SPLIT ENDZ had no understanding of Australian football when they sung, History Never Repeats.

And when a club has been playing the game for 150 years, as Port Adelaide has, there is bound to be - as American baseball great Yogi Berra would say - a fair bit of "deja vu happening all over again".

Showdowns are known for one memorable fall-out, the "Ramsgate" moment at a western-suburb hotel a few kilometres from Football Park where Port Adelaide had the previous day put the derby ledger at 7-4.

It was history repeating - from 1884 after the original derby gave Port Adelaide its first SA Football Association premiership by deposing the emerging "traditional crosstown rival" Norwood at Adelaide Oval. The 19th century "Ramsgate" was at the now-lost Imperial Hotel on the north-east corner of King William Street and Grenfell Street in the city - and led to court action that gives much greater clarity on events than there is to the now legendary (and mythical) moments in a car park at Henley Square in 2002.

Here is the comparison of the moments in 1884 and 2002 that add to the aura of the Port Adelaide-Norwood rivalry and the Showdown.

BUILD-UP

2002: Showdown XI was the first meeting of the SA-based AFL rivals after Port Adelaide had successfully defended the pre-season crown without facing Adelaide in any summer derby.

Port Adelaide had won the previous three Showdowns and was ranked fifth with a 2-2 win-loss record, a win behind fourth-placed Adelaide (3-1) that had lost for the first time in the new season (to Essendon) in the week leading up to the derby. Port Adelaide warmed up for the Showdown with a strong win against Carlton.

1884: In English Premier League style, the eighth official SA football premiership was decided on a championship system - with no finals. At the start of Round 13, competition leader Port Adelaide had a three-point lead on defending champion, second-ranked Norwood - with three games to play, including the fourth meeting of the crosstown rivals.

The equation was simple: If Port Adelaide won at Adelaide Oval, there would be a five-point gap that Norwood could not close - and the Magentas would have their first premiership after being "bridesmaids" three times in the first eight years of organised  football in Adelaide (1878, 1879 and 1883).

If Norwood won or drew, the premiership would go to the wire (with Port Adelaide to play third-ranked South Adelaide twice while Norwood had the easier draw with two games against last-placed North Adelaide in the five-team league).

The head-to-head card between Port Adelaide and Norwood read as a perfect lead-up to a championship play-off - a win each and one draw.

Round 3 (May 17) Norwood defeated Port Adelaide 3-2 at Alberton Oval.

Round 8 (June 20) Port Adelaide drew with Norwood 3-3 at Adelaide Oval.

Round 11 (August 2) Port Adelaide defeated Norwood 8-3 at Alberton Oval.

GAME DAY

2002: Port Adelaide's strong second half - eight goals to three - broke down Adelaide's early advantage for an eight-point win: 14.6 (90) to 12.10 (82) in the Anzac Round.

Peter Burgoyne's quick brace of goals in time-on of the last term wiped out Adelaide's long-standing lead that was at 28 points in the first minute of the third quarter. Port Adelaide was creating an advantage in leaving the Adelaide players seriously doubting they could win derbies, particularly when scores were tight.

Port Adelaide wingman Jarrad Schofield collected the Showdown Medal after his 29-disposal game.

1884: Adelaide Oval was covered in dust whipped up by north-westerly, ominously drifting from Port Adelaide's territory. Captain Dick Turpenny kept the wind on the backs of his Port Adelaide's players by winning the toss and opting to play to the city end.

Port Adelaide made a strong start, leading 2.9 to 0.0 before swapping ends with the wind notably fading when Norwood had the advantage. The second half was controversial for the events that led to Port Adelaide being reduced to 18 men - first when Turpenny lost hard-running Harry "Tick" Smith after he collided heads with Norwood rookie George Duncan (who returned to the field with a bandaged head and probable concussion); and then wingman William Buchan who was charged from more than 10 metres by notorious Norwood Patrick Roachcock. Buchan suffered a dislocated shoulder and broken collarbone.

Port Adelaide won 3-0 (3.15 to 0.11 with behinds not officially counting in the score). It was the first time Port Adelaide had achieved consecutive wins against Norwood - and the result carried a significant prize: Premiership honour.

EXTRA TIME

2002: Sunday afternoon - and both player groups found themselves at Henley Square for differing reasons as they wound down after an intense Showdown. Adelaide midfielder Simon Goodwin was shouting birthday drinks.

It all depends on who tells the story, but the key to the fracas involving as many as 20 players and two bar men in the car park at the Ramsgate Hotel centres around Showdown specialist (10 derbies, 10 wins) Josh Carr and Adelaide rival Mark Ricciuto.

1884: Port Adelaide goalkicking hero Rob Roy and four of his team-mates decided to celebrate the win with four of his team-mates at the Imperial Hotel in the city. On reaching the bar, Roy acknowledged Norwood captain Alfred Waldron by nodding his head and saying, "Good evening 'Topsy'." He then moved on.

A few minutes later, Waldron took issue with the Port Adelaide players not drinking with him and his Norwood team-mates. He approached Roy, called him "a cad" and - without provocation - spat in his face.

Police had to deal with the inevitable, locking up players in the city cells.

FALL-OUT

2002: Fines - with the limit at $5000 - were slapped on players from both clubs for breaching the AFL code of conduct.

Adelaide suspended the penalties arguing its players did not start the fight.

It was far from the transparent AFL of today as the league and clubs sealed the official investigation into the brawl, allowing players from both camps to build up a legend and much myth on every anniversary of the fight.

And the Ramsgate Hotel gained national publicity - and a new item for its menu, based on the ribs tickled in the jabs between Carr and Ricciuto.

1884: Norwood captain Alfred Waldron was later charged in the Police Court and pleaded guilty to assault, copping a 10 shillings fine on top of court fees.

Port Adelaide called a special general meeting at the Commercial Hotel a month later to take greater issue with Roachcock's behaviour. The Evening Journal recorded the events, in particular how Port Adelaide's off-field leaders drew a line in the sand while the game was being troubled by growing on-field violence.

There had been a great deal of discussion as to the conduct of the Port delegates (at official SAFA meetings). They had had the manliness to do what other people had merely talked about. They had, in justice to the game itself, thought it proper to bring forward the rough play of Mr Roachcock of the Norwoods. He had hurt a number of players during his career which was rather shorter than a great many others now playing.

Club hero Thomas Smith moved: "That this club heartily approves of the action of its delegates in bringing Roachcock's rough play before the association."

Relations between Port Adelaide and Norwood were tense, more so after Port Adelaide admonished its eastern-suburb rival for not acting in "accordance with the rules". As Smith declared: "The Norwoods were beaten (for the premiership), but they could not acknowledge it like men."

A rivalry was sealed.

By 1893, the 15th anniversary of Port Adelaide-Norwood derbies, the rivalry was compared with religious obligation. The Advertiser described the part Port Adelaide-Norwood matches as a critical part of Adelaide society declaring:

Just as the more faithful amongst the tribes of the East feel it is incumbent on them to pay a periodical visit to Mecca, so do lovers of the king of the winter games feel it almost an essential duty on their part to journey to the Adelaide Oval on the Queen's Accession Day, in sunshine or rain, to witness a trial of strength between those great and old rivals the Port Adelaide and Norwood clubs.

By the 1950s, West Adelaide became the most-eager rival battling to stop one of its premiership heroes, Fos Williams, from collecting a string of SANFL flags.

In the 1960s, Sturt stepped up with rivalry strongly linked to the long-running duel between Williams and fellow master coach Jack Oatey and their contrasting football philosophies.

In 1970s to the 1990 Supreme Court action to stop Port Adelaide's AFL aspirations, it was Glenelg.

And since 1997, all these rivals have merged to create one super derby, the Showdown with Port Adelaide. So it is no surprise history did repeat from the Imperial Hotel to the Ramsgate ...

Port Adelaide's grand rivalries are acknowledged in the Archives Collection. The commemorative record of the Port Adelaide Football Club can be ordered exclusively on this link - pafc150.iconseries.com.au

The collection is being produced to a strictly limited number. To guarantee your copy, order today.