2026 Adelaide Footy League - Division 5

[Mr Beefy]

5 teams in D5?

[The Bedge]

What kind of shit you smoking?

[Mr Beefy]

The good shit, I meant 9, Apparently Portland are in struggle town

[wenchbarwer]

Is this why there's no fixture up yet for the AdelFL? Are Geenacres & ML Facebook official yet, too?

[The Bedge]

If that were true, then Gaza or TOS would stay up.

Sixty-six (66) “A” Division teams the two (2) lowest “A” Division and Reserve Divisions will consist of eight (8) teams each.

[beef]

just came in to ask the same question. Heard Gaza are going up?

[The Bedge]

Bit to play out in this space if the whispers are true.

Portland fold - then a club comes up from D6 to create 10 team comp.
Portland field A grade only - then it remains as is but with a reserves bye.
Portland potentially might request to drop to D7? That would bump Units back to D6 and Gaza back to D5.

Either way, it's a long, hard road back to get two sides ready for 2027.

[beef]

fixture is up now with gaza in 6 and Portland in 5

[The Bedge]

Better to just get the fixtures up anyway, change for D5 would be minimal would think?

Either Portland field a side and just revert D5R to a 'bye', or Gaza come up and directly replace the Portland fixture.

D6 would be a little trickier, as would C5 / C6 potentially.

[wenchbarwer]

Portland Football Club facing significant player shortage for season 2026

An Adelaide Footy League club could pull out of the 2026 season just over a month out from round one as it battles a major player shortage.

Division five outfit Portland has faced an unexpected battle to make up the numbers for this year and will need to recruit swiftly to avoid pulling the pin on the season in the coming weeks.

The club, which has in recent years fielded big local names such as former AFL players Lindsay Thomas, Jake Neade and Terry Milera, missed finals on percentage last season but has not had the required numbers for an A Grade team registered or at training in the lead-up to round one on April 18.

League chief John Kernahan said Portland notified the AdFL of some player number issues but, to this stage, had still nominated to field teams in 2026.

“Having no formal advice from Portland outside of them navigating some playing stocks, at least as far as the AdFL is concerned, their nomination to field two teams in 2026 is intact,” Kernahan said.

“If that changes, we’ll deal with it then.”

Portland Football Club president Jeff Emmel said the club would be fighting to make up the numbers over the coming weeks and had not yet decided to throw in the towel on the season.

“We have faced challenges with player retention and recruitment but we are fighting hard to make it this season,” Emmel said.

“We have operated in the heart of the Port since the 1950s and contrary to the rumour mill, we have not yet folded.

“We also have a strong and growing junior program which we will continue to build from.

“If there are any senior players who are looking for a club this year, come and knock on our door.”

Emmel opted not to comment further until further club meetings had been held regarding the current situation and season ahead.

It is understood that regardless of if Portland is able to field a team or not at the A Grade level this year, it would still need to field two teams in the 2027 Adelaide Footy League season in order to continue playing or return to play.

Portland and Noarlunga in a race for the bottom

[DTH43]

Word is that Portland will be making a decision before Easter.
Right now, they won't be laying apparently.

[The Bedge]

Given it's past the Jan 31 affiliation deadline, I guess nothing will change if they opt out in regard to club movement.

D5 will remain 9 teams if theyh opt out.

Interestingly, they could potentially delay any calls until Rd 4 of the season..

[Footy Chick]

Portland have been dying every year since Covid.

There's too much money at that club for them to die.

and a concern with numbers at training?

Jesus, last year we were barely getting 10 at pre-season and still managed to fill 3 teams.

Just like last weekends weather, i'll believe it when I see it

[heater31]

Portland have been dying every year since Covid.

There's too much money at that club for them to die.

and a concern with numbers at training?

Jesus, last year we were barely getting 10 at pre-season and still managed to fill 3 teams.

Just like last weekends weather, i'll believe it when I see it

Pretty sure they won't be going anywhere. Isn't PAE planning to replace both buildings at the Northern end with a Brighton Style Footy/Cricket/Rugby club soon?

[bird of prey]

Better to just get the fixtures up anyway, change for D5 would be minimal would think?

Either Portland field a side and just revert D5R to a 'bye', or Gaza come up and directly replace the Portland fixture.

D6 would be a little trickier, as would C5 / C6 potentially.

Logic would suggest that Gaza come up and make it a 10 team comp. Bring up another team from div 7 into div 6 to replace Gaza,
But no, that just seems to hard for the league. As a result they have completely shut it down even if Portland do pull the pin.