Port Adelaide will wear an iconic version of its black-and-white Prison Bar guernsey in Round 16, as the club hosts the Adelaide Crows in Showdown LX at Adelaide Oval.
The guernsey, worn to honour the club’s legendary 1914 “Invincibles”, carries with it one of the most extraordinary chapters in Australian football history.
In 1914, Port Adelaide went through an entire South Australian Football League season undefeated. They then dismantled VFL premier Carlton to claim the national Champions of Australia title, before completing a staggering treble by defeating a composite South Australian State team — an emphatic statement of unrivalled dominance from a club that had simply become unstoppable.
Port Adelaide remains the only club to go through a South Australian league season undefeated. And the sheer scale of that period defies comprehension: from Round 8, 1913 to Round 9, 1915, Port Adelaide won 32 consecutive games, a record that has never been challenged in South Australian football history.
Port Adelaide chief executive Matthew Richardson said the guernsey represents what this club has stood for since its inception in 1870.
"This guernsey represents an incredible era and team at Port Adelaide," Mr Richardson said.
"The 1914 Invincibles didn't just win a premiership, they went unbeaten all season, they claimed the national title, and they did it in a way that changed how Port Adelaide was seen nationally.
“That legacy lives on through every person who has the honour of wearing the traditional black-and-white Port Adelaide guernsey, which is now elevated on the national stage each year through the Showdown.
"We wear this guernsey with enormous pride and a deep sense of responsibility. It represents the standards this club was built on and the standards we continue to hold ourselves to."
The 1914 season was a masterclass in sustained dominance. Port Adelaide established an average winning margin of 46 points across the home-and-away rounds, before producing a stunning September and October: a 54-point semi-final win over Sturt; a 93-point grand final demolition of North Adelaide, conceding just one solitary goal; a 34-point Champions of Australia victory over Carlton at Adelaide Oval; and, to put an exclamation mark on an extraordinary year, a 58-point win over a composite South Australian State team at Jubilee Oval.
They were, as the newspapers of the day declared, simply invincible.
“It is a privilege to honour those men on this stage,” Mr Richardson said.
“In a home Showdown, in front of our people at Adelaide Oval where in 1914 Port Adelaide defeated Carlton to claim the Champions of Australia, there is no more fitting occasion.
“The Prison Bar guernsey has been the fabric of the Port Adelaide Football Club since 1902. It's not just a guernsey. It represents the players who shaped Port Adelaide's history and, just as importantly, a community built on hard work and resilience, the people who gave this club its identity”
The 1914 Invincibles were captained by Jack Londrigan, with Harold Oliver as vice-captain.
Magarey Medallist Jack Ashley and leading goalkicker Jack Dunn, who booted 33 goals for the season, were among the 21 players who wrote their names permanently into Port Adelaide folklore.
Replica guernseys and long sleeve guernseys in adult and youth sizes are now available at the Port Store at Alberton Oval, online and at Adelaide Oval. Click here to explore the range.
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