of West Adelaide" Adv Sat Jul 4, 1908

Regards
Mark

[fuzzy_1990]

This is great. I have also done work in this area particularly researching the Clubs with the Adelaide name in the 19th Century. Trawling through the SA Register, The Advertiser, Mortlock Library collection and other State Library holdings I have come up with much information, but heaps yet to figure out.

The listings of the two entities for Adelaide are correct, the first club playing from 1877-1880 and merged with Kensigton in 1881. Apparently from the records in the Mortlock library collection and the SA Register, the combined team played only four of their scheduled matches for the season, before forfeiting the rest of the season and disbanding.

The other Adelaide Club, formed in part from the North Park Junior Club who had played in the Adelaide and Suburban League in 1884. They had club colours of Red and Black, and were strong enough to win a tight Premiership race in 1886 from South Adelaide. I think they remain the only 19th Century pioneer club to have won a Senior Premiership before folding. West Torrens don't count as they survived well into the 20th Century.

The 1890s were not good for the club, the dominance of the big three (Norwood, South and Port) both financially thus playing wise, restricted the Adelaide Club to a handful of wins between 1890-1893 before folding subsequent to the 1894 Season. The History Honours Thesis completed in 1986 about the early years of the Norwood Football Club, gives you a great insight as to why this happened. People sometimes complain about the equalization of football these days, but look what happens when you don't have it. It was as true in the 19th Century as it is in the 21st Century.

If I am correct many players then went on to play for West Adelaide who took over their colours as well.

Still much research to do, next summer and beyond... As well as a History of Kensigton Oval that I'd love to do down the track. It's waiting to be done... it has such a long varied history, with some incredible sporting and cultural history of Adelaide.

fuzzy_1990

[oldtimer2]

I have been researching clubs players and results for seasons 1877 -1906 and have been unable to date to find the colours used by the Royal Park club in 1882.

Can anyone help with this?

[therisingblues]

Not much time on my hands tonight but this is an interesting topic.
I did a quick scan of the posts on here and I don't think this has been mentioned, but I remember reading in a Football Budget many years ago that almost the entire team from the Woodville Footy Club of 1877 went on to found and form the core of the Norwood Footy Club in 1878. It was due to some dispute, but I can't remember the details.
Norwood won the flag in their first year and went on to win 6 in a row.

[Sojourner]

Also for a bit of trivia, have there been any mooted locations for SANFL teams apart from Darwin and Tasmania - I'm pretty sure that the South East was floated a while back?

The North Eastern Suburbs have been one suggestion, West Torrens was given the areas of Modbury, Tea Tree Gully, Ridgehaven and so on as their area prior to the amalgamation and there was some talk of the club moving to the North Eastern Suburbs, yet little proved to actually come of it. Golden Grove are reputed to be having some discussions yet nothing actually that can be confirmed at this stage!

[spell_check]

Also for a bit of trivia, have there been any mooted locations for SANFL teams apart from Darwin and Tasmania - I'm pretty sure that the South East was floated a while back?

mid 80s there was a suggestion that western border have an affiliated side join sanfl

There was talk about a team from Canberra at some stage, I'm sure. Sydney Swans Reserves was another suggestion somewhere.

[oldtimer2]

The 1887 season was a very successful one with three new clubs Hotham, Gawler Albion and West Adelaide entering the South Australian Football Association. The addition of the bthree new clubs added great public interest and attendances for the season were increased as a result.

Norwood achieved the premiership with first class football throughout the season although there was a great deal of controversy at the end of the saeson as there was just a decimal fraction of a point separating it from second placed Port Adelaide and this resulted from Norwood playing and winning an extra game against a much weaker new club in Hotham.

http://stores.lulu.com/southaustralianfootball

[oldtimer2]

1888 was a truly momentous season in South Australian Football History

South Australian football was raised to the pinnacle of football achievement with Norwood designated “Champion Team of Australia.” This was the culmination of the improvement of the game in South Australia over previous seasons.

A new club Medindie was admitted to the association for the season but the number of clubs was not altered as West Adelaide dropped out as it was unable to get a team together. Hotham changed its name to North Adelaide and Gawler Albion to Gawler.

The Football played compared favourably to previous seasons and showed great improvement with a number of excellent matches played and the contests throughout were fairly interesting.

Norwood showed brilliant form throughout the season and achieved its second premiership in succession and its eighth in twelve seasons.

The results of the season fairly indicated the merits of the clubs. As predicted Norwood and Port Adelaide had a grand struggle for the premiership as both improved on 1887, were far ahead of the other teams and had little between them with as the premiership remained in doubt through the season.

It was a coincidence that all the teams finished in exactly the same order as in 1887 Norwood, Port Adelaide, Adelaide, South Adelaide, North Adelaide and Gawler, with new club Medindie completing the last place.

1888 saw a new administration of the game. The season commenced under a heavy cloud of dispute between the clubs over the programming of matches. The dispute rapidly escalated to the extent that the SAFA was disbanded and a new South Australian United Football Association formed. The squabble between the clubs resulted in Adelaide, South Adelaide and Port Adelaide leaving the SAFA and with Medindie formed the United Football Association of South Australia. Norwood, North Adelaide and Gawler were then induced to join the new body.

The season was also made unique through a visit by an English team to play both Rugby Union and the Australasian game.

http://stores.lulu.com/southaustralianfootball