PORT ADELAIDE took a breather after a frenetic start to the 2014 season to celebrate the club's 144th birthday at Alberton on Monday.

Sitting on top of the ladder in both the AFL and SANFL, both the Power and Magpies have enjoyed positive starts to the 2014 campaign, and members of the Port Adelaide staff and its core volunteers took the opportunity to reflect on the club's proud history on Monday, with a slice of Port Adelaide-themed chocolate cake kindly donated by Adelaide food blogger POLKA.

It's amazing to think that 144 years ago the then-Port Adelaide Cricket Club (different from the modern-day club based in Port Adelaide) adopted the name of the Port Adelaide Football and Cricket Club and would play its first game against the Young Australian Football Club just weeks later on May 24.

The first notice confirming the football club's establishment appeared in The Register on 13 May 1870, which is why the club took time to acknowledge the anniversary of its formation on Monday.

The club's first ever training session took place on 14 May 1870 at Buck’s Flat on the estate of the its patron, Captain John Hart.

Today that patch of land is occupied by the Glanville Golf Course and Nazar Reserve.  

Port Adelaide's first jumper was one of sky blue and white hoops, which it wore to a nil-all draw against the Young Australians at the Glanville Estate on 24 May 1870.

The club will play Hawthorn at the Adelaide Oval on 24 May this year, following its SANFL clash against North Adelaide at Prospect earlier that day.

While the original cricket club would fold shortly after the introduction of football, the winter branch of the club would continue on and prosper through multiple nickname, guernsey and home ground changes.  

Two things have remained constant: its name, that of the Port Adelaide Football Club, which continued following its winning of the second South Australian licence for the AFL competition and right through to the present day.

The club's commitment to achieving the ultimate success - premierships - also remains.

The club would like to thank Adelaide food blogger POLKA for donating the club's 144th birthday cake. See her blog at www.polkabakes.com or follow her on Facebook.