The 1879 South Australian Football Association season was the 3rd season of the top-level Australian rules football competition in South Australia.

1879 SAFA premiership season
Norwood premiership team
Teams7
PremiersNorwood
2nd premiership
Leading goalkickerWilliam Dedman
Norwood (7 Goals)
Matches played34
Highest3,000 (Round 11, Norwood vs. Port Adelaide)
← 1878
1880 →

The Norwood Football Club went on to record its 2nd consecutive premiership, going through the season undefeated. The Kensington Football Club received its second consecutive wooden spoon, failing to win a game, and extending its winless streak to 27. Several disputes between South Adelaide and the other clubs arose during the season.[1]

Pre season

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South Australians vs. Allcomers
Day, 10 May (3:30 pm) South Australians 0 drew with Allcomers 0 Adelaide Oval (crowd: 1,200) [2]

Premiership season

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Round 1

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Round 1
Saturday, 17 May (3:00 pm) Norwood 1 def. South Adelaide 0 East Park Lands (crowd: 2,000) [3]
Saturday, 17 May (3:00 pm) Kensington 3 def. by Adelaide 5 Kensington Oval [3]
Saturday, 17 May (3:00 pm) Port Adelaide 2 def. South Park 0 Adelaide Oval [4]
  • During the Norwood vs. South Adelaide game when A. Terrell kicked Norwood's second goal much disagreement and disorder ensued.

Round 2

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Round 2
Saturday, 24 May (3:00 pm) Norwood 1 def. Victorian 0 Adelaide Oval (crowd: 1,500) [5]

Round 3

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Round 3
Saturday, 31 May (3:30 pm) South Adelaide 1 drew with Port Adelaide 1 South Park Lands (crowd: 1,500) [6]
Saturday, 31 May (3:15 pm) Adelaide 0 drew with Victorian 0 Adelaide Oval (crowd: 550) [6]
Saturday, 31 May (3:00 pm) Kensington 0 def. by South Park 1 Kensington Oval [6]

Round 4

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Round 4
Saturday, 14 June (3:15 pm) Port Adelaide 1 def. by Norwood 3 Glanville Estate (crowd: 1,000) [7]
Saturday, 14 June (3:00 pm) Victorian 0 drew with South Park 0 Montefiore Hill (crowd: 500) [7]

Round 5

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Round 5
Saturday, 21 June (3:30 pm) Adelaide 1 drew with Port Adelaide 1 Adelaide Oval [8]
Saturday, 21 June (3:00 pm) Victorian 3 def. Kensington 0 Montefiore Hill [9]

Round 6

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Round 6
Saturday, 12 July (3:15 pm) South Park 1 drew with Adelaide 1 South Park Lands (crowd: 300) [10]

Round 7

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Round 7
Saturday, 26 July (3:30 pm) Kensington 0 def. by Norwood 7 Kensington Oval [11]
Saturday, 26 July South Park 1 drew with South Adelaide 0 South Park Lands [12]
Saturday, 26 July Port Adelaide 2 def. Adelaide 0 Glanville Estate [13]

Round 8

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Round 8
Saturday, 2 August (3:00 pm) Port Adelaide 2 def. South Park 0 Glanville Estate [14]
Saturday, 2 August (Time pm) Kensington 0 def. by Victorian 6 Kensington Oval [14]

Round 9

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Round 9
Saturday, 9 August (3:15 pm) Norwood 4.15 (4) def. Adelaide 0.1 (0) East Park Lands (crowd: 400) [15]
Saturday, 9 August Victorian 0.2 (2) def. by Port Adelaide 1.2 (1) Montefiore Hill (crowd: 750) [15]

Round 10

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Round 10
Saturday, 16 August (3:20 pm) Norwood 2.18 (2) drew with South Park 2.2 (2) East Park Lands [16]
Saturday, 16 August (3:30 pm) Victorian 1 def. Adelaide 0 Montefiore Hill (crowd: 300) [16]
Saturday, 16 August (3:40 pm) Kensington 0.6 (6) def. by South Adelaide 1.7 (1) Kensington Oval [17]

Round 11

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Round 11
Saturday, 23 August (3:15 pm) Norwood 1.7 (1) def. Port Adelaide 0 East Park Lands (crowd: 3,000) [18]
Saturday, 23 August (3:00 pm) South Adelaide 2 def. Victorian 0 South Park Lands [18]

Round 12

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Round 12
Saturday, 30 August (3:20 pm) Victorian 0.3 (3) def. by Norwood 3.4 (3) Montefiore Hill [19][20]
Saturday, 30 August (3:20 pm) Adelaide 0.4 (4) def. by South Park 4.8 (4) Adelaide Oval [21]
  • A game scheduled at Glanville Estate on Saturday, 30 August between Port Adelaide and South Adelaide was abandoned due to disagreement regarding the umpires selected.[21]

Round 13

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Round 13
Saturday, 6 September (3:15 pm) South Park 0.2 (2) def. by Victorian 1.4 (1) South Park Lands (crowd: 550) [22]
  • A game scheduled at Glanville Estate on Saturday, 6 September between Port Adelaide and Kensington was postponed due to illness amongst the Kensington players and the fact it was mail day.[23]

Round 14

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Round 14
Saturday, 13 September (3:00 pm) South Park 0.0 (0) def. by Norwood 3.13 (3) East Park Lands (crowd: 2,000) [24][25]
  • The rescheduled match between Port Adelaide and Kensington for Saturday, 13 September was forfeited in the priors favour due to the latter club unable to field a team.[24]

Round 15

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Round 15
Saturday, 20 September South Park 0.17 (0) def. Kensington 0.1 (0) South Park Lands [26]

Ladder

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1879 SAFA Ladder
TEAM P W L D GF GA Pts Adj Pts
1 Norwood 10 9 0 1 30 3 19 22.80
2 Port Adelaide 9 5 2 2 11 6 12 16.00
3 South Adelaide 7 4 2 1 6 4 9 15.42
4 Victorian 11 4 5 2 11 8 10 10.91
5 South Park 12 3 5 4 8 11 10 10.00
6 Adelaide 10 2 5 3 9 20 7 8.40
7 Kensington 9 0 8 1 4 27 1 1.33
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 [27]

Notes:

  • Following disputes between South Adelaide and other clubs, Adelaide (twice), Norwood, Port Adelaide, and Victorian (once each) all refused to play them: these five cancelled matches are not included in the above ladder.
  • Kensington only played Norwood once, with their only scheduled match against Port Adelaide being forfeited due to a lack of players.
  • Port Adelaide were ranked above South Adelaide on match ratio (only match was drawn), while Victorian were ranked above South Park (1-0-1) and South Park were ranked above Adelaide (1-0-1) on head-to-head record.

Intercolonial matches

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During 1879, a team representing the South Australian Football Association) toured Victoria, and played two intercolonial matches against an Association representative team; the first on a public holiday Tuesday, and the other on the following Saturday. The games were the first ever intercolonial matches between colony representative teams.

1879 Intercolonial Matches
Tuesday, 1 July Victoria 7 def. South Australia 0 East Melbourne Cricket Ground (crowd: 10,000) [28]
Saturday, 5 July Victoria 4 def. South Australia 1 East Melbourne Cricket Ground (crowd: 6,000) [29]

References

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  1. ^ 18 Oct 1879 - football. - Trove
  2. ^ "FOOTBALL". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 12 May 1879. p. 6. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  3. ^ a b "football". South Australian Chronicle and Weekly Mail. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 24 May 1879. p. 18. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  4. ^ "football". South Australian Chronicle and Weekly Mail. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 24 May 1879. p. 18. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  5. ^ "FOOTBALL". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 26 May 1879. p. 7. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  6. ^ a b c "FOOTBALL". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 2 June 1879. p. 6. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  7. ^ a b "FOOTBALL". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 16 June 1879. p. 4 Supplement: Supplement to the South Australian Register. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  8. ^ "FOOTBALL". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 24 June 1879. p. 7. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  9. ^ "FOOTBALL". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 24 June 1879. p. 7. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  10. ^ "FOOTBALL". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 15 July 1879. p. 7. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  11. ^ "FOOTBALL". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 28 July 1879. p. 7. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  12. ^ "FOOTBALL". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 28 July 1879. p. 6. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  13. ^ "FOOTBALL". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 29 July 1879. p. 6. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  14. ^ a b "FOOTBALL". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 4 August 1879. p. 7. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  15. ^ a b "FOOTBALL". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 11 August 1879. p. 7. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  16. ^ a b "FOOTBALL". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 18 August 1879. p. 6. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  17. ^ "FOOTBALL". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 26 August 1879. p. 6. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  18. ^ a b "FOOTBALL". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 25 August 1879. p. 6. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  19. ^ "FOOTBALL". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 1 September 1879. p. 6. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  20. ^ "FOOTBALL". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 3 September 1879. p. 7. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  21. ^ a b "FOOTBALL". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 1 September 1879. p. 7. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  22. ^ "FOOTBALL". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 8 September 1879. p. 7. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  23. ^ "FOOTBALL". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 8 September 1879. p. 6. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  24. ^ a b "FOOTBALL". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 15 September 1879. p. 6. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  25. ^ "FOOTBALL". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 15 September 1879. p. 6. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  26. ^ "FOOTBALL". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 22 September 1879. p. 6. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  27. ^ "Football: Review of the Season 1879". Adelaide Observer. National Library of Australia. 18 October 1879. p. 10. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  28. ^ "Intercolonial Football Match". The Argus. Melbourne. 2 July 1879. p. 5.
  29. ^ "Intercolonial Football Match". The Argus. Melbourne. 7 July 1879. p. 6.