Of course, the Adelaide team that played back in the 19th century was in no way associated with Port Adelaide’s modern rival, the Crows.
Wearing red and black and affectionately known as the ‘Towns’, this Adelaide team was really the equivalent of the Melbourne Football Club - it was the founding football company based in the heart of the city.
Port Adelaide was formed as an offshoot of the Port’s local cricket club in May 1870 and, as we know, has maintained a long, prosperous and continuous history ever since - more than can be said for that short-lived original Adelaide team.
Meetings between the 'Towns' and 'Ports' were regular fixtures of the Adelaide sporting calendar in the 1870s, and games were often held in the North Parklands or around the town of Glanville - Port Adelaide’s original home.
It’s fair to say that if you jumped in your DeLorean and went back to 1877 you would have seen a spectacle much unlike anything we know today.
The game transformed through various rule variations, from those initially pioneered by the Adelaideans - akin to a mish mash of soccer, rugby and gaelic football - and then refined further by 1877 when all clubs met and debated whether to adopt the Melbourne (Australian Football) and Sydney (Rugby) rules.
If you rolled up at the Oval for Port Adelaide's first game at the ground in May 1877 and expected to see the club running around in its famous black and white, think again.
The Ports donned a plain pink lace up - fashionable for the time - but unlikely to be brought back by the club nowadays.
Captained by William Fletcher, Port Adelaide won the toss and kicked with the wind.
In just the second game of its season, Port Adelaide went in as hot favourites having easily accounted for Kensington in an away trip to the city’s east the week before.
A crowd of between 200 and 300 spectators braved inclement and muddy conditions at the Oval to see what was described at the time as one of the best games ever played in town.
Recalling the earlier comparison of this Adelaide team to the Melbourne Football Club, it was the ‘Mephistophelians’ - named for the devil of Faustian literature - that would score the first goal of the match as play closed on quarter time.
Port Adelaide played a strong second quarter and won a free close to the goals to secure its first for the match through Harry Smith.
But things turned against the pink-wearers in the third quarter with Adelaide kicking two goals to take a comfortable lead and although Port Adelaide rallied again through Ed LeMessurier, the Portonians were unable to recover the deficit by the close of play.
Port wouldn’t play on the Oval in 1878, but notched its first win there in the 1879 season opener against the now defunct South Park club.
Port Adelaide will play just its second AFL game at the Adelaide Oval when it hosts the Crows in the historic first Showdown at the ground on Saturday at 4:10pm.
To guarantee your seat at the match, become an 11-game reserved seat or Essential Power member at weareportadelaide.com.au or call 1300 GO PAFC (1300 467 232).
