City are also the most successful club in South Australian competitions, winning 19 first division titles and 18 Federation Cups, including five in a row from 1969 until 1973.

Adelaide City has historically been one of the most prolific producers of players selected for the Australian national team, with the club providing the third most Socceroos of any NSL club behind Marconi and South Melbourne;[1] notable Adelaide City players who have gone on to represent Australia include John and Ross Aloisi, Aurelio and Tony Vidmar, Sergio Melta, John Perin, Milan Ivanović, Bugsy Nyskohus and Alex Tobin.

Early star players included Italian post-war migrant Fulvio Pagani, a fullback who was also selected for the Australian national team.

Its cup run produced wins over eventual national league rivals, Brisbane Azzurri and Sydney Hakoah, before it was denied a place in the final courtesy of a 3–0 loss to St George Budapest in front of 5000 spectators at Hindmarsh Stadium.

Juventus reached the semi-finals of the Australia Cup again in 1963, this time having its final hopes dashed by eventual champion Port Melbourne Slavia.

In 1977, the club renamed itself Adelaide City and became a founding member of the inaugural NSL competition; Australia's first national league of any football code.

Roger Romanowicz, Ron Fraser, Fred Yung, Zoran Matić, Lister, John Perin, David Leane, Sergio Melta, Brian Northcote, John Nyskohus and Gary Marocchi started for the Black and Whites in their first ever national league clash, a 0–0 draw against the Brisbane Lions at Olympic Sports Field, watched by 6320 people.

[5] The club was also responsible for bringing one of the new league's star recruits to Australian shores in former Celtic striker Dixie Deans, who topped the goalscoring charts in the inaugural NSL season with 16 goals.

The Scottish international signed on a $25,000 contract and scored his first goal for the club in a 4–1 derby win over West Adelaide in front of 12,000 fans.

They finished 10th in a 14-team competition and drew a crucial game at the end of the season that allowed their biggest rivals, West Adelaide, to claim the title.

The following year, City won its first national level silverware, defeating St George Budapest 3–1 in front of 9554 fans at Olympic Sports Field.

[5] In 1979, City also faced a New York Cosmos side featuring Dutch star Johan Neeskens and German legend Franz Beckenbauer in a friendly at Olympic Sports Field, which attracted a crowd of more than 28,000.

Despite losing 1–0 in front of 12,232 home fans, City travelled to Sydney the following week and defeated the Greek community-backed Olympic 3–1 at Parramatta Stadium to be crowned Australian champions for the first time.

[4] Remarkably, City's first championship side included nine home-grown South Australians in Nyskohus, Paul Shillabeer, Alex Tobin, Charlie Villani, Adrian Santrac, Sergio Melta, Aurelio Vidmar, Steve Maxwell and Joe Mullen.

In reality, the tournament was a one-off game for City, which faced off against 1986 New Zealand National Soccer League winners University-Mount Wellington.

In front of 3500 fans at Hindmarsh Stadium, City beat UniMount on penalties after a 1–1 draw, Mullen having scored the home side's goal.

City, which had a double chance due to its top three finish, rebounded and beat Marconi-Fairfield 1–0 at home thanks to a 93rd minute Joe Mullen goal.

Goals from Veart, his fourth of the finals campaign, and rising star Ross Aloisi gave City a 2–0 win over South Melbourne at Olympic Park.

Its biggest finals performers included a young Damian Mori, who went on to become one of Australia's greatest ever goalscorers, Brad Hassell and Tony Vidmar.

[10] Going into the 2002–03 season, which was to be their last in the NSL, City recruited Italian striker Claudio Pelosi who had previously spent a two-year stint at the club.

In 2005, the club won the Premier League grand final, despite finishing seven points shy of the North Eastern MetroStars during the regular season.

In the Super League, City fought off tough competition for the majority of the year and ended the season three games clear on top of the table with a healthy goal difference.

The Wanderers team featured players such as Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Ante Čović and Tomi Jurić and were overwhelming favourites to progress.

[13] Adelaide managed to progress to the quarter-finals of the tournament, beating Brisbane Strikers 1–0 in the round of 16, not before being eliminated by Bentleigh Greens in a 2–1 extra-time loss.

The tricolour remained until 1996, when governing body Soccer Australia introduced controversial policies requiring clubs to remove all traces of their ethnic heritage from names and symbols.

The club's current logo features a kangaroo and a zebra, paying homage to its Australian and Italian heritage, along with three stars representing each of its national championships.

United eventually won 4-1 on penalties, with two saves by Joe Gauci preventing City's Jai King & Zak Waters from converting their shots into the back of the net.

The Italians and Greeks were among the largest migrant communities of South Australia and were strong supporters of their clubs, then called Juventus and Hellas respectively, when both entered the National Soccer League upon its foundation in 1977.

Matches between Juventus and Hellas traditionally drew strong crowds, until the latter, then named Adelaide Sharks, withdrew from the NSL and ceased playing senior soccer at any level in 1999.

In 2008, West Adelaide revived its senior soccer side and resumed playing in the South Australian league, reigniting a once-great derby.