I didn’t want to move from Adelaide Oval to Football Park. I felt that Adelaide Oval had something special - the scenery, the history.
Once it had happened we knew we had to adapt as a football club.
And we did.
We made Football Park feel like home. We wanted to win premierships, we wanted to own it.
Russell Ebert remembers 1977
1989 was a particularly good year for Port Adelaide. It was my second year back at the club and it showed how good we could be at planning and preparing for a season.
I was coaching West Adelaide in 1987 when I was approached by Port Adelaide to see if I would be interested in having an interview for the coaching position.
I informed West Adelaide that I would be talking to Port Adelaide and an hour after my interview I was asked back for a second. I was later informed that I had been appointed coach of Port Adelaide.
When I returned to Port Adelaide, I could see a team with a lot of talent.
I had envisaged a few changes. Scotty Hodges was playing half-forward flank, George Fiacchi was a rover, Roger Delaney was in the forward line and Greg Boyd was playing up forward and across the centre.
I thought Scotty Hodges would make a very good player through the middle - a full-forward or centre half-forward. Scotty had a strong body, safe hands and accurate goal kicking.
George Fiacchi was playing in the midfield at the time - his defensive work was lacking, but he was very creative. I could see him succeeding in defence.
Roger Delaney and Greg Boyd had spent time up forward, but I saw both as creative running backmen.
The changes where made. We had a strong structure, a new defence. We went into the 1988 season confident. The attitude of the players was exceptional all year. We worked hard and went on to win the first of our three grand finals in a row.
We knew heading into 1989 that to win back-to-back grand finals would be tough. We trained with intensity during the off-season and planned for and approached the season with confidence.
Our season progressed and we went on to play North Adelaide in the second semi final. At half time we were down by a couple of goals, but the second half saw us outscoring North, finishing the game off with a win.
We had qualified for the Grand Final.
North Adelaide went on to play Norwood in the Preliminary Final and all our guys went to the game to look at players from both teams who could potentially be their opponent.
Preparation at Port Adelaide was always excellent. It was expected, it was essential to be prepared to know your opposition. In the Preliminary Final North were very good going forward, but less so in defence.
Some of the North Adelaide midfielders had deficiencies in chasing and defending. We were confident we could exploit this weakness.
One of our strengths was the courage of our midfielders: Andrew Obst, Stephen Williams, Tim Ginever, Wayne Mahney and David Brown.
All fiercely competitive.
Warren Tredrea remembers 2004
Up forward we had focal points with Darren Smith and Scotty Hodges. Both kicked four goals in the Grand Final and controlled their positions.
In the ruck we had David Hynes and Russell Johnston, both tough courageous and talented players.
We also had the runners. Players like Simon Tregenza, Rohan Smith and David Hutton. These players had speed and could make the opposition pay if we got control of the ball.
Finally in defence we had Greg Phillips who was our rock at centre half-back, Abernethy, Northeast, Delaney, Fiacchi and Boyd. All could take calculated risks and run with the ball to create opportunities up forward.
By having skill and toughness around the ball we gave ourselves the best chance to win.
The Preliminary Final exposed the strengths and deficiencies of North Adelaide. Our plan going into the Grand Final was to concentrate on our tackling and running hard at the body. This caused a high number of turnovers and put the ball to our advantage.
Our preparation, mindset and training was proven right.
Off the ground our players applied themselves throughout the week, thinking about their opponent and envisaging the game they wanted to play.
Game day, we were confident of our ability; nervous with anticipation.
We came to play.
The players followed instructions and worked hard to keep North Adelaide to one goal all day.
North kicked two points in the first quarter, a point in the second, a goal in the third and two points in the last.
Our defence was exceptional and probably won us the game - their tackling was superb and the second efforts were consistent and relentless. Port Adelaide dominated the game.
After the 1989 final we went on to win flags in 1990, 1992 and the famous victory of 1994 that helped our entry into the Australian Football League.
History shows that it didn’t take long for us to get a win in the AFL. After losses to Collingwood and Essendon in the first two weeks, the next game was against Geelong at Football Park - our first in the competition.
Gavin Wanganeen remembers 1997
New teams who enter the AFL say they just want to be competitive. We didn’t have that mindset. We entered the AFL competition believing that we could compete against the best. We didn’t have an inferiority complex, we believed in our system and most importantly we believed in our club. That was the reason why we were successful.
We didn’t make excuses, we just played tough, hard football.
If we were good enough we won, if we weren’t we didn’t.
The first win against Geelong was excellent and we then went on to have another nine wins that season, missing the finals only by percentage.
Football Park has been a home for our club for many years and we leave behind a long legacy of success. That success that has come with hard work and persistence, not only by our club, but by our supporters who have rallied behind us year after year as well.
For those of us who have had the privilege to be involved with Port Adelaide, we leave Football Park with pride.
Proud of our achievements. Proud of our club. Proud of history we have made there.
