Dear Members, Supporters and Partners,
As we head into the final stretch of 2025, I want to share some significant news and updates with you.
It's been a year of important milestones. Some we've worked toward for many years, others have emerged through this phase of renewal towards what I genuinely believe is the next exciting era of Port Adelaide. Through it all, your unwavering support remains constant.
The progress we're making, both on and off the field, is a direct result of your commitment to our club. Thank you.
2026 Season Officially Starts
Josh Carr started his first week as our senior coach this week. He's only the 5th in Port Adelaide's AFL era and the 35th since 1870. The privilege of this role isn't lost on Josh. Watching him work with the coaching group in recent weeks and players these past few days, it's clear we couldn't have a more perfectly prepared person leading our next era on field.
The players hit the track on Monday and the energy at Alberton is building. If you can, get down for a look – main sessions are Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings through to the Christmas break. There's something special about pre-season at Alberton, and it's always great to see our members and fans here supporting the team.
The Precinct at Alberton re-opens
Good news! The upstairs bistro at The Precinct re-opens this week with new management and a fresh menu coming soon. We needed to re-set the venue experience, and from this week we're back open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through to Sunday lunch (closed Monday).
Wildcard Round
The AFL's 'Wildcard Round' announcement has generated plenty of discussion, and I have two perspectives on this.
First, our aim each season is to finish the home-and-away season with as many wins as possible. Whether that's top 4 or top 6, we focus week to week on positioning ourselves as high as possible for finals. Wildcard Round doesn't change that approach. For the teams finishing 7th-10th, it's just another week with everything on the line.
Second, the AFL fixture is more uneven than ever, with double-up opponents having greater impact on final ladder positions. The Wildcard Round might provide some balance to those fixture inequities (who you play and how much you travel for example) and that's not a bad thing.
We'll share our full 2026 AFL Fixture later this week so we can all start planning our weekends for next year.
AFLW Season
Our AFLW season finished at 6-6, and that slow start ultimately cost us finals by a single win. But the final month highlighted our capability with dominant performances against Hawthorn and Adelaide. The narrow losses to Fremantle, West Coast, Geelong and St Kilda hurt even more in hindsight.
We fielded the youngest and most inexperienced team in the competition, which tells you where the potential sits. I'm confident these lessons will drive our 2026 campaign.
The individual achievements were remarkable. Indy Tahau led the competition with 25 goals, the most in a single AFLW season in history. Coming off a long-term knee injury, starting in defence and not scoring in the first two games makes it even more incredible. And Gemma Houghton's historic 100th career goal after the siren in Round 12, making her the greatest goal scorer in AFLW history (what a moment!) Indy and Gemma join Matilda Scholz in the All-Australian squad, and it's hard to see any of them missing the final 21.
Thanks again to everyone who came to our home games at Alberton Oval. You've helped to make it one of the premier AFLW venues and experiences in the country. The atmosphere at Alberton is special and I know how much it means to our players. Thank you.
Historic Financial Milestone: Debt Cleared
On 31 October, the club achieved a significant milestone – paying off the final $1m of historical debt.
From a peak debt of $12.5 million post-COVID, we've rebuilt a strong financial position largely through the wonderful support of our members and commercial partners, allowing us to build the financial base needed to fully fund our football programs. At the same time, we've also significantly transformed facilities at Alberton Oval, with the next stage due for completion in June 2026. These projects and the reduction in our debt position have improved the club's net asset position significantly to more than $60m.
This milestone represents more than debt reduction. It enables us to accelerate our strategic pillar of building a financially powerful Port Adelaide Football Club: creating a diversified asset base that generates non-core revenue while transforming our financial strength and ultimately maximising football program investment.
To our members and partners: this achievement is directly attributable to your incredible commitment through the most challenging period in our club's modern history. Your support has enabled us to emerge stronger, more focused, and strategically positioned to now capitalise on an important period of growth and consolidation. We've made excellent gains over the last five years, but the next five should be even more significant. We look forward to sharing more with you in the new year.
Board Governance & Director Election
Following last month's Board governance review, the replacement Director position will be determined by a member election. If you're a financial member interested in contributing to the governance of our club, we'd welcome your nomination.
Full criteria and process details will be on the club's website shortly. The Director election timeline is outlined below;
Key Timeline:
- Nominations Open: Tuesday, 2 December 2025
- Nominations Close: 5pm, Tuesday, 16 December 2025
- Candidate Information Sessions: Week of 16 December 2025
- Voting Opens: Friday, 13 February 2026
- Voting Closes: 5pm, Tuesday, 24 February 2026
The successful candidate (3-year term) will be announced at the AGM on Thursday, 26 February.
Looking Ahead
As we close out 2025, there's great energy and momentum building into 2026 with the relentless pursuit to be better. As Josh so aptly phrased, we are focused on making every moment count.
Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to sharing the journey with you.
See you at Alberton.
Cheers,
Richo
