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36-883: In 1977, a rival competition was established in Victoria in the form of the Australian Football Championships Night Series (AFC). From the 1980 season onwards, following termination of the NFL Night Series, it was effectively superseded by the AFC. From 1968 until 1975, the Australian National Football Council (later renamed the National Football League) had operated a post-season Championship of Australia tournament amongst

72-570: A pre-season competition . The AFC Night Series is generally considered to be of equivalent importance as the VFL-AFL pre-season competition and the VFL Night Series (1956–1971/1977-1978,1987), and records relating to the three competitions are often combined. The AFC Night Series was mostly played as a simple knock-out competition, with lower-ranked teams entering the competition in earlier qualifying rounds and higher ranked teams joining

108-731: A national competition with the addition of two new interstate clubs, the Brisbane Bears and the West Coast Eagles resulting in the AFC Board disbanding and the Night Series reverting to a VFL-run competition featuring only the VFL teams. The 1987 competition was pushed earlier into the year, with the final played on 28 April. By 1988 the competition did not overlap with the day premiership season at all, and became entirely

144-529: A packed out 10,000 fans. The ground record crowd was set in 1971 when 20,280 watched an SANFL match between Norwood and its traditional SANFL rivals Port Adelaide . Norwood Oval's dimensions are 165m x 110m, making it the narrowest ground in use in the SANFL. In the 1950s the Norwood Football Club received permission from the then City of Kensington & Norwood to install six light towers at

180-404: A record margin of 186 points. The 1980 Night Series Grand Final was also notorious for its ending, as the final siren was not heard by the umpire, allowing play to continue for several seconds during which North Melbourne secured the mark from which the winning goal was kicked against Collingwood . The 1986 Night Series was the last to be played under the AFC banner. In 1987 the VFL expanded to

216-400: Is a suburban oval in the western end of Norwood , an inner eastern suburb of Adelaide , South Australia . The Oval has a capacity of 10,000 people, with grandstand seating for up to 3,900. Norwood Oval was built in 1901 and began hosting events from that year but was officially opened in 1906 to host football matches. It is owned by Norwood, Payneham & St Peters Council but managed by

252-640: Is one of two sporting venues in Adelaide to carry the name of Coopers Stadium . The other is the soccer specific Hindmarsh Stadium which also has naming rights sponsorship from Coopers Brewery. On Saturday afternoon 27th April 1901, in the presence of about 900 people, the Norwood Oval was declared open. There was a representative gathering at the opening, including Sir Edwin Smith and Lady Smith, Messrs. P. W. Conybeer and J. Darling, jun. , member for

288-733: The Norwood Football Club . Though mainly used for Australian rules football , the oval has been used for a variety of other sporting and community events including baseball , soccer , rugby league and American football . It is the home ground for the Norwood Football Club ("The Redlegs") in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and the primary home ground of the Adelaide Crows in AFL Women's (AFLW). The oval

324-575: The Thebarton Oval (the former home ground of West Torrens ) after the oval's six original light towers were replaced with four modern ones by the ground's major tenant, the South Australian Amateur Football League . The light towers were upgraded at Norwood Oval in 2010. The six light towers that had been in place since the 1950s were replaced with four light towers of television standard positioned at

360-524: The "corners" of the oval. The Adelaide Crows women's team played one game at the venue in the AFLW's inaugural 2017 season; the other two games held in Adelaide were played at Thebarton Oval. All three home games held in Adelaide during the 2018 and 2019 seasons were played at Norwood Oval. No AFLW games were held at Norwood Oval in 2020 due to redevelopment works at the ground but the Crows returned to playing

396-664: The AFC Night Series. Although the NFL itself continued to exist as an administrative body into the early 1990s, the power gained by the VFL as a result of its Night Series take over was one of the first significant steps in its spread interstate and ultimately its take-over (as the Australian Football League) of administrative control of all football in Australia. In 1980 and 1981, the first years after

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432-400: The NFL Night Series had ended, the AFC Night Series competition was at its largest, with all VFL, WAFL and SANFL clubs plus the four minor states teams (selected under residential qualification rather than state of origin qualification) competing for a total of 34 teams. The size of the competition was reduced from 1982, and thereafter only the top two or three teams from the SANFL and WAFL and

468-515: The NFL and VFL series, but all SANFL and WAFL clubs and the minor states teams remained in the NFL Night Series. In 1979, the WAFL clubs and the New South Wales and A.C.T. representative teams defected from the NFL Night Series and joined the new AFC Night Series, leaving the NFL Night Series mostly composed of SANFL teams. The NFL Night Series was not revived in 1980, and the SANFL clubs joined

504-607: The VFL, SANFL and WAFL, as well as state representative teams from other states. In November 1976, the VFL announced that it was withdrawing from the NFL's competition, having secretly arranged more substantial television and sponsorship deals for its own Night Series for 1977 to be based in Melbourne and feature only the VFL clubs. Light towers were erected at VFL Park specifically for the event. The VFL successfully ran their own rival Night Series in 1977-78 and in July 1978 announced

540-439: The VFL, SANFL and WANFL invited based on their finishing positions from the previous year. The event was mostly played on Tuesday nights, with night games at Norwood Oval in Adelaide, and all games were televised live in colour on Channel 9 , which opened up unprecedented revenue streams from television rights and sponsorship opportunities for the sport. The NFL began plans to expand its Night Series to incorporate more teams from

576-470: The WAFL clubs defected to the VFL's Night Series, which was now being operated by a VFL-established company called Australian Football Championships; the NFL Night Series was now contested by just the ten SANFL clubs, two VFA clubs and two Queensland Australian Football League clubs, and had lost much of its importance. In 1980, the SANFL clubs joined the VFL Night Series, and the NFL Night Series

612-472: The best players from interstate, dominated the competition. During the history of the competition, no non-VFL club ever reached the Grand Final. The best performance by a non-VFL club was reaching the semi-finals, achieved three times: East Perth 1979, Claremont 1980 and North Adelaide 1986. Hawthorn, the VFL's dominant club in the day premiership from the mid-1970s until the early 1990s, and Essendon were

648-532: The collapse of the ABL after 1999 and the short lived International Baseball League of Australia (IBLA) which ran from 1999-2000 until the 2002 the Claxton Shield was revived in 2003 with South Australia playing their games at the Thebarton Oval before moving back to Norwood Oval in 2009. In August 2010 it was announced that there would be a new Australian Baseball League and that Norwood Oval would be

684-438: The competition later. Occasionally there were teams who advanced as "lucky losers" to keep the numbers even. Other than some of the early qualification round matches, games were played under floodlights at VFL Park on Tuesday nights, and were broadcast on television in colour. The season generally began in early March (about a month before the day premiership began) and finished in July. The Victorian teams, which often recruited

720-464: The distinction of hosting the first SANFL elimination final when home-team Norwood defeated rivals Port Adelaide by six goals. The first semi final was also held at Norwood in 1973 when reigning premiers (and 1972 Champions of Australia North Adelaide ), led by three-time Magarey Medallist Barrie Robran , defeated Norwood in a close match, bringing an end to the Redlegs 1973 season. Norwood Oval

756-440: The district, the mayor, aldermen, and councillors, and other leading residents. Mr. A. W. Piper, chairman of the committee, asked Lady Smith to declare the recreation ground open for public use. Use of Norwood Oval for football dates back to 1901, the year of its official opening. The first game being Norwood against the newly formed Sturt Football Club on 4 May 1901. A match between Norwood and Port Adelaide in 1906 attracted

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792-479: The establishment of a proprietary limited company named Australian Football Championships Pty Ltd to run the 1979 Night Series, and offered shareholdings to the other state leagues in an attempt to lure other states into the competition. For the three years from 1977 until 1979, the NFL and VFL/AFC competitions were run separately as rival Night Series. In 1978, the Tasmanian representative team competed in both

828-599: The league, with a team from Major League Baseball . In a massive coup the Giants managed to get themselves affiliated with the 1988 World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers with the team receiving 3-4 'import players' a season from the Dodgers Minor League system to complement their array of 'local' talent. During the ABL the Giants never made the ABL's championship series. Following

864-581: The majority of their games at Norwood Oval in 2021. The oval hosted two senior Australian Football League matches as part of Gather Round in each of 2023 and 2024 . Norwood has also hosted Baseball since 1951 with the South Australian Baseball team being tenants until 1988. Between 1951 and 1988 Norwood Oval hosted the Claxton Shield competition on six occasions ( 1951 , 1956 , 1961 , 1966 , 1971, 1976 and 1981) with

900-549: The minor states (Tasmania, New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory). The 1978 tournament, now known as the Escort Cup, was similar but slightly smaller, played as a sixteen-team knock-out tournament featuring five SANFL clubs, four WAFL clubs, three VFA clubs, and the four minor state teams. In 1979, in what would turn out to be the final NFL Night Series, the minor states and

936-543: The minor states, and matches were played primarily on weekday nights concurrently with the respective leagues' premiership seasons. In 1976, the National Football League , which was the national administrative body for Australian rules football at the time, established the NFL Night Series . Played concurrently with the premiership season, the Night Series was contested among twelve clubs from

972-501: The most successful clubs in this competition, winning four of the eight AFC night premierships contested (NOTE - Hawthorn also won the 1976 NFL Night Series and 1977 VFL Night Series held prior to the AFC series). Norwood Oval Adelaide Crows ( AFLW ) (2017–2019, 2021–present ) Norwood Oval (currently known as Coopers Stadium due to sponsorship from the Adelaide-based Coopers Brewery )

1008-410: The oval. This allowed Norwood to host not only night football matches but also night baseball. Regular night SANFL night series matches were played at the oval until 1984 when all night games were transferred to the SANFL's own Football Park when construction of light towers at that ground was completed. In 1973, the SANFL introduced a five-team finals series for the first time and Norwood Oval holds

1044-626: The premiers of the Victorian Football League , South Australian National Football League , West Australian Football League and Tasmanian State Premiership . In 1976, the National Football League extended this concept significantly by establishing the Night Series. The Night Series was an extended competition which ran concurrently with the premiership season, featuring multiple teams from each state, who initially qualified based on their finishing positions in

1080-478: The previous year. Most of the matches were played on weekday nights and broadcast live to a national television audience, which was a new sponsorship opportunity which the sport had never previously enjoyed. Although the competition did not bear many structural similarities to the Championship of Australia series, it is often seen as its natural successor; and, the post-season Championship of Australia tournament

1116-552: The success of the 1976 competition, particularly for television numbers, VFL withdrew its teams from the NFL's night series, and established its own rival night series based at VFL Park in Melbourne. This caused a rift between the VFL and the other states. The NFL continued its night series, now known as the Ardath Cup and played as a knock-out tournament, featuring eight SANFL clubs, six WAFL clubs, four Victorian Football Association clubs and four state representative teams from

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1152-434: The winner of the minor states' annual carnival were invited. The series was not without its controversy, as clubs prioritised the day premiership above the night premiership. Swan Districts received a two-year ban from Night Series competition in 1982 after sending a team of colts and reserves players instead of his senior line-up to avoid disrupting his premiership season preparations; the young squad lost to Richmond by

1188-501: The winners being NSW (1951), Victoria (1956 and 1981) and SA (1961, `66, `71 and `76). The original Australian Baseball League (ABL) started in 1989 with Adelaide represented by the Adelaide Giants . The ABL ran from 1989 until it folded in 1999 with the Giants playing all of their home games at Norwood Oval with most being under lights. During their time in the ABL the Giants were affiliated, as were every other team in

1224-763: Was also the scene of Norwood's triumph over East Perth in the 1977 National Football League grand final. Night football returned to Norwood Oval during the early 2000s and Friday-night games at the oval (mostly featuring the Redlegs, although in 2013 Sturt also used the venue for night games after previously using the Adelaide Oval) have been a regular feature of the SANFL ever since. With the popularity of Friday-night matches, other clubs installed lights at their grounds including Elizabeth Oval ( Central District ), Richmond Oval ( West Adelaide ), Hickinbotham Oval ( South Adelaide ) and Glenelg Oval ( Glenelg ). Woodville-West Torrens also played selected night games at

1260-674: Was discontinued in the same year. In 1976, the Night Series was known as the NFL Wills Cup. There were a total of 12 clubs: five from the VFL, four from the SANFL and three from the West Australian National Football League , with qualification based on performance in the 1975 season. They were divided into four groups of three and the winners of each group met in the semi-finals. Most games were played in Adelaide, and some were played in Perth. After

1296-493: Was discontinued. Australian Football Championships Night Series The Australian Football Championships (AFC) night series , known during its history by a variety of sponsored names, was an Australian rules football tournament held annually between 1979 and 1986. The competition was a knock-out competition featuring clubs from the Victorian Football League , South Australian National Football League , West Australian Football League and state representative teams from

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