The history of the Adelaide Football Club dates back to their founding in 1990, when the Australian Football League (AFL) approved a license application by the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) to base a new club out of Adelaide, South Australia in the expanding AFL competition. The club also operates a side in the AFL Women's competition, which held its first season in 2017.
History Formation Throughout the 1980s, the Victorian Football League (VFL) began to expand outside of Victoria, firstly by the relocation of a team into New South Wales (Sydney Swans) in 1982, and then the expansion into Western Australia (West Coast Eagles) and Queensland (Brisbane Bears) in 1987. However, the SANFL was against a South Australian team joining the VFL under the financial terms offered throughout the 1980s. To circumvent this, the VFL negotiated directly with both the Port Adelaide and Norwood Football Clubs during the late 1980s, but did not come to an agreement.
After the VFL was renamed the AFL for the 1990 season, the SANFL clubs unanimously resolved, in May 1990, that a team would not be entered into the AFL until season 1993. The AFL refused to accept this, and revised negotiations with individual clubs Port Adelaide and Norwood. Two months later, the Port Adelaide Football Club reached terms of agreement with the AFL to enter a team into its competition in season 1991. The other nine SANFL clubs reacted strongly and entered into litigation in an endeavour to halt Port's bid.
As the terms offered were more favourable than previously offered, talks were resumed. On 19 September 1990, the AFL approved the bid for a new South Australian club to enter the league, rather than a single existing SANFL club.
1990s: Beginnings and premiership success
1991 season
The Adelaide Crows played their first season in the AFL in 1991. Their inaugural coach was Graham Cornes and their first captain was Chris McDermott.
Adelaide's first AFL game was against on Friday 22 March at their then home ground, Football Park (later renamed AAMI Stadium). The Crows defeated the eventual premiers by a hefty 86-point margin, winning 24.11 (155) to 9.15 (69). The Crows went on to finish in ninth place out of 15 teams on the AFL ladder, with 10 wins and 12 losses and a percentage of 89.44.
Mark Mickan won the club's first Club Champion award (later named the Malcolm Blight Medal) for the club's best and fairest player throughout the season, with Tony McGuinness finishing runner-up. Rod Jameson was the club's leading goalkicker with 49, while Nigel Smart was named in the AFL All-Australian team.
1992 season
The Crows again finished in ninth place in 1992, with an 11–11 win–loss record and a percentage of 101.36.
Chris McDermott won the Club Champion award from Tony McGuinness, while Scott Hodges led the club's goalscoring with 48 goals, including a haul of 11 against in round 23. McDermott, McGuinness and defender Ben Hart were all named in the 1992 All-Australian team.
During the post-season trading period, Adelaide traded in future dual premiership player Matthew Robran from for pick 11 in the national draft, as well as receiving 's Stuart Wigney for pick 71.
1993 season
Adelaide finished fifth on the ladder after the home-and-away season in 1993, with 12 wins and 8 losses and a percentage of 117.83, including a home record of 9 wins out of 10 at Football Park. The Crows had to defeat at home in the last match of the season to make the top six and thus qualify, and despite conceding six goals to one in the first quarter they did so by 24 points, 19.21 (135) to 17.9 (111).
Under the McIntyre final six system in use, Adelaide travelled to play against fourth-placed at the MCG the next week, in the First Elimination Final. With Nigel Smart kicking four goals, Adelaide won 16.14 (110) to 13.17 (95). Because sixth-placed had defeated third-placed , Adelaide progressed to the second semi-final against at Waverley Park, with a double-chance ensuring they would not be knocked out of the finals by a loss. The Crows lost to Carlton by 18 points, 13.8 (86) to 8.20 (68), and thus had to play in the Preliminary Final, with the winner to play Carlton in the grand final. Whilst technically a Crows home game, the match was played at the MCG due to an agreement with the Melbourne Cricket Club that a match had to be played at the MCG during every week of the finals. Against Essendon, the Crows led by 42 points at half-time before collapsing to lose by 11: 17.9 (111) to 14.16 (100). Adelaide player Mark Bickley later suggested that the players' poor performance during the second half may have been caused by the team's lack of concentration and resolve during the coach's half time address. The loss ended the Crows' season, while Essendon then went on to defeat Carlton a week later and thus win the Premiership.
Tony McGuinness won the Club Champion award from Mark Bickley, while full-forward Tony Modra kicked a club record 129 goals for the season, including finals, to be the club's leading goalkicker. Modra also was awarded the AFL Mark of the Year for his spectacular mark in round 8 against at Football Park. McGuinness, Modra, Greg Anderson, Ben Hart and Nigel Smart were all named in the All-Australian team for 1993. The AFL Rising Star award was also first awarded in 1993, with Mark Ricciuto being nominated for his 28-disposal performance against in round 16.
After the 1993 season, Adelaide traded in Hawthorn's Tony Hall and Collingwood's Brett Chalmers, in exchange for draft picks 17 and 34, respectively.
1994 season
Adelaide started the 1994 season by making the final of the pre-season knockout competition. In the competition, then known as the Foster's Cup, they played in the final and lost, 15.12 (102) to 9.14 (68).
In 1994, Adelaide missed the finals for the third year out of four in the competition, finishing in 11th place with 9 wins and a draw from their 22 matches, and a percentage of 86.89. Adelaide's draw against at Waverley Park in round 14 remains their only draw in the AFL to date.
Shaun Rehn was the club's Club Champion in 1994 with Tony McGuinness finishing runner-up. Tony Modra kicked 70 goals to finish as the club's leading goalscorer, while Rehn and Mark Ricciuto were both All-Australians, and Matthew Kluzek and Sean Wellman achieved Rising Star nominations. Following the season, coach Graham Cornes was sacked and replaced by Robert Shaw, while Tony McGuinness replaced Chris McDermott as captain.
During the off-season, Adelaide secured future champion Andrew McLeod in a trade with new club , in exchange for Chris Groom. They also traded for 's Jason McCartney for draft picks 9 and 53, and 's Matthew Connell for pick 44. The Crows also recruited future premiership players Peter Vardy (pick 7) and Tyson Edwards (pick 21) in the 1995 pre-season draft.
1995 season
In 1995, Adelaide again made the final of the pre-season competition, by this stage known as the Ansett Cup. They defeated , and before losing to in the final, 14.9 (93) to 8.15 (63).
For the second successive season, Adelaide finished in 11th place on the AFL ladder, with a win–loss record of 9–13 and percentage of 80.08. Matthew Connell won the Club Champion award from Andrew Jarman, while Tony Modra again led the Crows' goalscoring with 42 goals. Modra also became the first Crow to kick the AFL Goal of the Year, achieving the feat against . No Crows were selected in the 1995 All-Australian team. Martin McKinnon and Andrew McLeod were both nominated for the Rising Star award.
In the post-season trading period, the Crows secured premiership player Darren Jarman, brother of Andrew Jarman, in a complicated deal that saw them give up national draft pick 25 to Hawthorn and Sean Wellman to . Adelaide also traded in Kym Koster () for pick 9, Troy Bond () for pick 63 and Peter Caven (Sydney) for Paul Rouvray, and drafted Kane Johnson (pick 27, national draft), Shane Ellen (pick 8, pre-season draft) and Simon Goodwin (pick 18, pre-season draft); all would become premiership players for the club.
1996 season
Adelaide started the 1996 season in good form, winning their first four matches and six of their first eight. However, they won just two more matches for the season: home matches against the and . They finished the season in 12th position, with 8 wins, 14 losses and a percentage of 95.96. 7 of these wins were at home; away from home they defeated only last-placed Fitzroy, in round 2.
The Club Champion for 1996 was awarded to Matthew Liptak from Nigel Smart, while Darren Jarman was Adelaide's sole All-Australian representative. No Crows were nominated for the 1996 Rising Star award. For the fourth season in a row, Tony Modra topped Adelaide's goalkicking with 75. Ben Hart was awarded the AFL Mark of the Year for his mark against in Round 8.
Coach Robert Shaw was replaced at the end of the season by former Woodville and player Malcolm Blight. Blight made an immediate impact upon arriving at the club, delisting captain Tony McGuinness and fan favourite Andrew Jarman in addition to retiring former captain Chris McDermott. Mark Bickley was appointed McGuinness' replacement as captain.
During the off-season, Adelaide traded in Brett James () for Jonathon Ross; Trent Ormond-Allen and Clay Sampson () for pick 83 and Nick Pesch; Tim Cook, Aaron Keating and Nick Laidlaw () for Scott Hodges and David Brown; and Barry Standfield () for picks 32 and 47. Notable draftees included future premiership players Andrew Eccles (pick 60, national draft), Chad Rintoul (pick 69, national draft) and Ben Marsh (pick 5, rookie draft).
1997 season
1997 marked the entry of a second South Australian club, . The lingering resentment from the circumstances surrounding Adelaide's entry to the competition created a healthy rivalry between the teams, and clashes between them became known as Showdowns.
Adelaide started the 1997 season by defeating the newly formed (created by the merging of the and ) but then lost three consecutive games, including an 11-point loss to Port Adelaide in the first Showdown in Round 4, 11.17 (83) to 11.6 (72). However, Adelaide rebounded to win 11 of their next 15 matches, including five in a row between rounds 7 and 11. After defeating Port Adelaide by 7 points in round 19, Adelaide were top of the ladder with three matches to play; however, they won just one of those three games and qualified for the finals in fourth place with a 13–9 record.
At the time the McIntyre final eight system was in use, meaning the Crows hosted fifth-placed in the First Elimination Final. In the first final ever to be played at Football Park, the Crows won 14.15 (99) to 9.12 (66). The next week, Adelaide hosted , who had come second but lost the previous week to , in the second semi-final, winning narrowly: 11.10 (76) to 9.14 (68). This set up an away Preliminary Final against the at the MCG. Despite losing Coleman Medallist Tony Modra, who had kicked 84 goals for the season, to an ACL injury in the first quarter and trailing by 31 points at half time, the Crows kicked four unanswered goals in the last quarter to record a two-point victory, 12.21 (93) to 13.13 (91), with Darren Jarman kicking a goal to put Adelaide in front with less than two minutes remaining. This allowed the Crows to qualify for their first AFL Grand Final, to be played against at the MCG a week later.