In South Australia, Australian rules football (known simply as "football" or "footy") is traditionally a popular participation and spectator sport. It is governed by the South Australian Football Commission which runs the South Australia National Football League in the capital Adelaide, the highest profile competition among the 24 spread across the state. Participation has fallen substantially in recent years to a current rate of 4.1%. There are 63,969 adults and 28,692 children playing, less than a quarter of which are female. Prior to 2019 it was the most participated team sport in the state, however it dropped to third after both basketball and soccer there surpassed it in 2024.

Forms of football were played very early in the history of the Colony of South Australia pre-dating the organisation of Australian rules football in Victoria and rivalled football's popularity there. In 1877, the colony officially adopted the code in order to compete in the very first intercolonial representative football match in Australia against Victoria. The first governing body, the South Australian Football Association (now SANFL) formed on 13 April 1877, remains the oldest in Australia. Its clubs rivalled Victoria's in popularity and won 9 of 19 Championship of Australia titles from 1888 to 1975. Even with its current semi-professional status, it remains the second most popular and third strongest competition in the world in the sport.

The state team (the "Croweaters") has defeated every other state has the equal second most wins, and an intense rivalry with Victoria inspiring the popular catchcry "Kick a Vic". Adelaide hosted national carnivals in 1911, 1930, 1953, 1969, 1975, 1980 and 1988.

South Australia has two fully professional teams competing in the Australian Football League (AFL) and AFL Women's (AFLW), both based in the capital Adelaide: the Adelaide Football Club (1990) and Port Adelaide Football Club (1870), the latter having the distinction of being the only pre-existing club to have entered the AFL from another league, as a founding member of the SAFA (SANFL). These two clubs compete against each other in the "Showdown". South Australia was chosen to host the inaugural 2023 'Gather Round' where all AFL matches are played in one state and has retained the event since.

It is the most watched sport and has the second largest television audience in the country.2022 AFL TV Ratings From 1976 to 2003 the SANFL held the record for the largest attendance in the sport outside of Victoria. South Australia holds the world record for a non-VFL/AFL attendance with the 1976 SANFL Grand Final drawing an estimated 80,000 spectators which remains the record crowd for any code of football in the state and the third highest official attendance outside of Victoria. The SANFL remains the second most attended league worldwide in the sport and attracts a television audience larger than that of some AFL clubs. Since 1991 South Australia has attracted an average AFL premiership season attendance of 35,919, second in the country, boosted with the 2014 upgrade of the Adelaide Oval the state's flagship venue.

The state has produced some of the greatest Australian Footballers of all time, including the Australian Football Hall of Fame legends: Barrie Robran, Malcolm Blight, Jack Oatey, Russell Ebert and Ken Farmer. In addition, it has produced almost a thousand born and raised AFL/AFLW players, most notably: AFL players Craig Bradley who has the most games with 375 and Stephen Kernahan who has the most goals with 738. In women's Australian rules, Ebony Marinoff has the most games and Ashleigh Woodland has the most goals.

History

Early examples of football (1843–1853)

The first recorded game of any "football" in South Australia was that of 'Caid' played in Thebarton by people of the local Irish community in 1843 to celebrate St Patrick's Day.

In 1844 there was debate amongst the South Australian Legislative Council whether it be allowed that "foot-ball" be played on Sundays, with arguments against preferring the quiet worship of God.

In 1853 a group of Irishmen from County Westmeath, Ireland placed an advertisement in the South Australian Register calling for Irishmen from another county of Ireland to join them in Thebarton to play a game of football.

In 1854 at the opening of a new school in Morphett Vale, at the end of the first day the students played a game of football amongst other activities.

In 1855 William Anderson Cawthorne illustrated a series of images documenting South Australia's indigenous people including a pair of playthings, one being a sling and the other being a ball, referred to in Kaurna language as Pando.

John Acraman and St Peters College (1854)

In 1854 Adelaide businessman John Acraman imported five round footballs from England and paid for the construction of goal posts at St Peter's College in Adelaide's eastern suburbs.Daly, Elysian Fields, 63, citing South Australian Register of 25 July 1908. St Peter's football matches were played between Frome Road and Adelaide Bridge, on a similar site to the current University Oval. Harrow football, involving kicking the ball but not running with it, was played.

Growing popularity (1855–1859) In June 1855 the Sunday School associated with St Jude's Church in Brighton included football for its children's activities.

On 4 November 1856 a Temperance Festival with 400 participants included games of football.

In 1857 a football match was held in Glenelg as part of the annual Commemoration Festival to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the proclamation of the colony of South Australia.

In 1859 the Gawler Institute ran a rural fete which included a game of football being staged. The start of this match featured "a long first run to the ball". On 12 March 1859 the town of Angaston held a farewell party for Charles Fuller which included football. For the Prince of Wales Birthday the Drapers Assistants Association included a football game in their festivities at Waterfall Gully. During a Christmas picnic in 1859 football was played by the employees of 'English & Brown' at Fourth Creek (River Torrens).

Formation of designated clubs (1860–1875)

The earliest recorded football club in South Australia was the original Adelaide Football Club (unrelated to its modern namesake), formed on 26 April 1860. The Adelaide club hosted intra-club matches to provide a platform for football games to be played. Later in 1860 two new teams were formed bearing the names North Adelaide Football Club and South Adelaide Football Club, also unrelated to their modern namesakes.

On 20 May 1861 the Adelaide Council were presented with a request by a party representing an "East Adelaide Football Club" (John Clark) to erect football goals in the East Park Lands but were refused.

In 1862 the newly formed Modbury and Tea Tree Gully Football Club was invited to play a match against the Adelaide team. A return match was held later in the year. In 1867 in regional South Australia the Wallaroo Bay Football Club was founded, confined to playing games among its own members until Moonta Football Club was formed in 1874. The early years of football were poorly organised and dogged by argument over which set of rules to adopt. In fact, after a match between Port Adelaide and Kensington in 1873, it was remarked that neither side understood the rules clearly, and there was uncertainty over which team had won. However, as the years progressed, there became a growing push for uniformity and structure in South Australian football.

20 July Meeting (1876)

After a period of years with clubs fighting over technicalities of rules a meeting was held between representatives of the Adelaide, South Adelaide, Victorian and Woodville clubs. At the meeting Charles Kingston argued that "it was possible that someday an inter-colonial football match might be played, and it was desirable in that case that South Australian players should play the game as it was played in other colonies". During his plea to the other clubs at the meeting he compared the 'Old Adelaide rules' to those used in Victoria saying 'practically there was but little difference between them'.

Establishment of SAFA (1877) Following an initial meeting on Thursday 19 April 1877 at Prince Alfred Hotel called by Richard Twopeny the Captain of the Adelaide Football Club two delegates each from the following Football Clubs - Kensington, South Park, Willunga, Port Adelaide, Adelaide, North Adelaide, Prince Alfred College, Gawler, Kapunda, Bankers, Woodville, South Adelaide and Victorian attended a meeting held at the Prince Alfred Hotel in King William Street, Adelaide held on 30 April 1877 to develop a uniform set of rules and establish a governing body.

They formed the South Australian Football Association, the first governing body of its type for football in Australia, and adopted rules similar to those used in Victoria. The use of an oval ball, bouncing the ball and pushing from behind forbidden amongst the rules agreed. The inaugural 1877 SAFA season was contested by 8 clubs.

Early years of organised competition (1877–1886) A newly formed club Norwood joined the South Australian Football Association in 1878, but Bankers (1877), Woodville (1877), Adelaide (1877-1881), Kensington (1877-1881), Royal Park (1882), South Park (1877-1884), Victorian (1877-1884), Willunga, North Adelaide, Prince Alfred College and Kapunda had all folded or left the SAFA within the first 10 years.

In 1879-1880 there was a growing call to create a junior competition for the growing number of other clubs which included amongst others - North Parks, St.Peter's College, Prince Alfred College, Royal Parks, West Torrens, Woodville, South Suburban, Hotham, and Middlesex.

The first Annual General Meeting of the Adelaide and Suburban Association was held at Prince Alfred Hotel on 27 March 1882. The following clubs - North Parks, N.A Juniors, Kensington, Kent Town, Albion, Triton, and West Torrens were represented.

The South Australian Junior Football Association was officially formed following meetings held at the Hamburg Hotel on 17 and 24 March 1885. It was decided to limit the Association to 10 clubs - Coromandel Valley, Prospect, Creswick, Medindie, Hindmarsh, Kingston, Lefevre's Peninsula, Semaphore, Albert Park, and Fitzroy.

Growth as major pastime (1887–1915) 1887 saw existing clubs Gawler, Hotham and West Adelaide join the SAFA competition with the last of those bearing no relation to the modern day West Adelaide Bloods. The Association experienced a resurgence in the late 1880s. From the 1886 season to the 1887 attendances almost doubled.

1888 saw Medindie (which renamed to North Adelaide in 1893) joining the Association, but West Adelaide folded after just one season and Hotham (which had renamed North Adelaide for 1888) merged with Adelaide for 1889. For 1891 Season Gawler withdrew from competition games (having complained about the 1890 program when only given 5 home and 10 away games) but remained a member of the SAFA.

By the 1894 Season, the Association had been reduced to just four clubs (Port Adelaide, South Adelaide, Norwood, North Adelaide originally called Medindie until 1892) with the demise of the Old Adelaide Football Club (which was founded in 1860) at the end of the 1893 Season.

West Torrens (which joined as Port Natives in 1895 and renamed in 1897) and West Adelaide (1897) meant the Association had expanded to six clubs until the turn of the century.

In 1898, the Magarey Medal was awarded to the fairest and most brilliant player for the first time.

Sturt joined the Association in 1901 and in 1907, the Association was renamed the South Australian Football League.

War years (1916–1944)