1898 SAFA season

1898 SAFA premiership season
Teams	6
Premiers	South Adelaide 7th premiership
Minor premiers	South Adelaide 1st minor premiership
Magarey Medallist	Alby Green Norwood
Leading goalkicker	Jack Kay South Adelaide (35 Goals)
Matches played	44
Highest	7,500 (20 June, South Adelaide vs. Port Adelaide) [1]
←  1897 1899  →

The 1898 SAFA season was the 22nd edition of the top level of Australian Rules football to be played in South Australia. South Adelaide went on to record its 7th premiership.

Background

In 1898, the SAFA competition consisted of six teams of 20 on-the-field players each. Electoral zoning of clubs introduced in 1897, which meant that a player was assigned to a club based on his residential address on the South Australian Electoral roll, was still being phased in.

The season was divided into two rounds of 7 games each. The older senior strong clubs South Adelaide, Port Adelaide and Norwood were programmed to play each other twice and the newer clubs North Adelaide, West Torrens and West Adelaide once only.

The three newer clubs were programmed to play each other twice and the older clubs once only.

The 1st Round resulted in a 3 way tie between the 3 strongest oldest clubs - South Adelaide, Port Adelaide and Norwood. Each had won and lost one game each other.

In the 2nd Round, South Adelaide remained undefeated winning all 7 games and thus became the "Minor Premier".

As a result The Football Association decided that Port Adelaide and Norwood should play to decide which of the two was to meet South Adelaide for the premiership. ^[2]

Programme

1st Round

1st Round Adelaide Oval.— May 7, South v. North ; 14, South v. West ; 21, Port v. South ; 28, North v. West ; 30, Port v. Norwood ;
June 4, North v. West Torrens ; 11, South v. Norwood ; 18, North v. West Torrens ; 20, Port v. South; 25, South v. Norwood ;
July 2, Essendon (intercolonial) ; 9, Port v. Norwood.

1st Round Jubilee Oval.— May 7, Norwood v. West ; 14, Norwood v. West Torrens ; 21, Norwood v. North ; 28, South v. West Torrens ;
June 4, Port v. West ; 11, North v. West ; 25, West v. West Torrens ;

2nd Round

Second round Adelaide Oval — July 16, Port v. South ; 23, South v. Norwood ; 30, Port v. Norwood ;
August 6, Fitzroy (Intercolonial) ; 13, South v. West Torrens ; 20, Port v. Norwood ; 27, Port v. South ;
September 1, South v. Norwood ; 3, Port v. West.

Second Round Jubilee Oval. — July 9, North v. West Torrens ; 16, Norwood v. North ; '23, North v. West ; 30, South v. West ;
August 13, Norwood v. West ; 20, South v. North ; 27, North v. West.

Ladder (1st Round)

1898 SAFA Ladder (1st Round)
	TEAM	P	W	L	D	GF	BF	GA	BA	Pts
1	South Adelaide	7	5	2	0	66	72	22	33	10
2	Port Adelaide	7	5	2	0	53	72	22	35	10
3	Norwood	7	5	2	0	53	61	34	40	10
4	North Adelaide	7	4	3	0	39	49	29	44	8
5	West Torrens	7	2	5	0	17	36	44	83	4
6	West Adelaide	7	0	7	0	12	22	79	97	0
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, GF = Goals For, BF = Behinds For, GA = Goals Against, BA = Behinds Against										[3]

Ladder (End of 2nd Round)

1898 SAFA Ladder

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D	PF	PA	PP	Pts
1	South Adelaide (P)	14	12	2	0	806	340	70.33	24
2	Port Adelaide	14	10	4	0	646	324	66.60	20
3	Norwood	14	8	6	0	613	546	52.89	16
4	North Adelaide	14	6	8	0	491	520	48.57	12
5	West Torrens	14	6	8	0	312	481	39.34	12
6	West Adelaide	14	0	14	0	221	878	20.11	0

Source: ^[4]
(P) Premiers

Note: Minor Round
North Adelaide, West Adelaide and West Torrens played each other 4 times, whilst they only played twice against Norwood, Port Adelaide and South Adelaide.
Norwood, Port Adelaide and South Adelaide played each other 4 times and the other 3 clubs twice.
Therefore, each club played 14 minor round games.

Finals Series

Week One – Preliminary Final

	1898 SAFA Preliminary Final
Saturday, 3 September	Port Adelaide	def.	Norwood	Adelaide Oval
	1.3 (9) 2.9 (21) 2.12 (24) 4.16 (40)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	1.4 (10) 1.4 (10) 2.6 (18) 2.6 (18)	Umpires: Mr. Ford
Port Adelaide, Norwood and South Adelaide were level in the first round of the season and the Souths were ahead in the second round. The Football Association decided that the Port Adelaide and the Norwood should play to decide which of the two has to meet South Adelaide on the next Saturday for the premiership. [2]

Week Two - SAFA Grand Final

Main article: 1898 SAFA Grand Final

	1898 SAFA Grand Final
10 September	South Adelaide 8.8 (56)	def.	Port Adelaide 4.8 (32)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 6,500)

References

1. "FOOTBALL". South Australian Register . Adelaide. 21 June 1898. p. 3. Retrieved 15 March 2015– via National Library of Australia.
2. "THE PREMIERSHIP FIGHT. PORT V. NORWOOD. THE MAGENTAS WIN". Trove. 19 September 2025. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
3. "FOOTBALL". South Australian Register . 11 July 1898. p. 7. Retrieved 19 September 2025– via National Library of Australia.
4. "FOOTBALL". South Australian Register . Adelaide. 12 September 1898. p. 3. Retrieved 23 December 2014– via National Library of Australia.