The 1953 Adelaide Carnival was the 12th edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

interstate The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

competition. It took place from 8 to 18 July at

Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby ...

. Home state

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

was joined by the two Victorian teams Victoria (VFL) & Victoria (VFA),

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, the Victoria (VFL) were the best performed side, finishing the carnival unbeaten. A crowd of 52,632, then a record for an interstate game, attended the game between South Australian and Victoria which would decide the Championship. South Australia, even though they had accounted for Victoria as recently as 1952, were no match on this occasion for their Victorian opponents and lost by 99 points. The VFA team performed admirably, defeating Tasmania and getting within 18 points of Western Australia and 33 points of Victoria. Tasmania finished the carnival winless and had to play-off against the Australian Amateurs team in order to re-qualify as an 'elite' team come the next carnival. The youngest player at the carnival was 17-year-old

Neil Conlan Neil Conlan (7 August 1936 – 22 July 1978) was an Australian football player from Tasmania. Conlan played as a forward. Conlan played in the Tasmania Australian rules football team that defeated the Victoria Australian rules football team on ...

from Tasmania.'Drop-Kick' "Offer to 'Baby' of Carnival", ''

The Mercury Mercury most commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * M ...

'', 15 July 1953, p. 28.

Squads

Results

Qualifying

Main Competition

Ladder

All-Australian team

The inaugural

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

team was named in 1953, based on the performances at the Adelaide Carnival.

Tassie Medal

Goalkicking

References

* {{Interstate matches in Australian rules football Australian rules interstate football Adelaide Carnival, 1953