The SANFL Metamorphosis, circa 1990

[Adelaide Hawk]

The reference to Norwood "hijacking" the Crows is another ill-informed one. Norwood had a club room they couldn't afford. It has since been sold as proof of that. The Crows were unable to set up club rooms of their own and were using a shed. Port were coming into the AFL so rather than have both teams on the Western Side of town, Norwood made a proposal to the Crows to relocate to Norwood Oval and take over the clubrooms there. Hardly a hijack situation, but then I've never been totally surprised by some of the silly comments I read in here.

[Magpiespower]

A Bullsh1t, one-eyed comment mate .. Norwood made NO overtures to join the AFL without SANFL sanction, don't try to deflect this from your own mob ..

"Alan Schwab leaked some of our papers (detailing correspondence between Ian Collins, John Adams and Norwood) to the media. Norwood then ran scared and accused us of being stooges of the AFL. But they got that wrong...I was very annoyed with Schwabby. We (Collins and Adams) thought about taking legal action at the time."
- Ian Collins.

Norwood were desperate to be in the AFL, desperate enough to merge with Sturt, and after Port were awarded the second license there was only one option - to enter into a defacto relationship with the Crows.

This desperation manifested itself publicly in Michael Aish's undignified dummy spit on 5AA the day Port were awarded the second license.

[JK]

LOL .. Condemn our desperation all you like mate, that wasn't the point and I'm not arguing that ... I'm arguing the manner in which we went about it and the inferences you made ... As for Ian Collins, well done, you have the comments from one side (and how trustworthy has Collo proven in other incidences??), perhaps you should now do some research on the other side to be fair in your assessment ... Your post's as a rule seem fairly intelligent MP so I'd like to think you could base your outlook on reasonable consideration of both sides of the story rather than an anti-Norwood basis ... Note: I wouldn't ask this of too many others on these forums!

[Magpiespower]

LOL .. Condemn our desperation all you like mate, that wasn't the point and I'm not arguing that ... I'm arguing the manner in which we went about it and the inferences you made ... As for Ian Collins, well done, you have the comments from one side (and how trustworthy has Collo proven in other incidences??), perhaps you should now do some research on the other side to be fair in your assessment ... Your post's as a rule seem fairly intelligent MP so I'd like to think you could base your outlook on reasonable consideration of both sides of the story rather than an anti-Norwood basis ... Note: I wouldn't ask this of too many others on these forums!

Believe it or not, but I agree with you CP!

I'm not in any way condoning or making excuses for the way events unfolded in 1990.

Not even intending to be anti-Norwood (well, at least not in this thread, not sure how I'm faring though .

Just trying to get across that Port weren't the only one's agitating to join the AFL, something that nearly always gets hopelessly lost in this debate.

Hell, when Don Roach was SANFL general manager, he even went to the VFL with the view of entering a team/teams from South Australia. Got laughed out of VFL House at the time but that's beside the point. This was way back in 1981, too.

It's unfortunate the way things panned out because I would have loved to beat your mob in a truly national comp - something like John Elliott proposed back in '84 with his breakaway league...

[JamesH]

The Events Of 1990;

1982: The SANFL submits a report to the VFL concerning a composite team. The VFL rejects the submission.
1986: The SANFL rejects joining an expanded VFL due to the $4 million license fee. The SANFL register the name Adelaide Football Club.
May 1990: the 10 SANFL clubs unanimously vote not to join the AFL until at least 1992. The SANFL resale ten nonnegotiable conditions for their eventual entry. Port Adelaide was represented by Dave Boyd. Greg Boulton subsequently claims that Boyd voted against the wishes of the Port Adelaide board.
June 1990: The AFL contacts both Port Adelaide and Norwood about the possibility of joining.
5 July 1990: Port Adelaide approach the AFL to confirm their interest in joining.
7 July 1990: Alan Schwab (AFL) and Bruce Webber (PA) meet. Port Adelaide commits to joining the AFL.
29 July 1990: The Sunday Age’s Mike Sheahan breaks the story. Scott Palmer (Herald Sun) contacts Max Basheer (SANFL president) to inform him of Port Adelaide’s intentions.
30 July 1990: Port Adelaide and the AFL sign a heads of agreement.
31 July 1990: Port Adelaide formally inform the SANFL.
2 August 1990: Meeting of SANFL clubs. The SANFL considers expelling Port Adelaide.
3 August 1990: The SANFL obtains an injunction to prevent Port from entering into further negotiations for a month.
4 August 1990: The SANFL and AFL meet to discuss an alternate proposal.
19 September 1990: The AFL clubs vote 13-1 against Port joining. Richmond is the only club to vote for Port.
11 October 1990: The SANFL signs a license agreement to enter a composite team in the AFL.