Following an extensive planning and preparation phase and almost eight months of construction, Port Adelaide’s ‘W’ facility at Alberton Oval is nearing completion.

With the much-anticipated introduction of a NAB AFLW team, it was always an essential part of the club’s integration plan that the women would have a zone they could call their own.

It’s within the historic, 140-year-old Fos Williams stand that this special space has taken shape, with the W facility spanning the entire length of the structure.

Walking through the halls, you find yourself surrounded by fresh, white walls, pops of teal and a three-dimensional Port Adelaide Football Club sign that stretches along the main drag.

One of the most special spaces will be the home changeroom, where each player has their own locker, which will be emblazoned with their chosen guernsey number.

Each locker houses power points, USB ports and a mirror inside the door – all small but intentional features that add an extra level of convenience for Port Adelaide’s female athletes.

An enormous 10-person hydrotherapy spa has been manoeuvred into the home changeroom through the ceiling and now sits, patiently awaiting installation.

A slight setback in the delivery of the 3000-litre tub means players will need to utilise the away changerooms for the first couple of pre-season weeks, but the final result will be more than worth the wait.

The facility centres around two key spaces – a team meeting room and the player lounge, the latter which has been thoughtfully filled with furniture by AFLW Operations Manager Rachael Sporn, to make the environment feel like a home away from home.

The player lounge features two comfortable, modular couches, a full kitchen setup, televisions on the walls and a long bar table surrounded by stools, where players can sit, chat and snack.

It was important to head coach Lauren Arnell that the meeting room had movable, stackable chairs, rather than standard tiered seating, to allow for breakout groups and a more connected team environment.

A table tennis table sits along one side of the meeting room, where fiercely competitive table tennis matches are certain to take place, particularly as the players become more comfortable with one another.

Everything has been considered, including doctors’ rooms, physiotherapy and massage spaces, a generous away changeroom and coaches’ offices with desks, lockers and whiteboards.

The old players’ race will soon be updated, but the famous magpie painting, featuring the words ‘Unbeatable at Alberton’ will remain, as an homage to the club’s history.

It was important to the W leadership group that players would have input into how they wanted the space to look, so branding, imagery and colour will continue to take shape over the coming months.

AFL facility standards must be met when creating and updating venues, but Port Adelaide was intent on going above and beyond the minimum requirements.

This included installing additional showers and making a conscious decision to label the toilets ‘gender-neutral bathrooms’, to make the space feel inclusive to all, regardless of gender identification.

Port Adelaide Chief Operating Officer Shane Smith has led the club’s W facility project from the beginning.

“We worked closely with Essendon in the early stages, as they have quite an impressive women’s facility,” Smith said.

“Essendon’s General Manager of Strategic Operations and Community Jessica Newman was fantastic. We shared our designs with her and she came back with specific feedback about what has and hasn’t worked for them.

“A big challenge was that when we started talking about upgrading the space, we had no AFLW employees yet, so we really relied on other females in the industry to help us get the plans right.”

When Sporn and Head of AFLW Juliet Haslam arrived at the club, they had the opportunity to refine the plans further and work toward achieving the most functional space possible.

In the coming weeks, coaches’ boxes and media spaces will be added around the ground, to ensure the precinct is ready to host broadcast matches from the first Port Adelaide women’s home game.

“It has been an enormous effort from all involved,” Smith said.

“I think we have got it pretty right at this point, but we will continue listening to feedback from our players and coaches to ensure the facility provides the best experience for years to come.”