Dear members and supporters,

Chasing Greatness means a lot of things to different people, but inside the club we keep it pretty simple;

Win Premierships – we’ve earned ourselves a great opportunity and the next step is next Saturday night’s Preliminary Final at Adelaide Oval.

100,000+ members – 62,500 and growing and then a further 1000 Foundation AFLW members have joined since our entry into AFLW Season 7 was announced. We are well advanced as we prepare our assault on building the next generation of Port Adelaide.

Community Heart – we are advanced in our planning to transform our home at Alberton Oval and ensure it remains the core of our identity. We continue to use the power of football and our Club in the community. Aboriginal Power Cup, Power to End Violence Against Women, Community Youth and Intercultural Communities – all industry leading, growing and changing lives.

Commercial Growth – we have a fantastic family of partners who are genuinely invested, connected like never before and growing on this exciting journey with us. MG, GFG and KFC continue to deepen their relationships with the Club (with some exciting announcements coming) plus Santos recently extended their partnership to not only be the major partner of the Santos Aboriginal Power Cup but also now a major partner of our new AFLW team. We are building commercial strength to fuel our ambition with partners who share our vision and have aligned values. 

Alberton Oval Precinct Re-Development – the $30m plus transformation of our home at Alberton Oval (since 1880 …) is underway with the $5m upgrade of the social club due to re-open by late February 2022. When complete, it will be a precinct which will provide our players and staff with elite training facilities, will be one of the best AFLW match day venues in the country and most importantly will be a wonderful place where our members, supporters and the broader community can interact and immerse themselves in the Club. This connection with our people and our community has always been at the core of what makes Port Adelaide special and we can’t wait to share this fantastic precinct with the community and our people. 

Sustainability – and if our core business performs, our financial security and strength will take care of itself but we can accelerate that and get into investment mode quicker through programs such as the ‘Chasing Greatness Fund’ where for as little as a coffee a week our members can also support our debt reduction as part of your membership renewal in 2022.

We’ve also had some amazingly generous what I would call ‘heart and soul Port Adelaide people’ this year support our vision for the social club upgrade, turning what started as a $1m project into a total renovation of the building. They are helping us create a legacy for all Port Adelaide people and the local community to enjoy and be proud of for generations to come. It’s hard to say exactly right now what our final financial result will be given the importance of and impact of the next two games, but rest assured we are set to make a strong start in Year one of our five-year plan to be debt free. We could not have achieved this without the fantastic support of our members, partners and stakeholders in 2021 – thanks to all of you.

An update on a couple of issues which I know have caused some frustration and concern in recent weeks – ticket allocations for finals.

Our members have had to again juggle the uncertainty of ticketing and capacity, and never more so than last Friday night when capacity was restricted. We are hopeful that SA Health will approve increased capacity to at least 50 per cent for the Preliminary Final ensuring more of our members can be there with us next Saturday night. We are expecting the Member on-sale to be next Monday from 12pm and will communicate as soon as we have more information.

The ticket allocation for finals has caused some angst so I thought I’d provide some insight. It is discussed regularly internally so it’s not something we don’t give a lot of thought to. In Finals, the AFL provide one member on-sale before general public on-sale. Considering the reduced capacity, and with the best of intentions to honour member entitlements, the AFL allowed two member on-sales.

Our position through COVID has been not to delineate based on how much people pay. We just don’t believe that’s the Port Adelaide way. The reality unfortunately with reduced capacity is that there are a lot fewer tickets available. If I can provide one piece of advice, once you’re in the queue, don’t re-fresh or reject a selection because you effectively then go to the back of the queue.

For those planning beyond next weekend (it is ok to do that, just stay focused on the positive energy that’s carried you to this point though for next Saturday night first!), preliminary discussions on AFL Grand Final member ticket allocations are happening and you should rest assured that there will be enough tickets available for eligible members of the competing Clubs to satisfy demand. Travel and accommodation should be your focus at this point, and of course helping get us over the line next weekend!

This weekend we play our final game of the SANFL minor rounds at Alberton Oval against Glenelg, who are undefeated so far in the home and away season. The last team to achieve that was the Port Adelaide team of 1914 so it would be great to see a big Port Adelaide crowd at Alberton cheering on our team to rain on Glenelg’s parade. I’d like to acknowledge our SANFL coach Matthew Lokan and captain Cam Sutcliffe for their leadership this year. Not only have we had enormous challenges from an injury perspective, but also the COVID protocols our AFL group have operated under for most of the season which requires them to isolate for three days post game has meant our coaches and support staff have been significantly compromised. The SANFL group have done a fantastic job so a big win at Alberton would be a fantastic and fitting reward while also keeping our slim chances of qualifying for the finals alive.

Thanks again for your incredible support. As I said before, there is a fantastic energy right throughout the Port Adelaide community right now, keep riding the wave and enjoy it!

All the best, and keep believing!

Richo