PORT ADELAIDE is renowned for setting the bar high and expecting success, and the club’s latest strategic vision embraces that expectation.
Unveiled at the club’s Annual General Meeting on Friday night, Chasing Greatness is an ambitious picture of the future, which guides the club’s strategic agenda over the next five years.
Included in the vision are ambitious goals to add three premierships to the 37 the club currently has, reach 100,000 members, redevelop the Alberton Oval precinct and be debt free.
Chief Executive Officer Matthew Richardson says with so much success in the club’s 150 years, it is easy to see why the expectation has been set so high.
“Chasing Greatness absolutely sets the bar high, at Port Adelaide we are surrounded by eras of greatness,” he said.
“In the AFL era though we haven’t achieved that yet so if we are driven to build an era that rivals any in our Club’s 150-year journey so far, we need to aim high.
“We have a great foundation to build on. Our playing group is in an exciting position, our members are as connected as ever, we are passionately chasing growth, commercially we are in a very strong position with three major partners locked in long term and the Alberton precinct re-development has started. Debt reduction now has to be a priority for the next few years.”
The vision includes:
- Winning three premierships
- 100,000 members
- Investing in the communities that are important to us, including with powerful long-term programs
- Commercial Growth
- Redevelopment of the Alberton Oval precinct
- Being debt free
Mr Richardson explained that the vision was borne from the challenges experienced during the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020.
He said the club used the pandemic as an opportunity to narrow its focus to what is absolutely most important.
“The chase for greatness at Port Adelaide never ends. It gets passed from one generation to the next, and we know that our people expect nothing less,” he said.
“Greatness is about winning multiple premierships; it’s about building our member base and ensuring they remain the most engaged and connected in the competition.
“We must remain genuinely invested in making a difference in our community, grow our commercial partnerships, cut our debt and provide the world-class high-performance facilities to enable us to achieve ongoing success.
“Ultimately though, it now comes to down actions and our focus shifts back to today and tomorrow to do all we can to bring this vision to life.”
Part of the vision is a redevelopment of the Alberton Oval precinct.
Mr Richardson said the club had spent ten months refining the vision for the precinct to create a space that meets the needs of not only an elite AFL football club of the future, but also the local community.
“Our vision for the Alberton Oval precinct is for a unique multi-use sports and community development,” he said.
“It will bring together high-performance men’s and women’s sport (AFL & AFLW), community junior sport with the West Adelaide Bearcats Basketball Club and the North West Junior Soccer Association, whilst also being an important cultural and community precinct at the gateway to the revitalised ‘Port’ which is strategically significant for the state with the future industrial transformation of the region.
“Importantly, we have council support, the planning and approvals process is underway and we are in positive conversations with all levels of government to secure the funding we need to make this exciting project a reality. Subject to funding, our project is ready to start.”
Mr Richardson promised to provide members with regular updates on each of the strategic priorities throughout the year.
