The Port Adelaide and District Football Association (PADFA) was an Australian rules football competition based in the western and north-western suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia until it folded in 1952.
It was first formed in 1911 as the Port Adelaide and Suburban Football Association under the auspices of the Port Adelaide Y.M.C.A., initially as a church based competition.
Following World War I, the association reformed, between 1921 and 1923 was known as the Port Adelaide and Suburban Church Football Association, and in 1924 was renamed the Port Adelaide and District Football Association.
Controversy The competition made the news in 1915 when late during the Grand Final, an Ethelton player kicked his Port Catholic opponent after he was beaten to the ball. Multiple fights broke out on the field as a result. Ethelton, who held a small margin at the time, lost the lead, and as a result, the match. When the siren sounded, several hundred spectators stormed the ground fighting. A number of people were injured. Ethelton went on to win the Challenge Final for the Premiership the following week. The association came into potential legal trouble in 1923 when a group of footballers calling themselves the "Rosewater Catholics" nominated a team in the place of the existing club of that name. The existing Rosewater Catholic club that participated in the previous season were instructed to adopt a new name to avoid confusion. Father Gearon, the Parish Priest of Rosewater, was given special permission to state his case for his team and not the new team. It is not known which team eventually participated as Rosewater Catholic.
Member Clubs Club Years Participating Notes Abattoirs 1915 Albert Park 1910–15, 1920–32 Alberton Baptist 1911–12, 1920–22 Alberton Church United 1915, 1924–30 Alberton Juniors 1915 Alberton Methodist 1911–13, 1920 Birkenhead 1915, 1933 Birkenhead Junior 1929–41 Birkenhead Sports 1947–51 Brighton 1936 Camden 1936 Central Junior 1911 Eastwood -1952 Ethelton 1913–15, 1920–51 Exeter 1931, 1949 Semaphore Central Juniors (1931) Glanville Methodist 1920 Kilkenny Terminus 1933 Kilkenny United 1927–1933 Largs Bay 1932–33 Naval Cadets 1915 Ottoway 1933–35 Peterhead 1933 Peterhead Mission 1920 Port Adelaide Methodist 1912–13 Port Catholic 1914–15 Port Adelaide Church United 1920–23 Port Adelaide Congregational 1911–13 Port Congregationalist (1911) Port Junior 1912 Queenstown 1912–15 Queenstown Church of Christ (1912) Riverside 1933–48 Rosatala 1922–1933 Rosatala Church United (1922–31) Rosewater 1920–48 Rosewater Catholic 1922–23 Semaphore Baptist 1911 Semaphore Central B 1949 Semaphore Park 1934–50 Semaphore Church United 1920–23 St. George 1913 Woodville 1938–39 Woodville Catholic 1922–24
Premierships
A-Grade 1911 - Albert Park 1912 1913 - Ethelton 1914 - Port Catholic 1915 - Ethelton 1916–19 - in recess (World War I) 1920 - Rosewater 1921 - Rosewater 1922 - Rosewater 1923 - Port Adelaide Church United 1924 - Ethelton 1925 - Alberton Church United 1926 - Albert Park 1927 - Albert Park 1928 - Rosatala Church United 1929 - Rosewater 1930 - Semaphore 1931 - Rosatala 1932 - Kilkenny United 1933 - Riverside 1934 - Riverside 1935 - Riverside 1936 - Riverside 1937 - Riverside 1938 - Birkenhead Sports 1939 1940 1941 1942–46 - in recess (World War II) 1947 1948 - Rosewater 1949 - Semaphore Park 1950 - Semaphore Park 1951
Medallists President's Medal 1923 - L. Graves (Rosatala Church United) 1925 - H. Penn (Rosewater) 1926 - K. T. Williams (Alberton Methodist) 1928 - T. Waye (Rosatala Church United) S. Hosking Medal 1929 - J. Howe (Semaphore Central B) President's Medal 1930 - V. Williams (Queenstown) A.J. Swain Trophy 1951 - H. Dennis (Ethelton)
Leading Goalkickers 1923 - J. Wallace (Semaphore Church United) 1925 - J. Simon (Rosatala Church United) - 40 1950 - C. Berry (Birkenhead) - 1951 - C. Berry (Birkenhead) - 69
References