Port Adelaide is complete - SANFL since 1877, AFL since 1997 and AFLW from 2023.

"This is a momentous, historic day for the Port Adelaide Football Club," said club chief executive Matthew Richardson on Thursday when the AFLW absorbed all 18 national league clubs.

"In our 151-year journey now includes the opportunity for young girls to dream of playing for Port Adelaide," added Richardson. "They will be able to run out (representing the Port Adelaide Football Club) just like the boys have for the past 151 years. 

"This makes (August 12, 2021) a really exciting day."

Port Adelaide will complete the 18-club AFLW program from 2023 when Essendon, Hawthorn and Sydney also will join the national women's competition that was launched in 2017.

The symmetry of waiting six years for a national women's league licence aligns with Port Adelaide joining the AFL six years after South Australia became part of VFL expansion in the men's game in 1991.

And just as promotion from SANFL to AFL ranks demanded hard work at Alberton, Richardson notes: "We have a lot of work in front of us ... and we look forward to that. We are really confident in our position.

"We can't wait for December 2022 ... and as (AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan has suggested) hopefully it begins for us in AFLW with a Showdown at Adelaide Oval."

Just as Port Adelaide became the only established non-Victorian club to join the AFLW campaign will be built on "authentic history and heritage".

"We bring rivalry through the Showdown and, of course, the iconic game-day experience," Richardson said. "We bring our members and our supporters - and our club's (corporate partners) also are already investing in our women's program."

Port Adelaide's AFLW profile also will be a key plank in the multi-million dollar redevelopment of Alberton Oval, the home of the club's AFLW team.

"Some would say this day is the culmination of 151 years of work at our football club because women have had an enormous role here - they just have not had the opportunity on field," Richardson said. "Now we get to complete that.

"This moment has been coming for a long time. We can look back to 2004 when Jenny Williams was instrumental in putting together a (women's) Showdown. 

"Our AFLW licence submission has been a strong focus for 12 months, but our football club's journey (with women playing a significant role) goes back longer."

Port Adelaide's multi-stage preparation for the AFLW entry in 2023 begins next week with the refurbishment of the SANFL changerooms under the Fos Williams Family Stand at Alberton Oval.

"The rooms will become AFLW compliant - and also part of our commitment to community sport in the redevelopment of Alberton Oval," Richardson said. 

At the same time, Port Adelaide football chief Chris Davies will direct the search for the club's first AFLW squad, coaches and staff.

"We have some people in mind," Richardson said. "We will provide more opportunity for women. Not just on the field, but in coaching and administration. We already have amazing women involved in our club. AFLW allows us to provide more opportunities to women, through the whole club - not just on field.

"Our ambition is to have a woman as a senior coach," added Richardson amid the speculation of signing Erin Phillips, daughter of Port Adelaide SANFL legend Greg. "We have to create a pathway (for women). We are serious about that.

"We will be after the best-possible candidate. We are here to win - so we want the best person to create the environment to drive the Port Adelaide culture to the AFLW.

"We are not entering the AFLW to make up the numbers. We are there to win from the outset.

"Our W program will put in place the best program to give us the best chance to win. Our football department is a leader in the AFL - it will bring that experience and expertise to the AFLW."

Originally slated for a 2020 launch date, the AFLW began in 2017 while Port Adelaide was concentrating on finding its financial platforms in China.

"We have all seen the growth of AFLW has been exciting - and, more than that, the role it has played in the growth of the game of Australian football nationally and specifically in South Australia," Richardson said. "In the past five years, real talent is coming through in South Australia - and that is why we are confident of the list we will build."

Port Adelaide is hopeful of having pre-draft rights to its academy players at Alberton, more so after committing to greater investment in the Next Generation Academy program.

"A big part of our submission is to over-index in indigenous and multi-cultural players - our club and South Australia lends itself to that," Richardson said. "The AFLW has four per cent of its players who have indigenous and multi-cultural backgrounds compared to 13 per cent in the AFL men's game. There is a big opportunity to change that."

Richardson revealed the Port Adelaide AFLW jumper will have a slight modification to the AFL guernsey "but it will still be in the Port Adelaide style".

"It is a great opportunity to change it up a bit," Richardson said. "And the Port Adelaide heritage will continue with the captain in No.1 and 1870 (the club foundation date) will be on the back of the jumper."

Port Adelaide already has measured significant interest in the membership market with 4000 sign-ups once the AFLW submission was lodged at the AFL last month.