Dear Members and Supporters,

I’d like to share with you one of our club’s most memorable days.

At 11 o’clock yesterday morning, 35 members of our ‘Golden Era’ came into the club to spend time reminiscing, talking to our players, coaches and staff.

Very largely through the efforts of Geof Motley, many of the towering greats of this club such as ‘Chicken’ Hayes, Alan ‘Racehorse’ Greer, big Marx Kretschmer, Philpy, ‘Yogi Bear’ Traynor, ‘Bubbles’ Obst, ‘Deerfoot’ Luke, Ted Whelan, Davey Boyd, ‘Judy’ Garland, Ken Tierney, Jeff Potter, Keith Spencer, Dean Trowse, Don Thompson, John McBain, Graham Cooper, Ron Batt, Ron Luke, Ron Leaver, Basil Jaggard, Brian Coldwell, John Dewhirst, Bruce Nyland, Allan Blagrove, Kevin Doyle, Ian Hannaford, Billy Brown, Max O’Connell, Don Hannaford, Graham Mahney, Kevin Salvemini, Graham Cooper, John McBain and Jock McKenzie spent all day at Alberton, talking about the old days and what it was that made this group special.

And yet despite furnishing some of the most decorated playing records in the history of the game in this state or nationally, what struck us was how humble these champions were, and how genuinely thrilled they were to be invited back to the club!

Men, the privilege was all ours! Consider this for a minute:

- Between 1951 and 1965, this group of players won 10 of the 15 premierships contested.
- Famously they won 6 in a row between 1954 and 1959, an Australian record.
- During the same period the reserves won 5 premierships under Captain/Coach Jock McKenzie.
- In all, the 37 players listed have won 99 premierships between them, with Mots owning a record 9 of his own.
- The incomparable Fos Williams was captain/coach between 1950-58, then returned as coach between 1962-73 and is still revered by this loyal playing group for his 15 playing and coaching premierships.

At around 4.00pm, fully hydrated after a long day, the boys wandered out of the club, leaving behind some of the great stories and insights of arguably this club’s defining era.

We thank them all for generously giving of their time, with an open invitation to come back and see us at any time.

At the same time, we were announcing an AFL first - the launch of a new venture with the South Australian Aboriginal Training Academy to establish an Aboriginal AFL Academy which will commence later this season.

This program dovetails nicely into our existing award winning Aboriginal Power Cup, and provides the opportunity for 30 of South Australia’s most talented Aboriginal footballers to utilise the facilities and expertise of the Port Adelaide Football Club, in conjunction with a requirement to remain focussed on successfully completing their academic journey through high school.

Our hope is that they will get an insight into what is required to play elite level sport while at the same time inspiring them to successfully complete their secondary education.

And therein lies the magic and the challenge of the Port Adelaide Football Club today.

Whilst honouring and learning from our past glories, we must always have an eye to the future. Both are important, critical ingredients that must be understood and nurtured at every opportunity. On Wednesday, I think we got it right.

I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome the EnergyAustralia team as our joint major partner.

Successfully launched in late January, Energy Australia proudly join Renault on our guernsey for seasons 2014 and 2015 in a major coup for the club. EnergyAustralia will also adorn the Magpies guernsey and be actively involved in our Power To End Hunger campaign.

Thank you to the hundreds of members and supporters who have already pledged their support of our new partner by switching energy accounts! Stay tuned for more opportunities.

Thanks also to everyone who braved the extreme heat to join our Family Day. Again, The Port Club and Power Megastore were run off their feet and our corporate sponsors provided great colour on the day.

On a sad note, we lost our Club Historian John Sincock last week, after a long illness. Our thoughts and prayers are with Lee, his loving wife of 46 years and the rest of the Sincock family. A Port man all of his life, John spent the past 18 years capturing some of the most turbulent times in our club’s history. He will be missed.

And so another season of high hopes and aspirations is upon us. I am assured it has been a successful pre-season campaign and that the boys are ready to go! The Magpies are similarly well placed, and looking forward to an exciting season of SANFL where we see the competition return to Channel 7 for the first time in a couple of decades.

We wish Ken and Garry and their players every success.

Remember (as if you could forget), the Showdown in Round 2 will sell out. Your only chance to get there is to buy a membership with the Club…soon! We have passed 40,000 members already and will go past our record set last year of 41,500 within a week or so. Get in now! We want you there at our first game, and you will not want to miss it!

See you at Richmond Oval,

KT

Join the club with a 11-game reserved seat or Essential Power membership today to guarantee your seat at the historic first Showdown at the Adelaide Oval in Round 2 at weareportadelaide.com.au or by calling 1300 GO PAFC (1300 467 232). This game will sell out!