[1] Just as the more faithful amongst the tribes of the East feel it incumbent on them to pay a periodical visit to Mecca, so do lovers of the king of winter games feel it almost an essential duty on their part to journey to the Adelaide Oval on the Queen's Accession Day, in sunshine or rain, to witness a trial of strength between those great and old rivals the Port Adelaide and Norwood clubs.

"[8] The Showdown rivalry also 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.

In 1982 the SANFL approached the VFL in regards to entering two sides, Port Adelaide and longtime major rival Norwood, in the Victorian league.

[12] From this point Port Adelaide restructured the club in regards to economics, public relations and on-field performance for an attempt to enter the league in 1990.

[13] In 1987 the West Coast Eagles and Brisbane Bears were admitted to the Victorian Football League leaving South Australia as the only mainland state without representation in the VFL.

"In 1988 a deputation from Norwood Football Club had announced it was interested in joining the VFL 'at any time in the future' and ... a private consortium headed by Ken Eustice was interested in grabbing a licence".By 1989 seven out of ten SANFL clubs were recording losses and the combined income of the SANFL and WAFL had dropped to 40% of that of the VFL.

[20] A practice match organised by Port Adelaide and Geelong on 25 February at Football Park attracted at over 30,000 spectators and illustrated the potential of a South Australian side in the newly renamed national competition.

Subsequently, the SANFL clubs, led by Glenelg and Norwood, urged Justice Olssen to make an injunction against the bid, which he agreed to.

"[16] "These twenty blokes, everyone who has helped us, are sensational people and all the views that you have read in the press the one thing that really matters is that there will always be a Port Adelaide Football Club.

Apart from Jack (John Cahill) and the players there are a couple of individuals out there who are responsible for that and make sure you enjoy tonight because the good times will not happen again.

Those players being Bruce Abernethy, Simon Tregenza, David Brown, Darren Smith and Scott Hodges, with the last three joining Port Adelaide's inaugural AFL squad in 1997.

don't short circuit a Port Adelaide proposal which clearly seems better than any other"In 1994 the AFL announced that South Australia would receive a licence for a second team based in the state.

Port Adelaide released a statement at the time saying that the state guernsey was "a symbol of South Australian football unification, not division".

[42] Others commented that it would be misappropriation to use a State guernsey for a club based competition with players who came from interstate being forced to wear a symbol of South Australia.

That jumper is sacred in my books...I spoke to Eddie McGuire today and suggested Carlton might wear the Big V in a heritage game.

[45] Port Adelaide meanwhile were granted permission by the AFL to wear their traditional "Prison Bar" guernsey for the only Showdown in 2020, as part of the club's 150th anniversary celebrations.

This contrasts with the Western Derby where West Coast have never relinquished the lead of the head-to-head ledger and have at some stages held a 12 win differential over Fremantle and the Sydney Derby where the Sydney Swans have also never relinquished the lead of the head-to-head ledger and held a 7 win differential over the GWS Giants after 9 meetings.

The stakes of a showdown had never been higher and South Australia experienced an unprecedented high anticipation to the game in the week leading up to the match.

Tempers almost boiled over in the second quarter after Adelaide ruckman Rhett Biglands was stretchered from the ground after a Byron Pickett shirtfront.

"The round 16, 2015 Showdown on 19 July 2015 had added significance due to the recent death of Crows senior coach Phil Walsh, who spent ten years as an assistant in two stints with Port Adelaide, including their 2004 premiership.

Robbie Gray kicked 2 goals late (his fourth and fifth of the quarter) to give Port Adelaide the lead at three-quarter time.

[67] One last turn would see off-season Port Adelaide recruit Steven Motlop kick the winning goal with 21 seconds left.

Late in the final quarter Ollie Wines had the opportunity to seal the game with a set shot from a tight angle but his banana kick was ineffective.

Minutes after Wines shot, Josh Jenkins snapped and his score was referred to the goal review umpire to clarify whether it hit the post.

Robbie Gray was awarded a record fourth Showdown Medal becoming just the third player, after Graham Johncock and Shaun Burgoyne, to win the honour coming from the losing side.

In the last minute of the game a late high contact free kick was paid to Lachlan Murphy against Port Adelaide's Sam Mayes approximately 45m out from goal.

The lowest attendance was 2,240 in Showdown XLVIII (round 2, 2020, a Port Adelaide home match), due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic at the time.

The first naming rights sponsor was the South Australian Brewing Company (SABC) who utilised the fixture to promote West End Draught.

[79] As part of their efforts in promoting the game Balfours began, and continue, to produce donuts in the colors of the two competing teams.

Seven Network broadcast the match with commentators including James Brayshaw, Greg Blewett, Mark Soderstrom and Jason Gillespie.