1899 SAFA season

The 1899 SAFA season was the 23rd edition of the top level of Australian Rules football to be played in South Australia. South Adelaide went on to record its 8th premiership.

1899 SANFL season
Teams6
PremiersSouth Adelaide
(8th premiership)
Minor premiersSouth Adelaide
(8th minor premiership)
Matches played44
Highest attendance(Grand Final, South Adelaide vs. Norwood)
Ken Farmer MedallistAnthony Daly
South Adelaide (32 Goals)
Magarey MedallistStan Malin
Port Adelaide

Electorate football

The 1899 season saw the introduction of compulsory electorate football in Adelaide, forcing players to play for the club in the district in which they resided.

In the last decade, football in Adelaide had been suffering from reduced public interest, and the three weaker teams (West Adelaide, North Adelaide and West Torrens) always operated at a financial loss, exacerbated by their poor records on field.

It was thought that by introducing electorate football, the talent would be spread more evenly across the six teams, making for more entertaining matches and higher attendances across all teams.[1] The proposed changes were fought by South Adelaide and Port Adelaide, who threatened to leave the SAFA and form their own league if they were brought in. As a compromise, the scheme was brought in on a one-year trial basis, before ultimately being accepted permanently.[2]

Minor rounds

The minor rounds comprised twelve matches. South Adelaide finished as the minor premiers, one point ahead of Norwood.

1899 SAFA Minor Premiership Ladder
TEAMPWLDPFPA%PTS
1 South Adelaide (P) 12 9 3 0 580 387 59.98 18
2 Norwood 12 8 3 1 525 391 57.31 17
3 Port Adelaide 12 8 4 0 575 293 66.24 16
4 West Torrens 12 5 7 0 426 499 46.05 10
5 West Adelaide 12 4 8 0 347 573 37.72 8
6 North Adelaide 12 1 10 1 383 693 35.59 3
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, (P) = Premiers [3]

Major rounds

The major premiership was contested under the same system which had been adopted by the Victorian Football League in 1898 (except adapted for six teams instead of eight). The six teams were broken into two sections: section A comprised South Adelaide (1st), Port Adelaide (3rd) and West Adelaide (5th); section B comprised Norwood (2nd), West Adelaide (4th) and North Adelaide (6th). Each section played an individual round-robin; then, the section winners played off in a final. The minor premiers, South Adelaide, would then have the right to challenge the winner of the final to a Grand Final for the major premiership.

Sectional matches

Sectional matches – Section A
Saturday, 12 August South Adelaide 11.11 (77) def. West Adelaide 6.7 (43) Adelaide Oval [4]
Saturday, 19 August Port Adelaide 9.12 (66) def. West Adelaide 3.6 (24) Jubilee Oval [4]
Saturday, 26 August South Adelaide 16.7 (103) def. Port Adelaide 1.4 (10) Adelaide Oval [4]
Sectional matches – Section B
Saturday, 12 August West Torrens 7.16 (58) def. North Adelaide 6.14 (50) Jubilee Oval [4]
Saturday, 19 August Norwood 13.12 (90) def. North Adelaide 4.5 (29) Adelaide Oval [4]
Saturday, 1 September Norwood 4.15 (39) def. West Torrens 3.7 (25) Jubilee Oval [4]
1899 Section A Ladder
TEAMPWLDPFPAPctPTS
1 South Adelaide 2 2 0 0 180 53 77.25 4
2 Port Adelaide 2 1 1 0 76 127 37.44 2
3 West Adelaide 2 0 2 0 67 143 31.90 0
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pct = percentage, PTS = Premiership points.
1899 Section B Ladder
TEAMPWLDPFPAPctPTS
1 Norwood 2 2 0 0 129 54 70.49 4
2 West Torrens 2 1 1 0 83 89 48.26 2
3 North Adelaide 2 0 2 0 79 148 34.80 0
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pct = percentage, PTS = Premiership points.

Finals

1899 SAFA Final
Saturday, 2 September South Adelaide 5.2 (32) def. by Norwood 7.11 (53) Adelaide Oval [4]
1899 SAFA Grand Final
Saturday, 9 September South Adelaide def. Norwood Adelaide Oval [5]
1.6 (12)
1.9 (15)
2.9 (21)
 5.12 (42)
Q1
Q2
Q3
 Final
0.0 (0)
1.0 (6)
1.0 (6)
 2.2 (14)
Umpires: Henry "Ivo" Crapp
Daly 4, Gartrell Goals Miller 2

References

  1. Goalpost (13 May 1899). "Football Notes". Adelaide Observer. Adelaide, SA. p. 20.
  2. "The Football Difficult". Adelaide Observer. Adelaide, SA. 6 May 1899. p. 19.
  3. Goalpost (7 August 1899). "Football – First Round Completed". South Australian Register. Adelaide, SA. p. 3.
  4. "1899 SAFA premiership season". Australian Football. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  5. "Goalpost" (11 September 1899). "Football – South Adelaide wins the premiership". South Australian Register. Adelaide, SA. p. 3.
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