Adelaide Football Club: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 04:16, 5 May 2007
| File:2006 AFL Adelaide.jpg | |
| Full name | Adelaide Football Club |
|---|---|
| Sport | Australian rules football |
| Founded | 1990 |
| League | Australian Football League |
| Home ground | AAMI Stadium |
| Anthem | The Pride of South Australia |
| President | Bill Sanders |
| Head coach | Neil Craig |
| Captain | Mark Ricciuto |
| 2006 | 2nd on ladder, 3rd of 16 |
| Strip | |
| Red, gold and navy blue striped guernsey, navy blue shorts (home), white shorts (away), red, gold and navy blue hooped socks. See Mero's Footy Jumpers | |
The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Crows, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League, based in Adelaide, South Australia.
The club is currently captained by Mark Ricciuto and the current coach is Neil Craig. The club is based at AAMI Stadium (formerly Football Park) in West Lakes and the club song is "The Pride of South Australia", which uses the tune of the United States Marines' Hymn. The Crows hold the distinguished record of being one of only two clubs to hold a 100% winning record in Grand Finals.
Club history
The South Australian National Football League, who ran the local competition, had been seeking to enter a team in what was then the Victorian Football League since 1981. Protracted negotiations were brought to a head in 1990 after SANFL team, Port Adelaide, reached agreement with the VFL to enter their competition. Because the Port Adelaide Football Club, who at that time were one of the most successful football clubs in Australia, would have left the SANFL legal action was taken, and eventually the league agreed to enter the Adelaide team in 1991.
The nickname "Crows" was inspired by the traditional "Croweaters" or nickname for South Australia's State of Origin teams. Opposition supporters have taken to calling to the Club the "Chardonnay Crows" referring to the club and its non-working class background. Crosstown rivalry between Port (the Power) and the Crows has resulted in many other nicknames/"mispellings" being used at times. These include the "Cows" for Adelaide and the "Poor" (Po'er) for Port.
The Crows won back-to-back premierships in 1997 and 1998 under coach Malcolm Blight, making it one of the most successful club in terms of achieving premiership success so soon after joining the AFL competition.
Membership base
In 2006, the club made history becoming the first club in VFL/AFL history to have more than 50,000 members. They broke that record in 2007, signing up 50,145 members after only round one of the season, with time remaining to build on that as the season progresses. It has the largest membership of any club in the AFL. It is the second largest membership of any sporting club in Australia, after the Melbourne Cricket Club.
| Year | Members | Home & Away Finish | Finish after finals | Average home crowd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 25,087 | 9th | 40,479 | |
| 1992 | 38,673 | 9th | 38,275 | |
| 1993 | 40,100 | 5th | 3rd | 46,128 |
| 1994 | 40,611 | 11th | - | 42,864 |
| 1995 | 41,654 | 11th | - | 38,552 |
| 1996 | 42,283 | 12th | - | 39,428 |
| 1997 | 41,395 | 4th | 1st | 40,116 |
| 1998 | 41,985 | 5th | 1st | 41,203 |
| 1999 | 42,120 | 13th | - | 39,386 |
| 2000 | 42,896 | 11th | - | 38,447 |
| 2001 | 42,014 | 8th | 8th | 39,627 |
| 2002 | 46,620 | 3rd | 4th | 43,068 |
| 2003 | 47,097 | 6th | 5th | 44,524 |
| 2004 | 45,642 | 12th | - | 39,879 |
| 2005 | 43,256 | 1st | 3rd | 42,336 |
| 2006 | 50,138 | 2nd | 3rd | 42,329 [1] |
| 2007 | 50,145¹ |
¹ (as at 5 April, 2007)
Sponsors
Major Jumper Sponsors:
- Toyota/Toyota Camry (1991-present)
Apparel Sponsors:
Shorts Sponsors:
- Various Brands of Carlton and United Beverages (2005-08)
- The Ghan (2001-04)
- Toyota (1991-2000)
Ball Sponsors:
- Mistral (2004-present)
Inaugural match
Adelaide played its first official match against Hawthorn at Football Park. The Crows got off to the best possible start to their AFL life, defeating the eventual premiers by 86 points - 24.11 (155) to 9.15 (69) - in front of a crowd of 44,902.
Notable records
- Greatest winning margin: 139 points - Round 16, 1993 v Richmond
- Highest winning score: 30.8 (188) against Essendon at AAMI Stadium on 2 June 2006
- Longest winning sequence: 10 games (Rounds 13-22, 2005)
- Largest home attendance: 51,140 against Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on 26 April 2003
- Largest attendance: 99,645 against St. Kilda at the Melbourne Cricket Ground - 1997 Grand Final
Premierships
| |||
| 1997 Coca-Cola AFL Grand Final | G | B | Total |
 Adelaide |
19 | 11 | 125 |
 St. Kilda |
13 | 16 | 94 |
| Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground | Crowd: 99,645 | ||
| File:1998AFLGrandFinal.png | |||
| 1998 Coca-Cola AFL Grand Final | G | B | Total |
| Adelaide |
15 | 15 | 105 |
| File:KangaroosDesign.jpg North Melbourne | 8 | 22 | 70 |
| Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground | Crowd: 94,431 | ||
| File:Wizard Home Loans Cup Logo.gif | ||||
| 2003 Wizard Cup Grand Final | SG | G | B | Total |
| Adelaide |
2 | 13 | 8 | 104 |
| File:CollingwoodDesign.jpg Collingwood | 1 | 9 | 10 | 73 |
| Venue: Telstra Dome, Melbourne | Crowd: 43,571 | |||
Premiership teams
Individual awards
Best and Fairest
Brownlow Medal winners
- Mark Ricciuto, 2003, [3-way tie]
Leigh Matthews Trophy winners
Coleman Medal winners
- Tony Modra, 1997 (81 goals)
Norm Smith Medal winners
Michael Tuck Medal winners
Mark of the Year winners
- Tony Modra (1993)
- Ben Hart (1996)
- Tony Modra (1997)
All-Australian players
- Ben Rutten (2005)
- Simon Goodwin (2000, 2001, 2005, 2006)
- Andrew McLeod (1998, 2000, 2001, 2006)
- Darren Jarman (1996)
- Shaun Rehn (1994, 1998)
- Mark Ricciuto (1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 [captain], 2005 [captain])
- Greg Anderson (1993)
- Tony Modra (1993, 1997)
- Ben Hart (1992, 1993, 1999, 2002)
- Tony McGuinness (1992, 1993)
- Chris McDermott (1992)
- Nigel Smart (1991, 1993, 1998)
- Nathan Bassett (2006)
National team representatives (since 2005)
- Andrew McLeod (2005) [co-captain]
- Graham Johncock (2006)
"Team of the Decade"
While some sides named their "Team of the Century" to coincide with the AFL centenary celebrations in 1996, Adelaide only joined the league in 1991, and so later on named their "Team of the Decade", covering the period from 1991 to 2000.
Season Reviews
 |
1993 - 3rd season, first finals
After finishing 9th in both 1991 and 92, the 1993 season would be the first year the young Adelaide Crows would see September Finals action after an up and down home and away season. At home the Crows were almost unstoppable going an all-time best 9-1 and selling out every single game in which attendance was at least 44,000 each time. Tony Modra had a superb year kicking a club record 129 goals, and took the Mark of the Year in Round 8 vs North Melbourne at the southern end of Football Park. But Adelaide struggled away from West Lakes going just 3-7 and would finish the season in 5th place after beating Collingwood in a superb game at home in Round 22 to earn their first Finals berth. Adelaide knocked out 2nd placed Hawthorn six days later at the MCG in the Elimination Final by 15 points with Nigel Smart kicking a career-high 6 goals, the win giving Adelaide two chances to play in the Grand Final. The Crows struggled against Carlton in week 2 at Waverley Park in an 18 point loss denying them a Grand Final spot but still had another chance in the Preliminary Final which was played at the MCG against Essendon. The Crows led by 42 points at halftime after a superb first half performance, but in the second half their performance became dismal as Essendon, who finished minor premier, came back in the second half to win by 11 points and went on to defeat Carlton a week later in the Grand Final.
1997 - Premiership
With former Woodville and North Melbourne star Malcolm Blight taking over as coach, Adelaide went 13-9 in 1997 and Tony Modra was the club's top goalkicker for the 5th straight season and won his first and only Coleman Medal. Modra also victimised North Melbourne again with the Mark of the Year in exactly the same spot at the southern end riding with his knees on Mick Martyn's shoulders and grabbing the ball facing backwards. The Crows finished in 4th spot and did what no side had ever done before, winning 4 straight Finals games to claim their first premiership. The Crows downed West Coast at home on a Sunday (the first Final played at Football Park), Geelong at home on a Saturday Night, the Western Bulldogs and St Kilda at the MCG (both Saturdays) to claim the premiership. The Preliminary Final was one of the greatest games in Crows history, they would lose Tony Modra to a season ending knee injury and come from 22 points down at 3 quarter time despite inaccurate kicking for a miracle 2-point victory, with Andrew McLeod and Matthew Robran starring. A week later the Saints were hot favourites to win just their second Premiership in the VFL/AFL, with that year's Brownlow Medallist Robert Harvey expecting to star. Adelaide, however, defied all critics to win by 31 points. In the absence of star forward Tony Modra, utility Shane Ellen stepped into his position and bagged 5 goals for the match, while Darren Jarman booted 5 of his 6 goals in the last quarter to put the game beyond doubt. Andrew McLeod's heroics around the midfield and backlines earned him the Norm Smith medal.
1998 - 2nd Premiership
Adelaide again went 13-9 in the 1998 home and away season and went into the Finals in 5th position. Adelaide was beaten badly by Melbourne in the Qualifying Final but had a 2nd chance. From then on the Crows dominated their way to the premiership beating Sydney at the SCG, and thrashing the Western Bulldogs at the MCG by 68 points. This set up a Grand Final meeting with the Kangaroos, who, like the Saints, started the game as unbackable favorites. Adelaide trailed by 24 points at halftime, but a superb comeback in the second half combined with North's innaccurate kicking saw them run out with a 35 point victory. Andrew McLeod again was the Norm Smith medallist, joining Gary Ayres as one of only two players to have twice won the Norm Smith medal, and the only player to have won it back-to-back.
1999
The Crows quest for 3 straight premierships began in 1999, and despite a good start to the season they struggled all year with injuries, eventually finishing at 8-14 in 13th place and earning the dubious honour of having the worst Premiership hangover of any club. The worst game of the year was an embarrassing 76 point home loss to the eventual premiers the Kangaroos in Round 22, the second worst home loss in club history. It was the end of a short era; the Crows were hapless, and battered. Malcolm Blight was chaired off the ground to one of the loudest standing ovations ever heard at Football Park, despite the bad loss. Rod Jameson also played his final game that day, a popular Crows player throughout the 90s. Gary Ayres took over from Malcolm Blight in 2000 as the Crows began the rebuild back into a Premiership contender.
2000
After their worst ever year in 1999 at 8-14, the rebuilding begins in the 2000 season. It did not start well as Adelaide lost their first 5 games, they got their first win of the season in Round 6 and played against Port Adelaide in the 7th Showdown in Round 7. The Crows faced a 42 point deficit, but pulled off a miracle victory in one of the greatest Showdowns played, as Andrew McLeod's goal in the final minute put Adelaide in front. The Crows would improve to 9-10 but in the end they finished the season at 10-12 in 11th spot. Adelaide also played its first ever Saturday Afternoon home game in Round 1 in dry weather conditions against the Western Bulldogs, losing in a shootout.
2001
Adelaide had an inconsistent 2001 season, losing their first 3 games of the season but went 12-6 from Rounds 4 to 21. They struggled at home finishing a club worst 6-5 at home at the time. But their 6-5 away record assured they finished 12-10. The Crows lost to wooden spooner Fremantle in Round 22 (only Fremantle's second win for the season) and limped into the finals in 8th place and were quickly eliminated by 5th placed Carlton by 68 points in a hapless performance. Darren Jarman played in his final season and was in tears after announcing his retirement after the game.
2002
The Crows finished in the Top 4 in 2002 with a 15-7 record, giving them 3rd spot after defeating Fremantle at Subiaco in Round 22. But in the Finals the Crows were crushed by Brisbane in week 1 at the Gabba by 71 points. They had another chance the following week vs Melbourne at the MCG and looked gone throughout the game. Andrew McLeod had sprained his ankle in the 3rd quarter. But Adelaide rallied from a 29 point deficit late in the third quarter to pull off a miracle 12-point win, with the injured McLeod kicking a goal midway through the quarter to put Adelaide in front. The win meant they faced a superb Collingwood side at the MCG in the preliminary final. Adelaide built a 3 goal lead against the Magpies late in the 2nd term and things were looking good. But the injuries got to Adelaide as the Magpies rewarded the deafening crowd and put away the game. Andrew McLeod badly re-injured his ankle during the game. The Crows started to make a comeback in the final quarter turning a 25 point deficit back to 13 points before the Magpies pulled away again winning by 28 points. Brisbane would defeat Collingwood the following week in the Grand Final.
2003
After the great improvement in 2002, Adelaide were one of the favourites for the premiership in 2003. A boon for the club was the much-publicised signing of ex-Kangaroos champion Wayne Carey and the recruitment of Geelong goalsneak Ronnie Burns. They stormed through the preseason and defeated Collingwood to claim their first Wizard Cup. Adelaide overcame a lot of injuries and went 13-9 in the home and away season and finished 6th, but it was certainly a painful year for Crows fans, the team's inability to win close games became a huge problem. The team was sitting 4-4 after a 5 point home loss to Collingwood in Round 7 and loss to Brisbane at the Gabba in Round 8 and needed to overcome a 23 point 3 quarter time deficit at home vs the bottom placed Western Bulldogs the following week after. With this win, the Crows would take 9 of next 11 games (with the losses by just 5 and 1 point) and were 13-6 after beating West Coast at Subiaco Oval in Round 19 and sitting in 2nd spot and needed to win 1 more game to finish top 4. The Crows were hammered by Collingwood in Round 20 and went home to face the Kangaroos in Round 21, a team they had struggled at home against. The Roos had no chance to make the Finals, while Adelaide were playing for something big, a Top 4 berth and a qualifying final vs Port Adelaide. It did not happen, as the Kangaroos won by 10 points on a horrible wet day. The Crow were beaten in the Round 22 showdown vs Port by 16 points and went into September outside the Top 4, in 6th spot. They easily defeated West Coast in the elimination final in front of a home crowd. The win sent Adelaide to the Gabba to face Brisbane and the 2 time defending premiers Lions overcame a solid Crows effort on their way to another premiership winning the semi final easily. The game marked the final appearance for Mark Bickley, the Crows captain in their premiership years.
2004
The Crows again struggled in 2004 finishing 8-14, including a 5-6 mark at home. Adelaide lost its first 4 games of the season, before defeating Richmond in Round 5 and ended a long losing streak in Showdowns by defeating eventual premier Port Adelaide by 32 points in Round 7, the struggles continued after that: an embarrassing 51 point home loss to Essendon followed and an ugly 3 point loss to Collingwood. But the Crows thrashed Hawthorn at the MCG by 86 points in Mark Ricciuto's 250th game. The team continued to struggle suffering a terrible 4 point home loss to Carlton and a 32 point loss to West Coast at Subiaco, Wayne Carey, who had kicked 27 goals in 12 games, suffered a season ending injury and announced his retirement. The loss left Adelaide at a dismal 3-9 and were winless at home. Nigel Smart, the last remaining player from the inaugural 1991 team, played his final game in Round 13 vs the Western Bulldogs at AAMI Stadium as Adelaide won its first home game of the season. Gary Ayres resigned as coach after that game and assistant coach Neil Craig took over for the remainder of the season. Adelaide gave 2nd placed Melbourne a blowout defeat in his first game as coach, but the Crows would lose their next 3, two close ones and then suffered its worst defeat in history: a 141 point loss to the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba in Round 17. But Adelaide finished the season strongly by winning 3 of its last 5 games and with Craig confirmed as senior coach for the next year and beyond, high expectations were back for the upcoming 2005 season.
2005
In 2005 Adelaide had their best home and away season in the history of the club after finishing on top of the ladder with 17 wins and 5 losses ahead of West Coast only on percentage. The Crows needed to beat West Coast at Subiaco Oval in Round 22 to take the minor premiership after West Coast had been a permanent fixture on top of the ladder for most of the home and away season. Adelaide prevailed in the game by 8 points. The week before, in Round 21, Adelaide defeated a hapless Collingwood by 110 points, their biggest win of season 2005 at AAMI Stadium, providing the percentage boost required for them to edge past West Coast in the subsequent week. Adelaide went into the finals on a 10 game winning streak that came to a bitter end in the first qualifying final against St. Kilda. In a low scoring struggle, Adelaide's failure to put its early dominance of general play onto the scoreboard cost them as they made a last quarter comeback but were edged out by 8 points at AAMI Stadium on a wet night. The tough loss set up a game against bitter cross-town rivals Port Adelaide, the premiers of 2004 which Adelaide won convincingly; the Crows not only defeating Port three times in a single season, but winning 10 home games for the first time ever in a season after finishing with 9 wins and 2 losses at completion of the home and away rounds. Both Crows home finals which were played on Saturday Nights drew record finals crowds to AAMI Stadium, 48,756 and 50,521 (The maximum capacity of AAMI Stadium is 51,300). After winning against Port Adelaide they booked one of their toughest ever away Finals games, having to travel back to Subiaco to play West Coast for a place in the Grand Final. It was a tough, fairly close encounter, but a third quarter Adelaide lapse saw the Eagles mount a match-winning lead behind a hostile home crowd. The Crows fought hard in the final term, at one stage reducing the margin from some 5 goals to just 9 points. The Eagles held them off however, getting 2 quick late goals and over the line in the end by 16 points and earning a spot in the Grand Final for the first time since 1994. Adelaide finished 3rd overall in 2005, because they were the highest placed team after the 22 home-and-away rounds not to make the Grand Final.
2006
In 2006, Ben Hart entered his 15th season and became the first player in Crows history to play 300 games. He achieved the feat in round two against West Coast, with the Crows unfortunately going down in front of a home crowd by just two points. Andrew McLeod entered his 12th season and played his 250th game in the 138 point thumping of Essendon at AAMI Stadium on the Friday Night stage in round 10, Ricciuto also played his 300th on a Friday Night with 5 goals in the Crows Round 16 victory over North Melbourne. Adelaide started the 2006 season with a superb win over Collingwood but lost round 2 to West Coast by just 2 points but then won 5 straight games before losing to Richmond in Round 8, but then won 8 games in a row before that streak ended in a shocking performance vs the premiership favourite West Coast Eagles at Subiaco Oval in Round 17, by a huge 82 points (165 to 83). Adelaide then rebounded from their worst defeat in exactly 2 years and produced a stunning and rare 4 point victory (7.16 58 to 7.12 54) over an in-form Collingwood side in Round 18 when Chris Tarrant had a chance to beat Adelaide yet again but narrowly missed a set shot at goal when it was rushed through for a behind. The Crows also managed to win without their best midfielder Andrew McLeod, who was resting a foot injury and several other players and took them to a 15-3 record. In the following weeks the Crows were defeated by 15pts by Fremantle at AAMI Stadium, by 7 points by an undermanned Bulldogs side at the MCG, and then by 14 points to Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium. However, they finished the minor round strongly with a 58-point thrashing of Melbourne as Adelaide finished 16-6 to end home and away season in 2nd place. The Crows first final saw them face Fremantle who were on a 9 game winning streak, and beat them convincingly 76 to 46, sending the Crows through to a two-week break and a home preliminary final against the more favourable West Coast Eagles, which they lost by 10 points in a repeat of the bitter preliminary final defeat of 2005. As was the case in 2005, Adelaide again finished 3rd overall, because they were the highest placed team after the 22 home-and-away rounds not to make the Grand Final.
Current 2007 playing list
As of December 12, 2006:
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Rookies:
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Coaches
- Graham Cornes, 1991-94
- Robert Shaw, 1995-96
- Malcolm Blight, 1997-99
- Gary Ayres, 2000-04^
- Neil Craig, 2004-present
^Gary Ayres was told that his contract would not be extended when it expired after the 2004 season, and he decided to quit immediately. Assistant Coach Neil Craig took over from Round 14 and was appointed Senior Coach for 2005 and beyond.
Previous Adelaide playing lists
- Adelaide Crows 1991 Playing List
- Adelaide Crows 1992 Playing List
- Adelaide Crows 1993 Playing List
- Adelaide Crows 1994 Playing List
- Adelaide Crows 1995 Playing List
- Adelaide Crows 1996 Playing List
- Adelaide Crows 1997 Playing List
- Adelaide Crows 1998 Playing List
- Adelaide Crows 1999 Playing List
- Adelaide Crows 2000 Playing List
- Adelaide Crows 2001 Playing List
- Adelaide Crows 2002 Playing List
- Adelaide Crows 2003 Playing List
- Adelaide Crows 2004 Playing List
- Adelaide Crows 2005 Playing List
- Adelaide Crows 2006 Playing List
Club Guernseys
Home
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Clash
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Famous Fans
See also
- Australian rules football in South Australia
- Wikipedia listing of Adelaide players
- List of Adelaide Football Club players
- Adelaide Football Club coaches