The Showdown is the Australian rules football local derby played by the two Australian Football League (AFL) teams from South Australia, the Adelaide and Port Adelaide football clubs. The first AFL premiership fixture between the two clubs took place on 20 April 1997.
The South Australian Brewing Company, makers of West End Beers, were the first sponsors of the game and decided that the "Showdown" would be an appropriate name as a promotional opportunity for games between these two clubs, since it was the first time two South Australian teams had played against each other in the AFL.
The rivalry between Adelaide and Port Adelaide is often considered the best, and most bitter, in the Australian Football League with Malcolm Blight, Australian Football Hall of Fame Legend, stating in 2009 that "there is no doubt it is the greatest rivalry in football." The head-to-head count between the two clubs only include AFL premiership matches.
Background
The Showdown's intense rivalry can be traced back to Port Adelaide's pre-existing rivalries within the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), particularly the club's long-standing rivalry with the Norwood Football Club.
The Norwood–Port Adelaide rivalry began in 1878 when the two clubs first played one another; however, it was not until 1882 that the Norwood–Port Adelaide rivalry grew bitter. That year Port Adelaide's first win over Norwood, held at Adelaide Oval, was controversially overruled by the league, with a follow-up game overshadowed by a misunderstanding at the gate which almost prevented Norwood players accessing the venue.
After Federation, coinciding with the time that Port Adelaide was becoming the dominant force in the SANFL, the notion of 'Port Adelaide against The Rest became a key theme for football in the state. This notion was reinforced by a game between Port Adelaide and a composite state side at the end of 1914 after Port Adelaide had completed a perfect season winning both the state premiership and the Champions of Australia for the fourth time. Port Adelaide v South Australia (1914) G B Total South Australia 5 10 40 Port Adelaide 14 14 98 Venue: Jubilee Oval In the match between Port Adelaide and the composite state side some of South Australia's best players took part including Magarey Medallists Tom Leahy (North Adelaide), Frank Barry (South Adelaide) and Dave Low (West Torrens). Whilst South Australia started the game well and entered the quarter time break with the lead, Port Adelaide's system and fitness overwhelmed South Australia kicking 6 goals 5 behinds to nothing in the last quarter to win the game by 58 points.
During the 1960s, West Adelaide legend Doug Thomas was quoted as saying that "If I was left to choose sides between Port Adelaide or the Soviet Union, I would join the communists from Russia every time."
The Showdown rivalry also significantly draws upon the bitter, winner take all, competition for the two South Australian licences to join the AFL in the 1980s and early 1990s.
First South Australian AFL licence In 1982 the SANFL approached the VFL in regards to entering two sides, Port Adelaide and longtime major rival , in the Victorian league. This action was also taken by WAFL club East Perth in 1980. All approaches were ignored by the VFL at the time with the reason given by Jack Hamilton being that the VFL clubs thought that one or two SANFL teams would end up being too strong later admitting that they also wanted to continue to poach the states best players, which would soon include Craig Bradley and Stephen Kernahan in 1986. 1982 also saw the first instance of the VFL expanding beyond Melbourne and Geelong with the South Melbourne Football Club being relocated to Sydney. The Port Adelaide Football Club's annual report from late 1982 showed that the failure of the attempts made by South Australian and West Australian clubs to enter the VFL significantly impacted the club's understanding of its future.'Port Adelaide Football Club Inc. Annual Report and Balance Sheet Season 1982', p. 11 From this point Port Adelaide restructured the club in regards to economics, public relations and on-field performance for an attempt to enter the league in 1990. There was genuine feeling that failure to do this would result in the club ceasing to exist in the future. In 1985 Port Adelaide registered itself as a national football club. Sentiment at this time amongst the direction of Australian rules football in South Australia was succinctly encapsulated by a Michael Robinson article in the 1985 Football Times Yearbook that previewed the SANFL's upcoming season. In that article Robinson wrote about the disappointment of the equal gate sharing of match takings enforced by the SANFL for the upcoming season with the stronger South Australian clubs propping up ailing clubs such as Woodville.
The following year the SANFL registered the name "Adelaide Football Club" in 1986 but ended up deciding against entering a team into the VFL. In 1986 Norwood Football Club made an independent approach to the VFL with entry into the league discussed in great detail but these discussions ultimately failed to materialise. In 1987 the West Coast Eagles and Brisbane Bears were admitted to the Victorian Football League leaving South Australia as the only mainland state without representation in the VFL.
By 1989 seven out of ten SANFL clubs were recording losses and the combined income of the SANFL and WAFL had dropped to 40% of that of the VFL. The 1989 Port Adelaide annual report and November newsletter contrasted with the outlook of other SANFL and WAFL clubs. After its demolition of in the 1989 SANFL Grand Final holding its opposition to a single goal, the club claimed a profit in the annual report and hinted at its intentions the following year in the club newsletter by saying Port Adelaide was "far better than their nearest rival in the SANFL". During early 1990 the SANFL had decided to wait three years before making any further decision. Frustrated with lack of progress, Port Adelaide were having secret negotiations in the town of Quorn for entry in 1991. A practice match organised by Port Adelaide and on 25 February at Football Park attracted at over 30,000 spectators and illustrated the potential of a South Australian side in the newly renamed national competition. Around the same time AFL was also seeking Norwood to join the national competition in 1990. However Norwood would eventually side with the SANFL after seeing the media reaction to Port Adelaide's attempts.
When the knowledge of Port Adelaide Football Club's negotiations to gain an AFL licence were made public, the other SANFL clubs saw it as an act of treachery. Subsequently, the SANFL clubs, led by Glenelg and Norwood, urged Justice Olssen to make an injunction against the bid, which he agreed to. The SANFL promptly created a composite team to beat Port Adelaide's bid. The Adelaide Football Club gained what was very close to being Port Adelaide's licence to the AFL and began playing in 1991. The new Adelaide club would adopt the name "the Crows" after the states inhabitants often used the nickname "Crow-eaters". During this time the SANFL began suing people involved with Port Adelaide, including people volunteering in unpaid positions, with the AFL quickly stepping in to guarantee the protection of the club and associated people. In 2014 during an interview with the Adelaide Advertiser, Ross Oakley revealed that "In desperation to force (the SANFL's) hand...we began dealing directly with two powerhouse clubs of the SANFL, Norwood and Port Adelaide...we were changing the league's name to AFL – and we could not go without a team from Adelaide." 1990 SANFL Grand FinalLast game without AFL in SA. G B TotalGlenelg 13 15 93Port Adelaide 16 12 108 Venue: Football Park Crowd: 50,589
The front runners for the coaching job at the newly created club were both involved in the last SANFL game played in South Australia before the advent of a local AFL team, the 1990 SANFL Grand Final. In that game Port Adelaide, coached by John Cahill defeated Glenelg, coached by Graham Cornes, by 15 points. Graham Cornes ended up being selected to coach Adelaide for the 1991 AFL season. Cornes compiled a club list of the best players from South Australia, with few originating from other states, in what was almost a state side in the first year. Chris McDermott, captain of Glenelg in the 1990 SANFL Grand Final, was designated as the Crows inaugural captain. Despite Port Adelaide being SANFL premiers in 1990, only 5 players from the team became part of the Adelaide squad of 52. Those players being Bruce Abernethy, Simon Tregenza, David Brown, Darren Smith and Scott Hodges, with the last three joining Port Adelaide's inaugural AFL squad in 1997.
In 1992 Port Adelaide played a young Adelaide side in a pre-season match at Football Park on February 1 in what was the first meeting between the two clubs.
Second South Australian AFL licence
The admission of Adelaide to the AFL had a devastating impact on the league's attendances with the SANFL recording a 45% drop between 1990 and 1993. Port Adelaide defied this trend of falling SANFL attendances recording an increase of 13% from 1990 to 1993.
In 1994 the AFL announced that South Australia would receive a licence for a second team based in the state. The major bids competing with Port Adelaide this time around were from merger club proposals in Norwood-Sturt, and Glenelg-South. On 15 June the SANFL handed down a report recommending the second license go to a team formed from the amalgamation of two clubs.
On 16 June it was reported in The Age by Stephen Linnell that "the League's preference was for a single, established club to join the league". The final tenders were submitted to the SANFL on 14 September 1994 including Port Adelaide's second application, Norwood–Sturt's merged club bid with the remaining application coming from Woodville–West Torrens.
On 2 October Port Adelaide won the 1994 SANFL Grand Final, its fifth in seven years. On 13 December Port Adelaide won the tender for the second SA license over its various state rivals; however, it was prevented from entering the competition before 1996 as stipulated in the Adelaide license agreement. In 1995 after an SANFL game at Football Park the Adelaide Crows began carrying out a training session which was interrupted by a large horde of Port Adelaide supporters chanting "We're coming to get you". Adelaide coach Robert Shaw was the only Adelaide official to confront the horde. In 1996 Port Adelaide was left to wait again as a vacancy was required in the league.
It was announced on 27 October 1995 that Port Adelaide would be participating in the 1997 AFL season, one season later than initially planned and seven years after the club's first failed bid in 1990.
Other contributing factors to rivalry Along with the circumstances of the two clubs entries into the national competition are numerous other factors that fuel the rivalry.
Lingering resentment
Many supporters of traditionally strong South Australian clubs other than Port Adelaide, such as Norwood, Sturt, Glenelg and North Adelaide, were left frustrated that Port Adelaide were the only SANFL club to make the transition to the AFL.
Player recruitment
Due to the inherent nature of being the only two South Australian clubs in the competition, when a player seeks to move to the state both clubs often vigorously compete for the players signature. This also applies during the AFL draft when both clubs will jostle for position to gain local talent. Two notable examples of this characteristic were the bidding wars between the two clubs for Steven Motlop and Jordan Dawson. Both players in their first Showdown appearances, Motlop for Port Adelaide after leaving Geelong and Dawson for Adelaide after leaving Sydney, kicked match winning goals for their new clubs.
Guernsey issues