Wikipedia - Adelaide Football Club (SANFL)
The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Crows, is an Australian rules football reserves team which competes in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Though the Adelaide Football Club was formed in 1990 for the national AFL competition, it was not until 2014 that the club was granted a license to field a dedicated reserves team in the SANFL.
History
The Adelaide Football Club was created in the court room doing bid against port Adelaide football club in 1990 as part of the Australian Football League's expansion into non-Victorian areas. The club first competed in the 1991 AFL season, finishing a respectable ninth on the ladder at the end of the season before first competing in a finals series in 1993.
From 2011, Adelaide club officials began expressing genuine interest in the formation of a stand-alone reserves side in the SANFL competition, rather than continuing with the draft policy which resulted in Adelaide-listed players being released to SANFL clubs when not selected for the AFL team. Originally, considerable opposition from the SANFL clubs and the South Australia Football Commission resulted in the club being denied a SANFL licence; Chairperson John Olsen contending such a change would "compromise the SANFL competition" as well as have a negative impact on league depth, talent, competitiveness and gate takings.
In response, Adelaide made it clear that it intended to establish a stand-alone reserves team from 2014, and that it was prepared to field the team in the South Australian Amateur Football League or in another state if the SANFL continued to refuse it entry. Following improved negotiations between Adelaide executives and SANFL clubs, the Crows' bid for a SANFL stand-alone side was approved by a vote of 6-2 of club executive representatives in August 2013. The 15-year agreement results in Adelaide being required to pay an annual licence fee of $400,000 and commitments to retain the integrity of the SANFL, including an agreement not to rest players.
Adelaide's first SANFL premiership match was against North Adelaide on April 6, 2014.
Between 2021 and 2024, coach Michael Godden took the club to two preliminary finals, but without a Grand Final appearance, was replaced by Matthew Wright for the 2025 SANFL season.