PAFC 2025

[Booney]

This one doesn't sit well with me, the number should have remained retired, I don't like it at all.

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Skillful small forward Joe Richards will wear number 35, last worn by the late John McCarthy in 2012. 

McCarthy played 21 AFL games for Port Adelaide and 18 for Collingwood, before he lost his life on a post-season trip in September 2012.

In his memory, Port Adelaide retired his number 35 guernsey soon after his tragic passing. 

Now, 12 years later, the McCarthy family has supported the decision to bring the number back on field, with former Collingwood player Richards the perfect option to take it. 

Richards, who arrived at the Power from Collingwood during the recent trade period, was honoured to assume the 35.

“It’s a huge privilege to be trusted to wear the number 35,” Richards said. 

“When the club approached me to wear this number, I had no hesitation in accepting the offer. 

“I didn’t know John, but from what I have heard about him, it sounds like we share similar values and passion for footy. 

“We were both recruited from Collingwood to Port Adelaide, so there is a nice connection there.  

“From what I've learned, John's greatest strength was his care for his teammates and those he connected with. I’m incredibly humbled by the opportunity.” 

Port Adelaide Chief Executive Matthew Richardson felt the time was right for the number 35 to return. 

“Bringing the number 35 back into our playing squad is an important moment for our club,” Mr Richardson said. 

“We are grateful to the McCarthy family for their support. We are pleased for Joe and look forward to seeing him make number 35 his own.”

“The number 35 is a significant number at our club. Before John, Chad Cornes wore the guernsey with great distinction as an AFL Premiership player and two-time All-Australian.” 

All new recruits have now been given their guernsey numbers, with forward Jack Lukosius to wear 12, Rory Atkins to don the 32, while Logan Evans has moved up the order to take the retired Charlie Dixon’s 22.

Pick 15 in the recent Telstra National Draft Joe Berry will wear 5, and category B rookie and former basketballer Jacob Moss has number 42.

Draftees Jack Whitlock (17), Christian Moraes (31), Tom Cochrane (37) have all been given their first AFL numbers, while category B rookie Benny Barrett will wear the 40.

New guernsey numbers

5 – Joe Berry
12 – Jack Lukosius
17 – Jack Whitlock
22 – Logan Evans
31 - Christian Moraes
32 – Rory Atkins
35 – Joe Richards
37 – Tom Cochrane
40 – Benny Barrett
42 – Jacob Moss

[wenchbarwer]

Why now?

[Booney]

There's no link between the two players or families, I have no idea why.

[MW]

without trying to sound heartless, I thought it was strange to retire the 35 in the first place. Think there are better ways to remember him by, rather than taking 35 away when you had such a champion represent it in the past and can use it accordingly.

[Booney]

After each game the leadership group would discuss who displayed the traits the playing group admires on the weekend and they wore the #35 at training that week, it was held in high regard. I liked that system as it kept the number and his memory alive.

[heater31]

Why now?

If John did not have the accident, he would have most likely ended his playing career by now. The number would be available in normal circumstances.

It's a tricky situation when you do this as when is the right time? If the family is ok with it, then it's time.

[Brodlach]

Rarely does it happen in this thread , but I agree with Booney.

[amber_fluid]

After each game the leadership group would discuss who displayed the traits the playing group admires on the weekend and they wore the #35 at training that week, it was held in high regard. I liked that system as it kept the number and his memory alive.

Wasn’t aware of this but a great initiative by the club and/or leadership group.

[Booney]

After each game the leadership group would discuss who displayed the traits the playing group admires on the weekend and they wore the #35 at training that week, it was held in high regard. I liked that system as it kept the number and his memory alive.

Wasn’t aware of this but a great initiative by the club and/or leadership group.

Among us nuffys it was a watch and see from training pictures to see who was in the #35 each week.

[Booney]

Rarely does it happen in this thread , but I agree with Booney.

Not sure how I feel.

[wenchbarwer]

After each game the leadership group would discuss who displayed the traits the playing group admires on the weekend and they wore the #35 at training that week, it was held in high regard. I liked that system as it kept the number and his memory alive.

It makes even less sense now...

[Brodlach]

Rarely does it happen in this thread , but I agree with Booney.

Not sure how I feel.

I feel dirty!

[Booney]

The Port Adelaide Football Club is pleased to announce an operating profit of $3.157m for the 2024 financial year. This result is before grant revenue, depreciation, and amortisation.

After including capital grant revenue associated with the Alberton Oval redevelopment of $3.735m, and deducting depreciation and amortisation of $1.837m, the club reports a consolidated profit of $5.055m.

The 2024 financial result was underpinned by strong growth across Port Adelaide’s core business revenues including membership, gate receipts, commercial partnerships, hospitality, and retail sales contributing to gross revenue increasing by $4.6m in the 2024 financial year, to a total of $69.2m.

This growth enabled the club to reduce debt by a further $2.0m in 2024, resulting in total debt reduction of $10.5m across the last four years. Total debt is down to $1.89m as of 31 October, with the club aiming to clear this historical debt in by the end of 2025.

Port Adelaide’s net asset position further strengthened in 2024 to $57.7m.

This is an increase of $25.1m, up from $32.7m in 2023, as a result of the revaluation gains on the Allan Scott Headquarters upgrade which included the new MG High Performance Centre, capital investment in Alberton Oval facilities, and the renovated Precinct at Alberton.

Highlights of the 2024 Financial Result:
• Operating profit of $3.157m.
• Gross revenue up 7 per cent to $69.188m.
• Core business revenue up 8 per cent, $2.868m (membership, tickets, commercial and retail)
• $2m in debt repayments (2023; $2.5m).
• Total assets of $82.4m (2023; $61.8m).
• Strong balance sheet with net assets of $57.7m (2023; $32.7m).
• Capital grants recognised for facility development of $3.735m (2023; $15.631m).
• Resulting in a consolidated profit including grant revenue of $5.055m (2023; $15.574m consolidated profit).
• $30m Alberton Oval stage one facilities redevelopment completed.

Port Adelaide Chairman David Koch said this year’s financial result was pleasing and thanked the club’s members and fans for their ongoing support.

“We are very grateful for the support of our loyal members and fans who are integral to the club’s success on and off the field,” Mr. Koch said.

“The AFL is one of the premier and most competitive professional sports leagues in the world and building a powerful business to underpin our success can only happen with the support and passion of our people.

“Membership continues to grow with a record 71,307 club members, and gate receipts were strong again in 2024 with over 100,000 tickets sold to our AFL and AFLW home games.

“We are also pleased with the growth of AFLW home games at Alberton Oval in 2024, with average home game attendances of 3,321, placing us second in the competition.

“We are delighted to see members and fans embracing the unique experience that is emerging at Alberton, and of course our talented young team.

“I also thank our commercial partners and stakeholders for their support across our football club and community programs. Their support of our aspirations on and off the field, and the important work we do in the community is invaluable.

“We were extremely proud to officially open the new MG High-Performance Centre and redeveloped Allan Scott Headquarters to our members at Family Day early this year.

“Providing our athletes and staff with world-class facilities, developing a state-of-the-art AFLW match day venue, and enhancing the experience of our members, fans, and the local community when they come to Alberton Oval have all been key drivers of the exciting transformation.

“In 2025 we commence the next stages of the Alberton Oval re-development, including new AFLW player and staff facilities within Allan Scott Headquarters to further integrate our AFL and AFLW programs. There will also be new permanent seating installed around the eastern boundary to enhance the match day experience in time for our 2025 AFLW season.

“A strong financial result provides the club with the ability to continue to grow and invest in our football programs, our community, and the experience people have when they come to Alberton Oval, or when attending a Port Adelaide game.

“I sincerely thank our members and fans, Board, Sub-Committees, AFL, AFLW, SANFL playing groups, staff, and corporate and community partners as we look forward to 2025.”

[whufc]

Retiring numbers is a tough one, last off season we had a b grade captain and his father pass away in a plan accident.

As a club we decided to retire the number last season, well to be honest we let the family decide what they wanted to have happen to the number. There was potential one of the two playing brothers may have wanted to wear it but that wasn't the case.

After a few games in the family / playing group felt that retiring the number almost had an 'out of sight, out of mind feel about it'. In the end we had permission to have the number placed on a new season guernsey and we would hang it up in the changerooms each week. We really liked that.

Who knows what will happen in the future with the number but i think the upmost importance is that the families wishes are respected whatever way they decide. If McCarthys family are on board with the decision Port have made then i dont think it can be a 'bad' choice.

[Dutchy]

Richo has done an outstanding job with the finances, KT left them in a mess.

[Booney]

OFFICIALLY, the public moment that changed the Port Adelaide Football Club forever - and Australian football - was at West Lakes on a Tuesday afternoon. December 13, 1994.

The private phone call from Leigh Whicker's office at SANFL headquarters, however, was five days earlier on a fateful Friday. It left Port Adelaide president Greg Boulton and chief executive Brian Cunningham with an unexpected curveball - keeping a Port Adelaide team in the State league. This was the last hurdle to AFL status. There is the ironic twist that for Port Adelaide to leave the SANFL it had to stay in the SANFL.

"Actually," says Boulton, 30 years later, "that phone call (revealing Port Adelaide's success in securing an AFL licence) was even earlier than Leigh's call ... we already knew what Leigh was going to tell us."

From AFL House at the MCG in Melbourne had come the advice to be prepared.

"The message," recalls Boulton, "was the new sub-licence to be issued by the SANFL on behalf of the AFL will be handed to a club with two words to its name ... they did not say 'Port Adelaide' but 'a club with two words to its name'."

The hyphenated campaigns for the second SA-based AFL licence, could be dismissed.

Norwood-Sturt, the major rival, it would not be.

Boulton could cast aside the late play from Glenelg-South Adelaide. He could also scratch "The Cartel" formed by the other SANFL clubs of Central District, North Adelaide, West Adelaide and Woodville-West Torrens.

Port Adelaide - after the torment of an ambitious but blocked campaign for national status in 1990 - would be an AFL club. The SANFL's oldest club was finally advancing to the national stage. And now, in mid-December 1994, after two years of intense campaigning, Whicker was on the phone to confirm such ... and with an unexpected twist that emphasised how important the Port Adelaide image was to the SANFL.

Thirty years on, those five days between Friday, December 9, 1994 and Tuesday, December 13, 1994 stand as important as any to understanding the spirit and character of the Port Adelaide Football Club and its people.

"There would be a Port Adelaide Football Club forever," says Boulton, repeating his famous line to the members gathered in celebration at Alberton that Tuesday night.

"Our survival - at a time when South Australian football was massively changed by putting an AFL team in Adelaide in 1990 - was assured forever.

"But we did not want to just survive. We wanted to play in the best competition in the land. We wanted to thrive and succeed among the best. We achieved that opportunity in 1994 - and 10 years later we celebrated again with an AFL premiership."

From the moment the SANFL opened the door on December 2, 1992 for an AFL licence bidding process until the formal declaration of the winner on December 13, 1994, the contest always seemed for Port Adelaide to win.

"Not because we were on any promise," says Cunningham, again rejecting the perception the AFL "owed" Port Adelaide for breaking the long-standing impasse with the SANFL by seeking a licence in 1990.

From March 8, 1993, Port Adelaide's dedicated AFL sub-committee met twice a week to plan a winning bid and to raise at least $2 million to ensure it was never beaten, by a rival SANFL club or lawyers as in 1990.

"Why would we spend five years working our backsides off to enter the AFL if we were on a promise? The reality is, another composite club in South Australia would not have worked. But we had to work hard - and we did - to prove Port Adelaide was the right choice, as it clearly was."

But what if 1990 had repeated with Port Adelaide denied?

"There was no contingency plan," says Boulton. "It never crossed our minds that we would fail to get that licence."

But what if ...

"We would have continued to dominate the SANFL," says Boulton.

That is the Port Adelaide way.

[Booney]

The Port Adelaide Football Club has announced recent State Government funding will enable the club to continue transforming the historic Alberton Oval into a state-of-the-art high performance and community precinct.

The $17 million grant over four years will contribute to delivering the club’s stage 4 plans, which includes world-class facilities for the club’s AFLW team, and new grandstands to increase the oval’s capacity to AFL match day standard.

The funding will allow the club to commence planning, approval, and community consultation early this year for the development of new AFLW changerooms and coaching facilities, and new terraced grandstands on the eastern boundary.

An additional heritage inspired grandstand, new facilities for the Port Adelaide Bowling Club, flexible event space, and a future-focused STEM learning and education facility also form part of the funding, with planning set to commence in 2026.

Underpinning this next stage of the $35 million transformation is both the club's strategic vision and growth objectives, and importantly the needs of the broader community.  

The plans for the next stage of the redevelopment at Alberton Oval include:  

AFLW player changeroom and coaching administration facilities consolidated into the MG High Performance Centre to fully integrate the club's AFL and AFLW football programs into one building.

Terraced seating installed around the eastern boundary fence providing more than 1,000 additional seats, to support the growth of AFLW matches at Alberton Oval.

A third heritage inspired grandstand, increasing the seated capacity at Alberton Oval to more than 6,000 and overall capacity to over 10,000 to cater for the growth of AFLW and SANFL home games, and AFL pre-season games.

A STEM learning centre, and education and conferences spaces for our Power Community Limited programs and the Port Adelaide Academy of Sport.

A new Port Adelaide Bowling Club facility with synthetic green and clubrooms.  

A flexible learning and event space for club and community access. 


The redevelopment not only features world-class AFL and AFLW playing and training facilities for the Port Adelaide Football Club, but it also incorporates multi-use community sport and recreation facilities that can continue to be utilised by the people of the western suburbs.

Port Adelaide Football Club Chief Executive Officer, Matthew Richardson thanked the Malinauskas Labour government for their support.

“The Port Adelaide Football Club is grateful for the support from the South Australian Government toward this next stage of the development at Alberton Oval,” Mr. Richardson said.

“Providing world-class facilities for our AFL and AFLW players and staff plays an important role in ensuring our club is highly competitive on-field. Retaining and attracting the best talent is a key part of that.

“AFL football plays an important role in inspiring young people to play sport and live healthy lifestyles, but it is also a major economic generator in South Australia.

“This funding support from the South Australian Government will see elite AFLW player facilities incorporated into the MG High Performance Centre, ensuring the important integration of our AFL and AFLW football programs.

“It will also provide further improvement to spectator amenities at Alberton Oval, including new terraced seating around the eastern boundary to enhance the game day experience for our fans.

“This is particularly important for the club’s popular AFLW home games where Alberton Oval had the second highest attendances in the competition in 2024”.

[Armchair expert]

#SAVEOURTREES

[am Bays]

#SAVEOURTREES

Nothing worth saving at Alberton...

[wenchbarwer]

What's the deal with the STEM facility? Chucked that in to get a few extra dollars funding?

I'm terrible at acronyms but STEM on the Le Fevre surely stands for
Stealing
Things
Every
Minute

Or something far wittier...