One of the most successful clubs in South Australia, West Adelaide competed in the national league for 19 seasons, interrupted briefly by two short periods in which it was relegated back to state competition.

In the late 1990s, the club renamed itself the Adelaide Sharks in an effort to attract support beyond its traditional base in the Greek community.

At the end of the 1998–99 National Soccer League season, the club was overcome by financial turmoil and entered administration.

The team often played informally at Adelaide High School, paid referees using their own money and, because most Greeks were yet to migrate to Australia, crowds rarely exceeded 100 people.

The new club, West Adelaide Hellas quickly won promotion to the top tier of South Australian football and became a powerhouse.

West had finished the inaugural NSL season in seventh place, 11 points behind champions Eastern Suburbs, later renamed Sydney City.

With five minutes of normal time remaining, Vic Bozanic looped a ball over the goalkeeper to seal a 1–1 draw, and the championship, sending the 16,000-strong Hindmarsh Stadium crowd into raptures.

The club spent four of the next five seasons in the relative limbo of the South Australian competition, interrupted by a brief return to the national flight in 1989–90.

[7] In a bid to attract support beyond its traditional base in the Greek community, the club adopted a new name in the mid-1990s – the West Adelaide Sharks.

On 9 June 1998 fire destroyed the Sharks' change rooms and some administrative offices at their new Thebarton Oval base.

The juniors joined with state league club Adelaide Olympic and competed in the South Australian competition from 2000 to 2007.

Friday 21 February 2014 was a proud day for the club, as it returned to the top tier of South Australian soccer after nine seasons.

Coached by former Sharks NSL defender Paul Pezos, the club won the 2015 South Australian premiership and championship.

[13] Since its foundation in the early 1960s, West Adelaide has maintained clear visual links to its Greek heritage – notably its white and blue striped playing strips.