List of non-primary sporting events at the Adelaide Oval

Association football, or soccer, was first played at Adelaide Oval in 1904.^[1]

A-League Men club Adelaide United FC have played select home games at the venue. Most notably the oval was the site of the club's 2016 championship win against Sydney FC, attended by over 50,000 spectators. The venue also hosted an international friendly match between the Socceroos and New Zealand on 5 June 2011. On 25 July 2014, Adelaide United played its first game at the fully re-developed Adelaide Oval when it played host to Spanish La Liga side Málaga CF. In front of 23,254 fans and a television audience in Spain, Málaga defeated the Reds 5–1.^[2]

• 1904 July 20 – The South Australian British Football Association beat the crew aboard HMS Katoomba 9–0.^[1]
• 1920 July 5 – During a visit by the Prince of Wales, a soccer match was organised between the South Australian British Football Association and the crew aboard the visiting HMS Renown with the game resulting in a draw 0–0.^[3]
• 1924 October 6 – Over the course of a day three codes were played on Adelaide Oval, Australian rules football, rugby and soccer. The soccer match was between two teams, one called "Adelaide United" and the other "Hindmarsh" with the latter team winning 2–0.^[4]
• 1925 – During a tour of Australia, the English football team was prevented from playing on Adelaide Oval by ground administrators.^{[citation needed]}
• 1937 July 29 – England beat South Australia 10–0.^{[citation needed]}
• 1951 June 23 – England beat Australia 13–1. Ike Clarke scored four goals.^[5]
• 1958 May 24 – English First Division club Blackpool beat Australia (men) 1–0.^[6]
• 1959 June 6 – Heart of Midlothian beat Australia 6–0.^{[citation needed]}
• 2007 December 28 – Adelaide United play Sydney FC in first A-League match held at the ground.^{[citation needed]}
• 2011 June 5 – Australia (men) beat New Zealand 3–0.^{[citation needed]}
• 2014 July 25 – La Liga side Málaga CF beat Adelaide United 5–1.^{[citation needed]}
• 2015 July 20 – Premier League side Liverpool beat Adelaide United 2–0.^{[citation needed]}
• 2016 March 24 – Australia (men) beat Tajikistan 7–0 in a FIFA World Cup qualifier.^{[citation needed]}
• 2016 May 1 – The first A-League Grand Final hosted at the ground saw Adelaide United beat Western Sydney Wanderers in front of 50,119 fans.^[7]
• 2017 June 8 – Australia (men) beat Saudi Arabia 3–2 in a FIFA World Cup qualifier in front of 29,785 spectators.^{[citation needed]}
• 2024 May 31 – Australia (women) drew China 1–1 in an international friendly in front of 52,912 spectators.^{[citation needed]}
• 2024 October 10 – Australia (men) beat China 3–1 in a FIFA World Cup qualifier in front of 46,291 spectators.

From the first cycling race held at Adelaide Oval in 1882, Adelaide Oval regularly hosted cycling races that attracted tens of thousands of spectators.^[8][9] Cycling races were halted after a fence was erected on the inner side of the asphalt track around 1911.^[10]

• 1882 – The first bicycle race took place on Adelaide Oval during part of a Scottish sport fete on Easter Monday that attracted a then record 15,000 spectators over the course of the day.^[8]
• 1885 – The first time the Intercolonial Bicycle Championship was held at Adelaide Oval. F.H. Shackleford won the premier 10-mile race in 34 minutes 30 seconds. A.L. Henzel won the women's 3-mile bracelet race in 9 minutes 43 seconds.^[11]
• 1900 – Ahead of a cycling event held on 24 March, SACA undertook some major renovation of the grounds in order to accommodate a cycling track around the oval. Thousands of loads of earth were carted from the Torrens to create the necessary slope to the track.^[12]
• 1903 – American professional cyclist Major Taylor, the first world champion black athlete, wins the Walne Stakes in front of at least 10,000 spectators. He won the half-mile in a time of 57s ± 2.5.^[13] He won 11 races out of 14, and was placed second in three.^[14] Taylor's trip to Australia to compete in cycling races inspired the 1992 film Tracks of Glory.^[15]

In 1991 the New South Wales Rugby League competition came to Adelaide Oval when the St. George Dragons played the Balmain Tigers on a cold and wet Friday night under temporary lights in the first of five games that the Dragons would play at the oval over the next five years. That game, with the Dragons winning 16–2, set a rugby league record crowd for the ground when 28,884 people attended^{[citation needed]}, and was in fact the highest minor round attendance for the 1991 NSWRL season (beaten only by four of the six Finals series games including the Grand Final). In 1997 Adelaide got its own side in the much vaunted (but short lived) Super League competition with the Adelaide Rams. Their first home game attracted their record crowd when 27,435^{[citation needed]} saw the Rams defeat SL's other new team, the Hunter Mariners 10–8. However, after disputes over money (and dwindling crowds due to poor on-field results) they left the ground in 1998 and moved to Hindmarsh Stadium. In the 2010 and 2011 National Rugby League seasons, Sydney club the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs played home games at the Oval against the Melbourne Storm. The Bulldogs had intended to make Adelaide Oval their second "home" (the club plays its home games at Sydney's Olympic Stadium), but the plan was abandoned after 2010. On 20 November 2016, it was announced that the Sydney Roosters will take on the Melbourne Storm in the 2017 NRL season meaning that top level Rugby league returned to Adelaide for the first time since 2011. The Roosters won the game, played on 24 June in Round 16 of the season, 25–24 in golden point extra time in front of a crowd of 21,492 fans.^[16]

Adelaide Oval has hosted two State of Origin matches between New South Wales and Queensland; specifically Game 1 of the 2020 series (held before a capped half-capacity crowd due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic) and Game 1 of the 2023 series, which was attended by more than 48,000 spectators.

• 1991 June 28 – The St. George Dragons defeated the Balmain Tigers in front of 28,884 spectators during the 1991 NSWRL season.
• 1997 March 14 – The short-lived Adelaide Rams won their first home game 10–8 against the Hunter Mariners in the 1997 Super League.
• 2010 July 10 – The first game of first-grade rugby league is played since the Rams dissolved, with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs taking down the Melbourne Storm 20–18, in front of a crowd of 10,350.^[17]
• 2020 November 4 – A NRL State of Origin match was scheduled to be held at Adelaide Oval on 1 June for the opening leg of the 2020 NRL State of Origin series but was postponed due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which affected the 2020 NRL season. Queensland ended up winning the rescheduled game 18–14.^[18]

Adelaide Oval hosted two games of the 2003 Rugby World Cup. On 25 October, Australia played their first international game in Adelaide when they defeated Namibia 142–0 in front of 28,196 fans. The next day Ireland defeated Argentina 16–15 in front of 30,203 fans.

On 3 July 2004, Australia hosted the Pacific Islanders at Adelaide Oval, winning 29–14 before a crowd of 19,266.

Adelaide Oval did not host another rugby union match until 27 August 2022, when Australia defeated South Africa 25–17 in a Rugby Championship test match in front of a crowd of 36,336.

From 2007 until 2010, Adelaide Oval hosted the Australia Sevens event in the IRB Sevens World Series.

• 1888 July 16 – England defeated South Australia 28–3 in a Rugby Union match.^[19]
• 2003 October 25 – The first of two matches of the Rugby World Cup were played at Adelaide Oval. The first match saw Australia thrash Namibia 142–0. The following day Ireland defeated Argentina by one point.
• 2025 July 12 – The touring British & Irish Lions played a Invitational AU & NZ XV, defeating the Invitational XV 48–0 in front of South Australian Rugby record crowd of 43,124 fans.

In 1888, American Baseball administrator Albert Spalding brought the Chicago team and an additional composite team called the All-Americans to Australia and would play a series of three exhibition matches at Adelaide Oval. Chicago would win the Adelaide series 2–1.^[20] Following on from this exhibition of the match in Australia, over the next few years intercolonial matches were commonly played against other states on the ground.

• 1888 December – American Baseball administrator Albert Spalding brought the Chicago team and an additional composite team called the All-American team to Australia and played a series of three exhibition matches at the ground. Chicago would win the series 2–1.^[21]
• 1934 August 12 – The final game of the inaugural 1934 Claxton Shield series was played between Victoria and South Australia with the latter state winning 5–8.^[22]
• 1947 – Adelaide Oval was used for some matches of the 1947 Claxton Shield.
• 1951 – Adelaide Oval was used for some matches of the 1951 Claxton Shield.

During World War II an American football match was held by American soldiers stationed in Adelaide on Independence Day. At least 25,000 spectators attended the match that was staged between teams referred to as the "Packers" and "Bears" with the latter winning the match.

• 13 June 1938 – During an interval of a Port Adelaide and Norwood SANFL match with 27,764 spectators present, a long distance kicking contest was held using American footballs.^[23] Measurements of kicks were then compared to College footballers in the United States. Robert Elliott of North Adelaide won the competition kicking an Australian football 67 metres. Robert Elliott kicked the American football 62 metres, 13 centimetres short of the top American figure set by Jack Cohen from the UCLA Bruins using the American ball.^[24]
• 4 July 1942 – An exhibition match was held by American soldiers.

The Adelaide Oval grounds have maintained a long tradition of holding tennis tournaments.

• 1889 – The inaugural South Australian Tennis Championships are staged at the Oval tennis courts.^[25]
• 1910 – The Australasian Tennis Championships are staged for the first time at the oval the title is won by Rodney Heath.^[26]
• 1920 – Australasian Tennis Championships are staged at the oval for the second time, won by Pat O'Hara Wood.^[27]
• 1959 – Ampol world professional championship tournament, Hoad defeated Rosewall in the final to win the South Australian Pro title.^[28]