North Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed The Roosters, is 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 ...

club affiliated with 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 ...

(SANFL) and

SANFL Women's League SANFL Women's League (also known as the SANFLW or the Hostplus SANFL Women's League) is the major state-level women's Australian rules football league in South Australia. History The league was launched in February 2017, initially comprising ...

(SANFLW). The club plays its home games at

Prospect Oval Prospect Oval is a sports stadium located at Menzies Crescent, Prospect, South Australia. The oval has a capacity of 20,000 people with seated grandstands holding approximately 2,000. An unusual feature of the oval is that it is laid out askew ...

, located in Prospect, a northern suburb of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. The club joined the SAFA in 1888 as the Medindie Football Club (nickname Dingoes), changing its name to North Adelaide in 1893. It is the fourth oldest club still in operation in the SANFL after South Adelaide (1877), Port Adelaide (1877) and Norwood (1878). North Adelaide's first premiership was won in 1900 (which finally broke the dominance of the 3 older clubs), and the club has won a total of fourteen senior men's premierships in the SANFL, most recently in 2018.

History

The club was originally formed in 1881 as Medindie by a number of college students from Prince Alfred College and the now defunct Whinham College, including Charles Nitschke who would become known as the founding Father of North Adelaide Football Club. The club's first reported games were in May 1882 against Prince Alfred and St Peters Colleges Second Twenties both on Medindie's home ground.

South Australian Football Hall of Fame The South Australian Football Hall of Fame enshrines those who have made a most significant contribution to the game of Australian Football. The Hall of Fame was established in 2002 when 114 outstanding individuals became inaugural inductees. S ...

and

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coa ...

inductee Jack 'Dinny' Reedman and future North Adelaide Premiership Captain began his career at Medindie in 1884. Medindie was a foundation member in 1885 of the South Australian Junior Football Association, before spending the 1886 and 1887 seasons competing in the Adelaide and Suburban Football Association. Joining the SAFA in 1888 as Medindie, on 14 March 1893 the club at a meeting held at Temperance Hall, Tynte Street, North Adelaide unanimously decided to renamed itself North Adelaide. Although several other early clubs used the name of "North Adelaide" prior to 1893, none of them bore ties to the current club. North Adelaide started playing at

from 1922 with the first game of the season on Monday 8 May 1922 against Glenelg and it has remained their home ground ever since. The North Adelaide Football Club officially renamed both ends of Prospect Oval in 2012 after the two official Icons of the Club. The northern end around the goals was named the "Ken Farmer End", while the southern end was named the "Barrie Robran End". North Adelaide competed in the first match played at Football Park (now known as

AAMI Stadium Football Park, known commercially as AAMI Stadium, was an Australian rules football stadium located in West Lakes, a western suburb of Adelaide, the state capital of South Australia, Australia. It was built in 1973 by the South Australian Nat ...

) in round 5, 1974. Their opponent was Central District. The match was won by Central District. The longest serving coach for the club is Michael Nunan – 12 seasons from 1981 to 1992. The Captain's record is held by Ian McKay, captaining the team for 8 years from 1948–1955. North Adelaide was a foundation member of the SANFL Women's competition in 2017. The Roosters lost two grand finals in the league before eventually claiming their maiden women's premiership in 2020.

Club Icons

The North Adelaide Football Club has named two of their past champions as Icons. They are: *

Ken Farmer Kenneth William George Farmer (25 July 1910 – 5 March 1982) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the North Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Dubbed the 'Bradman of football' in So ...

– All-time leading SANFL goal kicker with 1,419 from 1929–41. Premiership player in 1930 and 1931. Premiership coach in 1949 and 1952. Since 1981 the leading goalkicker in each SANFL season has been awarded the "

Ken Farmer Medal The Ken Farmer Medal is named in honour of the Australian rules footballer, North Adelaide Football Club full forward Ken Farmer. The medal is awarded to the South Australian Football League The South Australian National Football League, or ...

". He kicked 105 goals in 1930 to become the first SA League player to kick 100 goals in a season. He was a prolific goalkicker, kicking 100 goals in a season in 11 consecutive seasons (1930–1940). Farmer also holds the record for the most goals in an SANFL match – 23 against West Torrens at Prospect on 6 July 1940. Farmer scored ten or more goals in thirty-seven matches, and 1,419 goals in total over his career, at an astounding average of 6.3 per match. *

Barrie Robran Barrie Charles Robran MBE (born 25 September 1947 in Whyalla, South Australia) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) from 1967 to 1980. He won South Australian footbal ...

– Triple Magarey Medallist (1968, 1970, 1973). Premiership player in 1971 and 1972, is North Adelaide's other iconic player,

, played 201 League games for the Roosters and 10 State games, and won 3

Magarey Medal The Magarey Medal is an Australian rules football honour awarded annually since 1898 to the fairest and most brilliant player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), as judged by field umpires. The award was created by Willia ...

s (1968, 1970 and 1973). He was the first SANFL player to be made a "Legend" in the

, and the only "Legend" not to have played VFL or AFL.

Club song

North Adelaide have had many versions of their club song in the past. All versions have contained the same lyrics, but have been changed rhythm wise to keep up with the times. The lyrics and tune, by well known Australian singer/songwriter Johnny Mac, are the only completely original written in the league, as all the other clubs have written lyrics to well known tunes. The most recent version was brought in during the early 2000s, but all versions can still be found on the club song CD.

Current playing list

Club achievements

Club records

*Home Ground:

(1922–present) *Previous Home Grounds:

Kensington Oval The Kensington Oval is a stadium located to the west of the capital city Bridgetown on the island of Barbados. It is the pre-eminent sporting facility on the island and is primarily used for cricket. it has hosted many important and exciting c ...

(1888–94),

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 ...

(1895–98, 1902–03, 1905–21),

Jubilee Oval Jubilee Stadium, also known as Kogarah Oval or by its sponsored name Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, is a multipurpose stadium in Carlton, New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. The stadium is mainly used for rugby league and the A-League, and is o ...

(1899–1901, 1904) *Record Attendance at

: 19,120 v

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

in Round 5, 1958 *Record Attendance: 56,525 v Glenelg at

, 1973

SANFL 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 ...

Grand Final *Record Attendance at

: 50,617 v Glenelg, 1987

Grand Final *Record Attendance since

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) sinc ...

(

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

) formation (1991): 40,355 v Norwood at

2018 SANFL Grand Final The 2018 South Australian National Football League (SANFL) grand final was played at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday, 23 September to determine the premiers for the 2018 SANFL season. The Grand Final was contested by Norwood and North Adelaide. ...

*Record Attendance since

(

) entry (1997): 40,355 v Norwood at

*Most Games: 378 by

Michael Redden Michael John Redden (born 17 May 1957) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the North Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He is the holder of the club games record for North Adelaid ...

(1978–93) plus 11 state games *Most Goals in a Season: 134 by

in 1936 *Most Goals for the Club: 1419 by

(1929–41, 224 games) *First player to kick 100 goals in an SANFL season:

(1930 – 105 goals) *Most Years as Coach: 12 by

Michael Nunan Michael Allen Nunan (born 12 April 1949) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Sturt Football Club, Norwood Football Club and the North Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), as wel ...

(1981–92) *Most Premierships as Coach: 2 by P. Lewis (1930, 1931),

(1949, 1952), Mike Patterson (1971, 1972) and

(1987, 1991) *Most Years as Captain: 8 by

Ian McKay Ian John McKay, VC (7 May 1953 – 12 June 1982) was a British Army soldier and a posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Bor ...

(1948–55) *Most Premierships as Captain: 2 by

John Reedman John Cole "Jack" Reedman (9 October 1865 – 29 March 1924) was a leading Australian sportsman of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Australian football career Reedman began to make his mark as an Australian rules footballer in 1 ...

(1902, 1905), Percy Furler (1930, 1931),

(1949, 1952) and Mike Patterson (1971, 1972) *Most Best & Fairest Awards: 7 by

(1967–73) *Highest Score: 34.22 (226) v

South Adelaide The South Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club that competes in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Known as the ''Panthers'', their home ground is Flinders University Stadium 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 ...

in Round 5, 1972

Premiership sides

2018 Premiership Side

North Adelaide 19.10 (124) defeated Norwood 15.15 (105)
Venue:

Attendance: 40,355
Date: 23 September 2018
Umpires: Bowen, Medlin, Harris

Jack Oatey Medal The Jack Oatey Medal is awarded to the best player during the SANFL Grand Final. It has been awarded since 1981. In 2018, Mitch Grigg of Norwood became the first player to win the Jack Oatey Medal on a losing team, after his team were defeated ...

list:

Mitch Grigg Mitch Grigg (born 2 January 1993) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited from Norwood Football Club in the South Australian Nati ...

(Norwood) Best: Schwarz Allmond Barns Tropiano Woodcock Castree
Goals:
4 – Barns
3 – Harvey, Woodcock, McInerney
2 – Hender
1 – Ramsey, Sweet, Wilkie, Young

1991 Premiership Side

North Adelaide 21.22 (148) defeated West Adelaide 11.7 (73)
Venue:

Football Park Football Park, known commercially as AAMI Stadium, was an Australian rules football stadium located in West Lakes, South Australia, West Lakes, a western suburb of Adelaide, the state capital of South Australia, Australia. It was built in 197 ...

Attendance: 39,276
Date: 5 October 1991
Umpires: Laurie Argent and Mick Abbott

list:

Darel Hart Darel Hart (born 3 January 1964) is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). From Salisbury North, Ha ...

Best: Hart, Perkins, Sanders, Krieg, Redden, Parsons, Sims
Goals:
7 – Hart
4 – Burton
2 – Hamilton, Parsons
1 – Atkinson, Clisby, Krieg, Nunan, Perkins, Sanders

1987 Premiership Side

North Adelaide 23.7 (145) defeated Glenelg 9.9 (63)
Venue:

Attendance: 50,617
Date: 3 October 1987
Umpires: Neville Thorpe, Rick Kinnear

list: Michael Parsons Best:
Goals:
6 – Parsons
5 – Roberts
4 – Sims
3 – Burton, D. Jarman
2 – A. Jarman

1972 Premiership Side

North Adelaide 19.14 (128) defeated Port Adelaide 10.12 (72)
Venue:

Attendance: 55,709
Date: 30 September 1972
Umpires:
Best:
Goals:
6 – Sachse
3 – Hearl
2 – Marsh, R. Robran, von Bertouch
1 – Phillips, Plummer, Rebbeck, B. Robran, Webb

1971 Premiership Side

North Adelaide 10.19 (79) defeated Port Adelaide 9.5 (59)
Venue:

Attendance: 52,228
Date: 25 September 1971
Umpires:
Best:
Goals:
4 – Rebbeck
3 – Webb
2 – Sachse
1 – Collins

1960 Premiership Side

North Adelaide 14.11 (95) defeated Norwood 13.12 (90)
Venue:

Attendance: 54,162
Date: 1 October 1960
Umpire:
Best: Potts, Gilbourne, Hammond, Gambling
Goals:
7 – Potts
1 – Barbary, Hughes, Kent, D. Lindner, Thomas, Trenorden, Whitford

1952 Premiership Side

North Adelaide 23.15 (153) defeated Norwood 6.9 (45)
Venue:

Attendance: 50,105
Date: 4 October 1952
Umpire:
Best:
Goals:
4 – Kennett, McKenzie, Phillips
3 – Cox
2 – Proud
1 – Aldenhoven, Gilbourne, Griffin, Fuller, McKay, Renner

1949 Premiership Side

North Adelaide 13.17 (95) defeated West Torrens 9.18 (72)
Venue:

Attendance: 42,490
Date: 1 October 1949
Umpire:
Best:
Goals:
4 – Stringer
3 – Cox
2 – Peddler
1 – Arbon, Kennett, Pash, Phillips

1931 Premiership Side

North Adelaide 17.13 (115) defeated Sturt 11.11 (77)
Venue:

Attendance: 34,202
Date: 3 October 1931
Umpire:
Best:
Goals:
6 – Farmer
4 – Proud
2 – Furler, Willshire
1 – Burns, Hawke, Lock

1930 Premiership Side

North Adelaide 9.13 (67) defeated Port Adelaide 9.9 (63)
Venue:

Attendance: 23,609
Date: 4 October 1930
Umpire:
Best:
Goals:
4 – Farmer
2 – Barrett
1 – Burton, Furler, Hawke

1920 Premiership Side

North Adelaide 9.15 (69) defeated Norwood 3.3 (21)
Venue:

Attendance: Approximately 31,000
Date: 18 September 1920
Umpire:
Best:
Goals:
2 – Frost, Leahy
1 – Curnow, Lewis, Maloney, Sprigg, Trescowthick

1905 Premiership Side

North Adelaide 6.8 (44) defeated Port Adelaide 1.6 (12)
Venue:

Attendance: Approximately 11,000
Date: 9 September 1905
Umpire:
Best:
Goals:
4 – Jessop
1 – Fleet, Johns

1902 Premiership Side

North Adelaide 9.14 (68) defeated South Adelaide 4.7 (31)
Venue:

Attendance: not recorded
Date: 6 September 1902
Umpire:
Best:
Goals:
4 – Jessop
2 – Dickenson, Johns
1 – Daly

1900 Premiership Side

North Adelaide 4.3 (27) defeated South Adelaide 1.8 (14)
Venue:

Attendance: approximately 7,000
Date: 8 September 1900
Umpire:
Best:
Goals:
2 – McNamara
1 – Matthews, Shaw

Team of the Century (1901–2000)

Selected by a committee composed of Colin Walsh (Chairman),

Don Lindner Donald Lindner (16 February 1935 – 31 December 2008) was an Australian rules footballer who played with North Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He is the centre half-forward in North Adelaide's official Team ...

, Tom McKenzie, Jeff Pash,

and Gordon Schwartz. Each member provided a list of candidates for each position and the Committee then set about the arduous task of selecting the final team. The selected team was formally announced at a gala dinner held on 7 October 2000.

Individual

Magarey Medallists

Phil Sandland Philip Thomas Sandland (15 December 1882 - 13 July 1970) was an Australian rules footballer who played with North Adelaide in the South Australian Football Association (SAFA). Sandland first came to notice as a footballer of some skill when he ...

1901 *

Tom MacKenzie Thomas David MacKenzie (4 October 188228 November 1927) was an Australian rules footballer in the (then) South Australian Football Association (SAFA)/South Australian Football League (SAFL). MacKenzie was the first man to win three Magarey M ...

1905, 1906 * Tom Leahy 1913 * Harold 'Dribbler' Hawke 1937 * Jeff Pash 1939 * H.Ron Phillips 1948, 1949 *

1950 * Barrie Barbary 1960 *

1967^ *

1968, 1970, 1973 *

Tony Antrobus Anthony John Antrobus (born 8 April 1962) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the North Adelaide Roosters in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and had stints with Essendon and St Kilda in the Victorian F ...

1983 *

Andrew Jarman Andrew Newton Jarman (born 14 January 1966) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the North Adelaide Football Club and Norwood Football Clu ...

1987 * Brenton Phillips 1993 *

Josh Francou Joshua "Josh" Francou (born 7 August 1974) is a former professional Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is currently serving as an assistant coach at the Gold Coast Suns. Port Adelaide (1997–2006) Debut ...

1996 * James Allan 2007, 2010, 2011 *

Rhys Archard Rhys or Rhŷs is a popular Welsh given name (usually male) that is famous in Welsh history and is also used as a surname. It originates from Deheubarth, an old region of South West Wales, with famous kings such as Rhys ap Tewdwr. It is pronounce ...

2009 Campbell Combe 2020 Aaron Young 2022 ^ – awarded retrospectively

All-Australians

* Haydn Bunton 1956 *

1961 *

1986, 1987

League Leading Goalkickers

* Anthony "Bos" Daly (54) 1903, (30) 1905 * Perc Lewis (58) 1923 *

(105) 1930, (126) 1931, (102) 1932, (112) 1933, (106) 1934, (128) 1935, (134) 1936, (108) 1937, (112) 1938, (113) 1939, (123) 1940 *

W. McKenzie W. may refer to: * SoHo (Australian TV channel) (previously W.), an Australian pay television channel * W. (film), ''W.'' (film), a 2008 American biographical drama film based on the life of George W. Bush * "W.", the fifth track from Codeine's 199 ...

(67) 1954 * Dennis Sachse (90) 1967 *

John Roberts John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including ''Nati ...

(111) 1987 *

Daniel Hargraves Daniel Hargraves (born 6 December 1975) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Western Bulldogs and Fremantle in the Australian Football League. He was originally drafted by the Bulldogs from the Eastern Under 18 side in ...

(68) 2002

References

External links

*
North Adelaide Football Club profile at australianfootball.com

SANFL
{{SANFL Women's League premiers South Australian National Football League clubs SANFL Women's League Australian rules football clubs in South Australia 1888 establishments in Australia Australian rules football clubs established in 1888