[13] Inaugural coach Graham Cornes[14] and captain Chris McDermott led Adelaide to a respectable ninth place out of 15 in the league, with 10 wins and 12 losses and a percentage of 89.44.

Darren Jarman kicked a goal to put Adelaide in front with less than two minutes remaining, this qualified the Crows for their first AFL Grand Final, to be played against St Kilda at the MCG a week later.

Andrew McLeod, who gathered 31 possessions across half-back and in the midfield, won the Norm Smith Medal for the best player on-field in the Grand Final.

It was a complete contrast to the thriller that took place the previous year, with Matthew Robran kicking six goals and Andrew McLeod, opposed to renowned tagger Tony Liberatore, booting seven.

Adelaide's impressive 2002 AFL season (in which they achieved a 15–7 win–loss record) came undone at the penultimate stage, losing to Collingwood in the Preliminary Final at the MCG.

That season, Adelaide captain Mark Ricciuto became the first and (as of 2024) only Crow to win the Brownlow Medal for the best and fairest player in the AFL in a three-way tie with Adam Goodes and Nathan Buckley.

Adelaide's finals runs in the 2000s The Crows had their biggest rebrand in the club's history on the eve of the 2010 season, shifting their logo to an entirely new design.

They did recover to some extent in the back half of the year, finishing 11th with nine wins and thirteen losses, the first time under coach Neil Craig that the team did not make the finals.

New coach Brenton Sanderson began his era at the club with a pre-season premiership in 2012 and followed up that success with an above-expectations regular season; the Crows finishing 17-5 and never once losing consecutive matches.

[24] In March 2014, over one week prior to the commencement of the new season, assistant coach Dean Bailey died following a short battle with lung cancer.

Newly appointed coach Phil Walsh oversaw a rapidly improving team that became known for their skilled ball use and ability to grind out wins.

[30] Tragically, on 3 July, two days prior to Adelaide's then-scheduled round 14 match against Geelong, coach Phil Walsh was stabbed to death by his son at the age of 55 in his Somerton Park home.

[47] One highlight towards the end of the year was Rory Sloane who, despite rumours of a trade home to Victoria, signed a five-year contract and went on to play out his time as a one-club player.

Under new coach Nicks, the Crows lost the first 13 matches of the coronavirus-affected 2020 AFL season and ultimately claimed their first wooden spoon in club history.

The Crows hosted the first-ever Friday night Showdown in Round 3, and claimed one of their best-ever wins via an after-the-siren bending kick from the recruit Dawson, who received best-on-ground honours.

[63] In his absence, the role of captain rotated between Reilly O'Brien, Ben Keays, Brodie Smith, and Tom Doedee for the remainder of the season.

Some controversial finishes, including one in round 23 against Sydney, when a Ben Keays goal was mistakenly disallowed, cost the Crows their first AFL finals series in seven years.

Despite high expectations,[69] 2024 was another disappointing year for the club,[70] with a lack of on-field performance resulting in questions being raised around Nicks' coaching,[71] particularly amid the choice to drop young forward Josh Rachele.

Since 2014 however, they guernsey has featured art on a navy base from a wide number of indigenous artists and past players, such as Andrew McLeod and Ben Davis.

[86] A key factor behind this change is the popularity for the club's Gather Round guernsey, which debuted in 2023 and featured the same crow design in a "stealth" style.

[93] Initially the club's offices were restricted to small space under the SANFL members' grandstand, before being moved to a new brick building at the southern end of the stadium in 1992.

[94] Additional offices were constructed at the northern end of the ground, and a $21 million renovation was concluded in 2009, which featured a 2500sq metre “Shed” for gatherings of fans and members, and upgrades to the indoor training and administrative facilities.

[94] When Football Park stopped hosting premiership matches at the end of the 2013 season, the grandstands were progressively torn down and the club's game-day facilities were merged with the administration offices, whilst the general public were granted access to the oval outside of Crows' training sessions.

[99] The bid was constructed in partnership with AFL Northern Territory, with the club to share resources and facilities between its Adelaide base and AFLNT's Darwin location.

The club quickly rose back up the following year and won seven of nine home-and-away matches, and they claimed the minor premiership for the 2021 season before going down to Brisbane by 18 points in the 2021 grand final.

[109] Adelaide bounced back the next year to win the 2022 AFL Women's season 6 Grand Final by 13 points, earning their third premiership, the most of any club in the league.

Following their historic back-to-back premierships, Adelaide had consecutive preliminary final exits in season 7 and 2023, with loses to eventual runners-up Brisbane and North Melbourne respectively.

Another top-four finish ended in a bittersweet manner, as the Crows lost to both eventual grand finalists Brisbane and North Melbourne, but Marinoff was crowned the league's best and fairest.

The Adelaide Crows were granted a license to field a stand-alone reserves men's team in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) in 2014.

The Showdown rivalry significantly draws upon the bitter, winner take all, competition for the two South Australian licences to join the AFL in the 1980s and early 1990s.