Dear Members and Supporters,

I’ve been stewing over this note for a couple of weeks now.

Given the remarkable year we’ve enjoyed, I thought we might be able to get through to Christmas without getting stirred up, but alas not so!

On Friday 28 November, the Advertiser ran an article titled ‘SANFL caught in a debt of Port’s making’.

The timing of this article was important because it provided fuel to the debate which has been brewing between the various footballing parties in this state, as we work our way towards a resolution of the long running Adelaide Oval Review.

I found the article disappointing and disrespectful.

The basic thrust of the article was that the SA football public needs to protect and appreciate the heritage of the SANFL, acknowledge it is in a difficult position financially, which may compromise its ability to deliver junior football development in this state and a significant reason for its financial malaise has been supposedly caused because it provided $16.25 million in assistance to Port Adelaide over the past few years.

This form of one-sided narrative has been around for years.

The article is unhelpful in the current environment, and neglects to acknowledge the obvious counter to this argument, which is the overwhelmingly positive impact Port Adelaide has had on the football economy in this state for close to 145 years.

You can’t, in all fairness, examine one side of the story without at least acknowledging the other.

In the spirit of even-handedness, I thought we should try and balance the ledger.

So firstly, let’s acknowledge that the SANFL has indeed provided Port Adelaide with $16.25m over the past eight years to assist the club through a tough time.

We are appreciative of the support that both the SANFL and the AFL have provided through this period, and are pleased that their faith and investment in us is now paying dividends and that we are once again on an upward swing.

But what about the positive aspects of Port Adelaide’s involvement in SA football over the years?

How does that stack up against the $16.25m assistance provided?

Since entering the AFL in 1997, the Port Adelaide Football Club has paid $11.963 million in the form of entry fees to the competition, licence fees, sub-licence fees, game development grants and other things.

Of that, $8 million was paid directly to the SANFL as they were our licence holder prior to 2014.

In that same period (1997-2013) 5,615,583 people attended Port Adelaide games at Football Park at an average of 28,505.

We won an AFL premiership
We were runners-up once.
We won three minor premierships.
Two pre- season premierships
Played in five preliminary finals.
Competed in 21 finals.

How much is all that worth financially?

Michelangelo Rucci once contemplated with each of those people effectively contributing $10 per game to the SANFL, a total contribution of $55 million into the state league is not too far off the mark.

Our own internal calculations arrived at a not too dissimilar result.

But if we are reflecting on the impact that the provision of $16.25m in assistance to Port Adelaide has had on the SANFL’s overall debt position, then we need to go back further.

So what about the period between 1975 and 1985 when Football Park, the financial nest egg of the SANFL, was established?

Was Port Adelaide a significant contributor to the ultimate success of the stadium?

During this period (1975-1985) Port Adelaide played 98 games at Football Park in front of a combined 1,937,016 people.

That’s an average crowd of 19,765, every time Port Adelaide played at Footy Park in its first 10 years. I suspect that was an important contribution at the time.

You would, of course, remember these games:
66,897 people at the 1976 Grand Final (highest attendance ever at a game of SA football)
31,809 people at the 1989 Foundation Cup Grand Final (record pre- season game attendance)
27,743 people at a pre-season trial in 1990 v Geelong (record crowd for a trial game)

Not bad numbers, even by today’s AFL standards!

And then of course there is our all-time playing record.
36 premierships
40 runners-ups
44 minor premierships
4 Championships of Australia
65% all-time winning record

We shouldn’t need to roll this stuff out, but it is an incredible record.

It is a remarkable contribution to football and sport in this state over 145 years, both on-field and financially.

If anyone says Port Adelaide is responsible for the SANFL’s problems, tell them it’s a myth.

We cop the $16.25m as fair game. But please don’t ignore the $70 million going back the other way to the SANFL.

All we ask for is balance.

If you add in the extraordinary financial contribution the Adelaide Football Club has made to the SANFL in the last 25 years as well, it paints a slightly different picture of the football economy in South Australia.

Let’s put all that aside for now.

Next week, SA football will make an important decision regarding the future of the game in this state.       

Crows CEO Andrew Fagan and I will brief the media on the progress of the Adelaide Oval review.

This is a ‘line in the sand’ moment, where SA football has the opportunity to ratify a new model that will establish our state as the pre-eminent overall football structure in Australia.

A structure where the two AFL clubs are incentivised to drive, through our members and supporters, the football economy of this state, with the SANFL continuing to provide a powerful second-tier competition, elite junior development and increase grassroots participation.

That opportunity is available to us. Now.

I look forward to updating you further next week.

KT