History Centre
Established in 1877 as the South Australian Football Association, SANFL is the oldest State League competition in Australia, one week older than the Victorian Football Association. Renamed the South Australian Football League in 1907, the N was added in 1927 to reflect the national game of Australian Football.
Much has captivated the South Australian football audience since those formative years, with countless memorable moments and heroic deeds a feature at Adelaide Oval, Football Park and the suburban terraces across metropolitan Adelaide.
The SANFL History Centre has become a national treasure trove of footy memorabilia.
The centre, located at Bowden in Adelaide’s inner west, is home to thousands of South Australian football items, from photos, scrapbooks and classic grand final videos to trophies, blazers, guernseys, footballs and much more.
The centre is run by a dedicated team of volunteers with a passion for ensuring SANFL memorabilia is nurtured for generations to come.
In 2017, the State Library of South Australia played host to the first ever exhibition in the League’s history, In a League of its Own – 140 years of SANFL. A showcase of never-seen-before memorabilia, the exhibition attracted some 70,000 visitors, making it one of the most highly attended exhibitions in the history of the State Library.
Please note that the SANFL History Centre is a processing centre for South Australian football memorabilia, and is not open to the general public. However, if you have memorabilia that you would like us to keep for posterity, please contact history@sanfl.frmdv.com
Norwood 1888 team which won the championship of Australia after defeating South Melbourne in three matches at the end of the season.
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