The 1954 SANFL Grand Final was 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 ...

game contested between the

Port Adelaide Football Club Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where they are nicknamed ...

and the

West Adelaide Football Club West Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Commonly known as The Bloods and Westies, the club's home base is Richmond Oval (South Australia), Richmond Oval (current ...

, held at the

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 ...

on Saturday 2 October 1954. It was the 56th annual

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

of the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

, staged to determine the premiers of the 1954 SANFL season. The match, attended by 42,895 spectators, was won by Port Adelaide by a margin of 3 points, marking that clubs fifteenth premiership victory.

Background

Before the 1954 SANFL Grand Final there had been four meetings between Port Adelaide and West Adelaide during the season with the former winning all four encounters. The SANFL spent £1,500 insuring the game against inclement weather. The SANFL also put forward £200 as prize money for the winning team. Brothers Fos Williams and Glynn Williams played against each other representing Port Adelaide and West Adelaide respectively.

Match Summary

The weather during the day was hot with newspaper writers suggesting that it would be a gruelling match for the players. It was also humid.

First quarter

West Adelaide's small forwards helped them to take a 3 point lead in the first quarter.

Second quarter

Towards the end of the second quarter

Brian Faehse Brian Keith Faehse (8 October 1924 – 21 March 2021) was an Australian rules football player who played his league career with West Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) between 1944 and 1956. He was born in Cumm ...

punched

Dave Boyd David Edward 'Davey' Boyd (16 August 1927 – 15 December 2017) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Port Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Port Adelaide Boyd was a key member of the strong ...

causing him to fall over. As a result of this confrontation a large

fracas Fracas may refer to: * Fracas! Improv Festival, an improvisational theater festival held at the University of Southern California * Failure Reporting, Analysis and Corrective Action Systems A failure reporting, analysis, and corrective action syst ...

broke out which was only quelled when the siren to end the quarter sounded. On the way back to their rooms some West Adelaide players were assaulted by spectators leading to calls after the game for improved security for players. During half time Fos Williams gave his players a significant

pep talk A motivational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep talk. Motivational speakers ca ...

Third quarter

After the half time break

Geof Motley Geof Motley OAM (born 3 January 1935) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach who played for South Australian National Football League (SANFL) side Port Adelaide. Motley was born near Alberton Oval, the home ground of the Port Adelai ...

moved to centre-half forward. West Adelaide captain

was injured early in the third quarter.

Fourth quarter

West Adelaide had opportunities win the game in the last quarter but wayward kicking let them down.

Post-match

The Port Adelaide players and officials had a celebratory dinner at the

Largs Pier Hotel Largs Pier Hotel is located on the corner of The Esplanade and Jetty Road in Largs Bay, South Australia. Opening The Largs Pier Hotel opened in 1882 on the same day as the Largs Bay Railway and Pier. Believed to be 23 December according to The ...

after the match. Bob McLean placed Lloyd Zucker at the head of the table as a gesture of appreciation for his game. Six of the Port Adelaide players had to leave the dinner early to attend a function run by radio station 5KA, the precursor to

Triple M Adelaide 5MMM (identified on air and in print as Triple M) is a radio station broadcasting in Adelaide, Australia. Its target demographic is the 30-54 age group. Triple M Adelaide is part of Southern Cross Austereo's Triple M Network and broadcasts on t ...

, which was held at the Port Adelaide Town Hall.

West End Brewery chimney

The 1954 SANFL Grand Final was the first instance of a tradition where the chimney of the West End Brewery would be painted in the colours of the winning team. At the suggestion of Fos Williams, the runner up would also have their colours added to the West End Brewery chimney.

Teams

The teams were unchanged.

Scoreboard

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1954 SANFL Grand Final South Australian National Football League Grand Finals SANFL Grand Final, 1954