Dear Members & Supporters,

I’d like to extend a personal note of thanks to you for your support of the Port Adelaide Football Club in 2021 and wish you and your family a safe and prosperous Christmas & New Year.

At the Club, we will take a break for a few weeks and we’ll re-open from Monday 10 January energized for an exciting year ahead in 2022.

How would I summarise 2021?

We had a very, very good year, but not a great year. We didn’t win and achieve our ultimate goal and I know that disappointment still burns right across the Club. 

We did do some pretty good things in 2021 and much of it sets us up for an even stronger 2022 and beyond;

On-field, we did a lot right until the last game – we were resilient, our depth was tested all season and kept finding ways to win, finishing 2nd at the end of the minor round and earning two home finals.

The first final, we delivered to expectation, and in the second, with everything on the line we let ourselves down.  It was incredibly disappointing. There were signals through the year that when not at our best in some areas we were vulnerable and that played out in the Preliminary Final. We have taken our time to ensure we carry the learnings forward into our preparation for 2022. The reality is there is only one group of people who can do anything about that and that’s us inside the Club. The pre-Christmas training period is about doing the hard work and setting the foundation for a successful season and we are pleased with how the group have done that. Staying in the present and not looking too far ahead will be important in 2022, If we can remain focused on getting all the little things right we’ll give ourselves a great chance of being right amongst it at the business end again.

Record membership, the best game day in Australian sport, retail sales that continue to grow despite the challenges of COVID and the Alberton Oval re-development which has compromised the Port Store. And pleasingly, renewals for 2022 are tracking strongly with more than 50,000 members already signed up – thank you! The demand for season reserved seats is growing strongly and we are working to change the stadium model in the future to hopefully help that. Reduced game memberships are popular and our fixture and feature timeslots in 2022 also provide a great platform to continue to grow with new people attracted to Port Adelaide game days at Adelaide Oval.

We can’t wait to welcome you back to your upgraded home at Alberton Oval soon, with the opening of the exciting new social club facility incorporating the Club reception, a grand entrance, interactive museum and expanded retail downstairs and then a grand staircase leading upstairs to the “Precinct at Alberton”, the new hospitality venue taking full advantage of the views out over Alberton Oval. It’s no coincidence that the facilities being upgraded first as part of the transformation of Alberton Oval are our members’ facilities.  We look forward to welcoming you back to Alberton hopefully in late March 2022 when we re-open.

In the community we continue to do incredible things through our life changing programs – for example, we’re changing the narrative for Indigenous kids finishing school, with 96% of students who participate in the Santos Aboriginal Power Cup completing their SACE.  That’s more than 20% better than the rest of the Indigenous school aged population, incredible.

We have three amazing long term joint major partners in MG, GFG and KFC, and a growing depth of long-term partners who are committed to our growth journey and strategic vision. Santos, South Australia’s largest company have been instrumental in driving community change through our Aboriginal Programs and they now extend their partnership as joint major partner of our AFLW program from 2022 also. The connection we continue to build with all of our partners ensures we have an exciting platform to help fuel the ambition we have to grow the club over the next few years.

AFLW – we’re in for Season 7, and already we’re 6th on the AFLW membership table and sold out in terms of our key partnership positions.  An historic moment for our club when our AFLW team runs out for their first official game in about 11 months! 

The Alberton Oval Precinct re-development, which this time last year was an ambitious dream is now a reality and underway.  ‘The Precinct’, the new social club facility will re-open in late March 2022, the Fos Williams Stand Change Rooms will be completed around the same time. We are now well advanced on the planning and scheduling for the new high performance and training centre on the eastern side incorporating the new training field.  We are transforming Alberton Oval to ensure it is a magnificent elite AFL, AFLW and SANFL home for our teams, but also opening up the precinct for greater community use - $30m re-development now fully funded thanks to the Commonwealth Government’s $15m contribution, confirmed a few weeks ago.

And finally, our financial position is improving having taken full advantage of the crisis and opportunity that COVID provided to re-set our business and ensure we are sharply focused on the what’s most important.  We have a big mountain to climb but in Year1 of our plan (2021) we will reduce debt significantly. That’s thanks largely to the incredible support of our members and partners who have doubled down on their support of the Club.  We’ve rebuilt a business model that works, ensures our football program is fully funded and have commenced a $30.0m transformation of Alberton Oval … not a bad start in 2021.

Eliminating debt and becoming financially powerful is one of the key pillars of our strategic vision, Chasing Greatness. The clubs that win are also financially strong.  Despite the mechanisms in place to equalize the competition through levers like the salary cap and football soft cap, there is a direct correlation.  To ensure our club has the best platform for sustained football success, we need to be financially strong.

As is the Port Adelaide mind-set, our ambition is bold and continues to grow. We already have a big and exciting agenda for 2022 that we look forward to sharing with you.

Thank you for your wonderful support of the Club again in 2021 and my sincere best wishes to you and your family for Christmas & the New Year.

Cheers,
Richo