THE Port Adelaide Football Club is bringing AFL football to its heartland on Saturday and plans to put the best of the Port on show in a celebration of the community.

The Power will host Adelaide at Alberton Oval on Saturday afternoon as part of the JLT Community Series – the first AFL-sanctioned match against the Crows at the venue in the club’s history.

Port Adelaide Chief Executive Keith Thomas said the club successfully lobbied the AFL to host the match, despite the series traditionally being played in regional centres.

“While the footy is serious, it is part of the JLT series, this weekend is much more about the coming together of the community to celebrate Port Adelaide and AFL football being at Alberton Oval.”

“We are very committed to taking AFL football to regional areas but this year we decided playing here was very important to us.”

As well as the match, which gets underway at 3:35pm local time, the club will host a street fair from 12pm.

Some of Port Adelaide’s finest produce will be available with local businesses setting up pop-up stalls.

Among them will be the Port Admiral Hotel serving its popular burgers along with its famous steak sandwich and locally brewed beers.

Alberton café, The Pear, will serve filtered coffee from three different countries along with some of their staple pastries.

Red Lime Shack will provide assorted delicious vegan options as well as its range of healthy but tasty sweet treats.

Other traders from Fork on the Road will also supply mouth-watering food and drink, while other local traders and artists will have an opportunity to share their wares.

On the field, junior teams from local football clubs Port Districts, North Haven, Rosewater and Portland will compete in curtain raisers before the JLT clash.

Thomas said the day was about more than just football, instead the focus was about celebrating the proud Port Adelaide community.

“We want to open that experience up to our community including the local traders because we want to put the best of Port Adelaide on show in a real carnival experience – but we also wanted to involve local football clubs and schools, to create a family atmosphere,” he said.

“What we understand is that the essence of our club is our members and our connection to our neighbourhood and our local community, and we are actively looking for every opportunity to support that neighbourhood which is by chance going through a very serious and dynamic rejuvenation.

“The importance of your heritage, your history and celebrating your history resonates when we talk to people in China for instance.

“They want to know who are you? Where do you come from? And what do you stand for? What resonates with them is the story, and the community is an important part of ours.”

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