Russell Frank Ebert was an Australian rules footballer and coach. He is considered one of the greatest players in the history of Australian rules football in South Australia. Ebert is the only player to have won four Magarey Medals, which are awarded to the best and fairest player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He is one of four Australian rules footballers to have a statue at Adelaide Oval, the others being Ken Farmer, Malcolm Blight and Barrie Robran. Football historian John Devaney described Ebert as coming "as close as any player in history to exhibiting complete mastery over all the essential skills of the game," and he is widely regarded as the Port Adelaide Football Club's greatest-ever player. Aside from his 392 games at Port Adelaide, Ebert played 25 games for North Melbourne in the 1979 VFL season and collected over 500 possessions as a midfielder for the club, which reached the preliminary final. Ebert was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, and he was posthumously elevated to Legend status in June 2022, the highest honour that can be bestowed onto an Australian footballer.
The Glenelg Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or the Bays, is an Australian rules football team which plays in the South Australian National Football League. Their home ground is Stratarama Stadium, located in the southern coastal suburb of Glenelg East, South Australia.
The North Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Roosters, is an Australian rules football club affiliated with the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and SANFL Women's League (SANFLW). The club plays its home games at Prospect Oval, located in Prospect, a northern suburb of Adelaide. The club joined the SAFA in 1888 as the Medindie Football Club, 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). As the Port Adelaide SANFL team merged with the Port Adelaide AFL team in 2013 and now plays in the SANFL as an AFL Reserves team, some will argue that North Adelaide is now the third oldest SANFl club still in operation in the SANFL. North Adelaide's first premiership was won in 1900, and the club has won a total of fourteen senior men's premierships in the SANFL, most recently in 2018.
The Sturt Football Club, nicknamed The Double Blues, is a semi-professional Australian rules football club based in the suburb of Unley, South Australia, which plays in the South Australian National Football League.
The Showdown is the Australian rules football derby played by the two Australian Football League (AFL) teams from South Australia, the Adelaide and Port Adelaide football clubs. The first AFL premiership fixture between the two clubs took place on 20 April 1997.
Donald Neil Kerley was an Australian rules footballer and coach. He is best known for taking three clubs to four South Australian National Football League (SANFL) premierships over three decades as both a player and coach, and for playing 32 state games for South Australia.
Stephen Scott Kernahan is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and for the Glenelg Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He also played 16 State of Origin games for South Australia and gained selection as an All-Australian five times. He later served for six years as president of the Carlton Football Club.
Jack Oatey was an Australian rules football player and coach.
In South Australia, Australian rules football 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% and 63,969 adults and 28,692 children 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.
Graham Studley CornesOAM is a former Australian rules footballer and coach, as well as a media personality. From 1995 until early 2013, Cornes co-hosted a weekday drivetime sports program that he hosts on Adelaide radio station 5AA, first with Ken "KG" Cunningham and, following Cunningham's retirement in 2008, with Stephen Rowe. In 2012 he was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.
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 by North Adelaide in the 2018 SANFL Grand Final.
Mark James Mickan is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Bears and Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Mickan began his senior career with South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club West Adelaide in 1981 and finished back at West Adelaide in 1994. All-Australian team selection in 1988 marked the pinnacle of his playing career. He has a sister, Patricia Mickan, who was a basketballer.
The 1990 SANFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Port Adelaide Football Club and the Glenelg Football Club, held at Football Park on Sunday 7 October 1990. It was the 89th annual Grand Final of the South Australian National Football League, staged to determine the premiers of the 1990 SANFL season. The match, attended by 50,589 spectators, was won by Port Adelaide by a margin of 15 points, marking that club's thirtieth premiership victory.
The 1992 South Australian National Football League (SANFL) Grand Final saw the Port Adelaide Magpies defeat the Glenelg Tigers by 56 points. The match was played on Saturday 3 October 1992 at Football Park in wet weather in front of a crowd of 42,242.
Peter Marker is a former Australian rules footballer who played with and captained Glenelg in the SANFL during the late 1960s and 1970s, captaining the Tigers to the 1973 SANFL premiership, in what was the last SANFL Grand Final played at Adelaide Oval until the return of the premiership deciding game in 2014, some 41 years later.
Darel Hart 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).
Robert Reginald Oatey OAM was an Australian rules footballer who played with Norwood and Sturt in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He was a member of the South Australian Football Hall of Fame.
The 1989 SANFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Port Adelaide Football Club and the North Adelaide Football Club, held at Football Park on 7 October 1989. It was the 88th annual Grand Final of the South Australian National Football League, staged to determine the premiers of the 1989 SANFL season. The match, attended by 50,487 spectators, was won by Port Adelaide by a margin of 94 points, marking that clubs twenty-ninth premiership.
The 1985 SANFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Glenelg Football Club and North Adelaide Football Club at Football Park on 5 October 1985. It was the 87th grand final of the South Australian National Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1985 SANFL season. The match, attended by 50,289 spectators, was won by Glenelg by a margin of 57 points, marking the club's third SANFL premiership, having previously won the premiership in 1973. Glenelg's Stephen Kernahan won the Jack Oatey Medal as the player judged best on ground.
The 2021 South Australian National Football League (SANFL) grand final was an Australian rules football match that was played at Adelaide Oval on Sunday, 3 October to determine the premiers for the 2021 SANFL season.
