THE CREED has been handed down through generations and helped shaped the success we all know so well at the Port Adelaide Football Club.
First written by the late club patriarch Fos Williams in 1962, the Creed is a guide which reinforces the club’s unique identity and core values.
It asks those involved with the club to accept its heritage, to suffer personal sacrifices for the common end and be devoted to the cause of furthering the club’s unexcelled achievements.
And it remains as relevant today, on the cusp of yet another finals campaign, as it was when first penned nearly 60 years ago.
Club partner, Pirate Life Brewing is ensuring the Creed’s legacy and inextricable link to Port Adelaide’s history are ongoing with the release of its latest beer – The Creed lager.
Pirate Life co-founder Michael “MC” Cameron explained that Tuesday’s release was the first in a four-part series, featuring different coloured cans and cases that celebrate the key pillars of the club and share different messages linked to the Creed.
And, he said, $5.00 from every case sold would be donated to the Port Adelaide Football Club to contribute to the development of a new club museum at the Port Club.
“This really follows on from the 150th Anniversary Lager and the Prison Bar Ale,” MC explained. “I think the success of the Prison Bar Ale and the fact we were able to raise in excess of $30,000 towards the new scoreboard got us thinking about what else we could do to help the club with the redevelopment of the Port Club and the new museum. The Creed just kept coming up in our conversations.
“I know it’s important to the Williams Family and the whole Port Adelaide family and it resonated with us because a lot of the philosophies behind the Creed you can take away from the football world and translate it into business.
“The principles and passion behind it are something I can share with my staff.”
The lager will be similar in design and flavour to the popular 150-year anniversary Lager released in 2020.
MC explained that the Pirate Life crew had thought long and hard about trying something different but decided to be conscious about creating a beer that was suitable for everyone.
“For us the range will also be a collector’s item,” he said. “It’s something where you can drink a few and keep a few on the shelf for later. Being a lager, it will last a long time.
“We’ll release the next one of the range out at Christmas, one at the start of the season and probably the first Showdown if the dates work out so that by this time next year people will be able to have a collection of four cases or four cans, each one a different colour and each one with a different message from a person who represents a key pillar in the Port Adelaide community.”
Permission was sought from Fos Williams’ family to incorporate the Creed in to the new beer.
His son Stephen, himself an eight-time premiership player and three-time premiership coach, life member and Hall of Famer at the club, was one of the first to get a glimpse of the new range at Pirate Life’s Port Adelaide brewery on Monday along with former Port Adelaide AFL captain Dom Cassisi.
While Stephen Williams does not drink himself, he was supportive of part proceeds being used to help the club display its historical collection in a new museum.
“We don’t drink at all in our family, so I think that might have been why the club came to us to make sure we were ok with it being on a beer can,” he smiled.
“It’s raising money to help improve the club and celebrate its history and that is important to our family.
“The Creed is something unique to Port Adelaide and the standards it wants to live by.
“This is something that has been written down and was hanging on the medical room wall at Alberton for a long time, probably out of sight, but it is now a bit more front of mind.”
The range will be available for purchase at Pirate Life Brewing, 18 Baker Street, Port Adelaide or online.
