In 1877 Port Adelaide joined seven other local clubs and formed the South Australian Football Association, the first organisation of its type in Australia.
In 1990 the club approached the newly named AFL for entry but was eventually beaten by a composite proposal, the Adelaide Crows, by the SANFL.
In 1877 Port Adelaide joined seven other local clubs and formed the South Australian Football Association, the first organisation of its type in Australia.
However a licence did not guarantee entry and although a target year of 1996 was set, this was reliant upon an existing AFL club folding or merging with another.
The football club played its first match against a team called the "Young Australians" on 30 July 1870 at North Park Lands.