Port Adelaide supporters pack out the recently-refurbished Fos Williams Family Stand - a staple of Alberton Oval. Image: Matt Sampson.

DARREN Crocker has played before full houses at the MCG, in particular the 93,102 at the 1996 AFL grand final, repeatedly feeling the ground move to the fans' reactions each time team-mate Wayne Carey went near the Sherrin.

Yet, 2818 at Alberton Oval also left a strong impression on Crocker during Saturday afternoon's AFLW match. And it was a very strong impression.

Without any prompting, the North Melbourne AFLW coach noted from his first visit to Port Adelaide's spiritual home: "I was not aware of the hostility there is here at Alberton. This is a hostile environment. The crowd was right behind their team."

It has been this way since 1880 (minus a couple of years - 1975 and 1976 - when the local council locked the gates on the Port Adelaide Football Club).

Port Adelaide has its home. It always will be Alberton Oval, the scene of so many of the club's greatest moments both in the SANFL and AFL. There was a time some wondered - while Port Adelaide struggled to bank much from AFL home games at Football Park at nearby West Lakes - if a 35,000-seat "boutique" stadium could be built at Alberton to allow for a replica of all Geelong has had for so long at Kardinia Park.

The Port Adelaide faithful sing Never Tear Us Apart ahead of Port Adelaide's Round 8 AFLW match up at Alberton. Image: Matthew Sampson.

The bigger picture was at Adelaide Oval, also the scene of great Port Adelaide moments and premiership triumphs in the SANFL since the 19th century and the AFL since 2011. The move to town in 2014 did prompt the question of whether the Port Adelaide Football Club should relocate its headquarters and training base to the city limits, in particular what is today known as Karen Rolton Oval at the corner of North and West terraces.

Port Adelaide's commitment to Alberton Oval as its home was made before there was the AFLW on the agenda. Today, this decision to stay at Alberton has greater merit for Lauren Arnell's senior women's team.

The Fos Williams Stand, the oldest grandstand at Alberton Oval, has been refurbished to offer perhaps the best changerooms in the AFLW. And the coaches' boxes and player benches have never been so luxurious.

Inside Alberton’s ‘W’ facility

The eastern flank is being redeveloped to ensure every Port Adelaide football team has the best training facilities - and the local community has greater sporting facilities.

The "social club" built in the Bob Quinn grandstand on the north-west flank has been remodelled and renamed "The Precinct" to give every Port Adelaide fan - and local resident - an important meeting point.

The newly-developed Precinct at Alberton boasts a spacious bar and kitchen. Image: Matt Sampson.

And who knows what more will emerge at a sporting ground that once had the football goal posts stand parallel with Brougham Place, at eastern and western points rather than along the almost north-south line known today.

For all the inevitable change at Alberton Oval, there is the reassuring note - as made by Crocker - that the AFLW team will live the Port Adelaide story in the same way as the men's teams that preceded Arnell's "Inaugurals".

Visiting teams are supposed to feel a cold chill on passing Cheltenham cemetery - and anything but a warm reception from the Port Adelaide fans during a match at Alberton Oval.

Crocker certainly knows of this classic Port Adelaide experience.

Alberton Oval now can rekindle much of the special feeling a home ground has - and is lost in so much of the AFL by ground rationalisation and sharing (with the exception of Geelong at Kardinia Park).

As fast as the women's game has grown since the start of the AFLW league in 2017, it is clear that a venue - such as Alberton Oval - with capacity for at least 10,000 fans will suit AFLW teams for at least the next decade. Perhaps longer.

In this time, Port Adelaide's "herstory" can be built on the reputation that Port Adelaide teams are "unbeatable at Alberton" ... and the Port Adelaide fans are very much part of creating a successful environment at home.

The side claps the Alberton Oval crowd post-game. Image: Matt Sampson.

Port Adelaide will close its first AFLW season with the match against fellow newcomer Essendon at Alberton Oval on Sunday week. It will return for AFLW Season 8 with Alberton Oval having a new look - and, hopefully, an old feel by the support offered by the fans who have played their part since 1880.

Crocker's remarks on the "hostile environment" at Alberton Oval is a significant statement - a reassuring observation of how all that was Port Adelaide of a different time has not been lost by the move to the AFL.

The stories of visiting teams leaving Alberton having endured the physical pain of Port Adelaide teams and the emotional strain of Port Adelaide fans are in the folklore book of Australian football that now speaks of Victoria Park (Collingwood) and Moorabbin and its "cage" (St Kilda) as historical notes. By stark contrast, Alberton Oval is increasingly relevant to a football team in the AFLW and to a fan base that can relive the game-day experience of the past, in particular the post-match upstairs in the Bob Quinn MM Stand.

It is well worth recalling Arnell's reaction after Port Adelaide's first AFLW home match at Alberton Oval, in round two against the Western Bulldogs.

Alberton Oval continues the "kick and catch" tradition, inviting families down on the ground for post-match fun. Image: Matt Sampson.

"I am watching young girls and boys and their families back on Alberton ... that is a positive," Arnell said while the girls and boys had their "kick-and-catch" sessions around her, continuing a tradition of many, many decades.

While others are still searching for their home base, Port Adelaide is certain of how Alberton Oval is still its spiritual base - and becoming more at a time when the football club wants a stronger and stronger connection to the local community.