1878 SAFA season
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The 1878 South Australian Football Association season was the 2nd season of the top-level Australian rules football competition in South Australia.
1st premiership
Norwood (12 Goals)
| 1878 SAFA premiership season | |
|---|---|
Norwood premiership team | |
| Teams | 7 |
| Premiers | Norwood 1st premiership |
| Leading goalkicker | William Dedman Norwood (12 Goals) |
| Matches played | 40 |
| Highest | 3,000 (Round 13, Norwood vs Port Adelaide) |
In its first season, Norwood won the premiership, going through the year undefeated - 8 wins and 4 draws.[1]
The SAFA competition was contested by seven teams with the admission of newly formed club Norwood, after Bankers and Woodville folded at the end of 1877.
Each team of twenty men were scheduled to play each other twice this season, the first time a standardised fixture was in place. Clubs also fielded second twentys and these games were also advertised on a weekly basis along with the first twenty games.
Pre season
The SAFA clubs played inter club matches on 4 May.
An additional pre season game was played between some South Australian and Victorian residents who live in Adelaide.
| South Australian vs. Victorian residents | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 11 May (Time pm) | South Australians 1 | def. | Victorians 0 | Adelaide Oval (crowd: 350) | [2] |
Premiership season
SAFA Senior Clubs 1878 Season
| Club | Colours | Home Ground | Captain | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide | Black, Red | Old Adelaide Ground, North Adelaide | Dalton | Played majority of home games at Adelaide Oval |
| Kensington | Scarlet White | Kensington Oval | Milne | |
| Norwood | Dark blue Red | East Park Lands, Adelaide | J.R.Osborne | New club formed from leading players from Woodville |
| Port Adelaide | Magneta White | Glanville Hall Estate | W. Fletcher | |
| South Adelaide | Navy Blue White | South Terrace, Adelaide | G.D.Kennedy | |
| South Park | Light Blue White | South Park Lands, Adelaide | J.H.Sinclair | |
| Victorian | Orange Black | Montefiore Hill, North Adelaide | G.E.Downs |
Premiership matches are those that took place after 11 May.[3]
Round 1
| Round 1 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 18 May (3:15 pm) | Norwood 1 | def. | South Adelaide 0 | Adelaide Oval (crowd: 800) | [4] |
| Saturday, 18 May (3:15 pm) | South Park 0 | def. by | Port Adelaide 2 | South Park Lands | [5] |
| Saturday, 18 May (3:00 pm) | Kensington 0 | def. by | Adelaide 5 | Kensington Oval | [4] |
| Bye Victorian |
|||||
Round 2
| Round 2 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 25 May (3:45 pm) | Norwood 1 | def. | Victorian 0 | East Park Lands (crowd: 500) | [6] |
| Saturday, 25 May (3:40 pm) | Adelaide 1 | def. | South Adelaide 0 | Adelaide Oval | [6] |
| Saturday, 25 May (3:00 pm) | Kensington 0 | def. by | Port Adelaide 4 | Kensington Oval | [6] |
| Bye South Park |
|||||
|
Non Competition Match - Monday 27th May was Queen's Birthday Holiday. | |||||
Round 3
| Round 3 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 1 June (3:25 pm) | South Adelaide 0 | def. by | Port Adelaide 1 | South Park Lands (crowd: 300) | [8] |
| Saturday, 1 June (3:30 pm) | Kensington 0 | def. by | South Parks 1 | Kensington Oval | [8] |
| Saturday, 1 June (3:00 pm) | Adelaide 2 | drew with | Victorians 2 | Adelaide Oval | [9] |
| |||||
Round 4
| Round 4 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 8 June (Time pm) | Adelaide 0 | def. by | Norwood 1 | Adelaide Oval | [10] |
| Saturday, 8 June (3:00 pm) | South Adelaide 1 | v | South Parks 0 | South Park Lands | [10] |
|
The Port Adelaide vs. Victorian game was called off due to bad weather and rescheduled for 6 July despite Port kicking a goal.[11] | |||||
Round 5
| Round 5 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 15 June (3:15 pm) | South Adelaide 2 | def. | Kensington 0 | South Park Lands | [12] |
| Saturday, 15 June (Time pm) | Victorians 3 | def. | South Parks 0 | Montefiore Hill | [12] |
| Saturday, 15 June (Time pm) | Port Adelaide 0 | def. by | Norwood 1 | Glanville Estate (crowd: 600) | [13] |
Round 6
| Round 6 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 22 June (3:00 pm) | South Parks 0 | drew with | Norwood 0 | Park Lands, South Tce (crowd: 600) | [14] |
| Saturday, 22 June (3:00 pm) | Port Adelaide 2 | def. | Adelaide 0 | Glanville Estate (crowd: 300) | [14] |
| Saturday, 22 June (3:45 pm) | Kensington 0 | drew with | Victorians 0 | Kensington Oval | [14] |
Round 7
| Round 7 | [15] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 29 June (3:00 pm) | Victorians 1 | def. | South Adelaide 0 | Montefiore Hill (crowd: 1,100) | [16] |
| Saturday, 29 June (Time pm) | South Park 1? | drew with | Adelaide 1? | South Park Lands | |
|
South Park vs Adelaide at South Park Lands was advertised for 02.45pm (No Match Report)[17] | |||||
Norwood advertised a full practice match on their ground in the afternoon.
Round 8
| Round 8 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 6 July (Time pm) | Norwood 6 | def. | Kensington 0 | East Park Lands (crowd: 300) | [11] |
| Saturday, 6 July (3:15 pm) | Port Adelaide 1 | drew with | Victorian 1 | Glanville Estate | [11] |
|
The Victorian Club visited Glanville on Saturday afternoon, July 6, to play off their match of Saturday, June 8. with the Port Club, which was postponed, after the Ports had obtained one goal, owing to the unfavorable state of the weather. | |||||
Round 9
| Round 9 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 13 July (Time pm) | Kensington 0 | drew with | Norwood 0 | Kensington Oval | [19] |
| Saturday, 13 July (3:15 pm) | Adelaide 0 | drew with | Port Adelaide 0 | Old Adelaide Ground | [20] |
| Saturday, 13 July (Time pm) | South Park 0? | def. by | South Adelaide 2? | South Park Lands | |
|
South Park vs South Adelaide - No Match report. Result and goals deduced from end of season Table. | |||||
Round 10
| Round 10 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 20 July (3:00 pm) | South Adelaide 0 | drew with | Adelaide 0 | South Park Lands (crowd: 600) | [22] |
| Saturday, 20 July (3:15 pm) | Port Adelaide 2 | def. | South Park 0 | Glanville Estate | [22] |
| Saturday, 20 July (3:30 pm) | Victorian 1 | def. | Kensington 0 | Montefiore Hill | [22] |
Round 11
| Round 11 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 27 July (3:30 pm) | South Adelaide 0 | drew with | Norwood 0 | South Park Lands (crowd: 700) | [23] |
| Saturday, 27 July (3:00 pm) | Victorian 0 | drew with | Port Adelaide 0 | Montefiore Hill (crowd: 500) | [23] |
| Saturday, 27 July (3:35 pm) | South Park 0 | drew with | Kensington 0 | South Park Lands | [24] |
Round 12
| Round 12 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 3 August (Time pm) | Norwood 4 | def. | South Park 1 | East Park Lands (crowd: 800) | [25] |
| Saturday, 3 August (Time pm) | Victorian 2 | def. | Adelaide 0 | Montefiore Hill | [25] |
| Saturday, 3 August (3:45 pm) | Kensington 0 | def. by | South Adelaide 2 | Kensington Oval | [26] |
Round 13
| Round 13 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 10 August (3:00 pm) | Norwood 0 | drew with | Port Adelaide 0 | East Park Lands (crowd: 3,000) | [27] |
| Saturday, 10 August (Time pm) | Adelaide 4 | v | Kensington 1 | Adelaide Oval | [27] |
Round 14
| Round 14 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 17 August (Time pm) | Adelaide 1 | v | South Parks 0 | Adelaide Oval | [28] |
| Saturday, 17 August (Time pm) | Port Adelaide 0 | def. by | South Adelaide 1 | Glanville Estate (crowd: 300) | [28] |
Round 15
Round 16
| Round 16 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 31 August (3:00 pm) | South Adelaide 0 | def. | Victorian 0 | South Terrace (crowd: 1,200) | [30] |
|
South Adelaide were awarded the disputed draw by South Australian Football Association Committee at a meeting on 6th September 1878 - See below note. | |||||
- Victorian had kicked a goal, but it was deleted after a head count revealed they had 21 men on the ground at the time.
The mistake being unintentional when they took on two substitutes at the start of the game and one of their players Knill arrived late. After the headcount and the dispute which followed, which lasted half an hour, Knill was removed from the field and play continued.
At a South Australian Football Association Committee meeting held on evening of 6th September 1878 it was decided that the match played between the South Adelaide and Victorian Clubs last Saturday should be declared a win for the former.
[31]
Round 17
| Round 17 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 7 September (3:30 pm) | Victorian 0 | def. by | Norwood 1 | Montefiore Hill (crowd: 2,750) | [32] |
1878 SAFA Home and Away Season
Ladder
| ||||||||||||
| TEAM | P | W | L | D | GF | GA | Pts | Adj Pts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norwood (P) | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 1 | 20 | 20.00 | |||
| 2 | Port Adelaide | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 4 | 14 | 15.27 | |||
| 3 | South Adelaide | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 14.00 | |||
| 4 | Victorian | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 13.09 | |||
| 5 | Adelaide | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 12.00 | |||
| 6 | South Park | 11 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 5 | 5.45 | |||
| 7 | Kensington | 11 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 25 | 3 | 3.00 | |||
| Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points, Adj Pts = Points adjusted for match ratio, (P) = Premiers | [33] | |||||||||||
Notes: Port Adelaide and Kensington and Victorian and South Park did not play return matches.
South Adelaide were awarded a win following a disputed draw with Victoria (see Round 16)
1878 Norwood Club Song
Men of Norwood
All who love the noble game, hear the story I proclaim;
How the Norwoods earned their fame [How they won their glory].
First, against the Souths so strong, Cheers went up, both loud and long;
Forward! Norwoods, red and blue. Fair ones' smiles encourage you.Chorus
Cheer the bonny red and blue,
Cheer the colours fast and true,
Keep their colours still in view,
Forward! Men of Norwood.
Who will e'er forget that day, Sturdy Mac led on the play,
Giffen dashing through the fray, Kicked first goal for Norwood
And from thousand throats that cried, Cleft the air up to the skies.
Forward! Norwood, red and blue. Fair ones' eyes are watching you.(Chorus)
When they met the sprightly Vics, With their little marks and tricks,
People thought would be a fix, Too much for the Norwoods.
Like the Souths the Vics were licked, Traynor for us one goals kicked.
Forward! Norwoods, red and blue, Wiry Vics you did subdue.(Chorus)
Sturdy Ports and Adelaides, Little Parks [those knowing blades]
Kensingtons, who love the maids, All succumbed to Norwood.
So the first year passed away, And our men still held the sway;Forward! Norwood, red and blue, Beauty's lips are praising you.
ââArthur Diamond, Secretary and Treasurer of the Norwood Club to the tune of 'Killarney'
Other Matches
Some of the Clubs took their annual trips into the country.
Norwoods defeated the Gawler seven goads to one;
Adelaide and Gawler, two goals each, played a draw;
Kensingtons scored two goals to Kapunda's one;
South Parks beat Riverton three goals to, nil, and were defeated by Willunga two goals to one. (Thu 20 June 1878)[34]
The Victorians visited Melbourne and were beaten twice by the Melbourne Club and once by Geelong, but were successful in the game
played with the Ballarat Club.
There has been a large increase in the number of junior Clubs.