After 293 days on the bench, Showdown 48 brings crowds back to Adelaide Oval – get your poster now!
It’s been a painfully long wait but the drought finally broke for Adelaide footy fans last night when the gates to the Adelaide Oval opened for Showdown 48. DOWNLOAD YOUR POSTER
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After 293 long days, elated football fans returned to the Adelaide Oval tonight to watch the historic Showdown 48 in a new “coronavirus safe” environment.
In an AFL first, a selected crowd of 2240 happily braved the cold to watch the fierce battle between Port Adelaide and the Crows, after the State Government eased COVID-19 restrictions.
Across the state, hundreds of supporters cheered from pubs and clubs, while adhering to social distancing rules.
With authorities, led by chief public health officer, Professor Nicola Spurrier, observing alongside oval bosses and other sporting codes’ leaders how the ground coped, spectators described a “surreal” but friendly atmosphere.
There were no problems queuing, especially to the spotless toilets, and while the crowd was a tiny fraction of a normal Showdown, it didn’t stop the noise levels.
But fans, the majority of whom were Port cheering the home team, were “overjoyed” their golden ticket allowed them to witness history.
At any typical game, the Hill and the prized spot underneath the historic scoreboard would be standing room only, filled with boisterous fans shoulder to shoulder talking tactics and ins-and-outs; laughing, commiserating.
But not tonight. The entire area was roped off.
Strangely silent.
The Fos Williams stand, empty. Rows and rows of seats at ground level – usually so close to the action you can smell the players’ sweat – bare.
Instead, the middle tiers of the Western, Eastern and Southern stands were dotted with fans, ordered and spaced apart.
Self-confessed diehard Port fan, Barossa Valley wine salesman Digby Francis, 53, travelled 81km from Nuriootpa along with cardboard cutouts of his children and grandchildren to sit with him in the Western stand.
“I am usually a pretty quiet sort of bloke but I let out a whoop when I found out I got a ticket,” he said. “It is pretty special to be here.”
The rugged up fans seated in the Riverbank Stand looked like carefully placed chess pieces. Crows fan, postie Andrew Stephens, 46, of Seaton, took his 12 year-old son Harvey, said the pair – among 475 Adelaide supporters – felt like they were a “part of history”.
“We feel very, very lucky,” he said. “Now the footy is back, we have realised how much we have missed it.”
His son added: “I will be shouting a lot, it will be fun.”
Behind the southern goals, there was a “Never Tear Us Apart” banner, flanked by another two depicting the prison bars and the Power guernsey.
A Crows banner was at the other end. As the Crows ran onto the ground for their pre-game warm up – wearing black tops in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement – the boos rang loudly and bounced off the largely empty Max Basheer eastern stand.
Then came the cheers as Port Adelaide – the players wearing their historic prison bars – ran onto the ground. As game time approached, the 1475 Power fans rose to their feet clapping in unison.
The two sides came together – united on the field – taking a knee around the centre circle, in solidarity against racism.
At this, Crows or Port, it mattered not, applause erupted. Then came Port's the Never Tear Us Apart anthem. Sure, the stadium was far emptier than normal but the Power fans who were there, held aloft their outstretched scarfs and belted out the beloved INXS song, that has meant so much to the club, not just in season’s part but especially during the uncertain days of COVID-19.
The first bounce went down. And it was on.
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At Lucindale, the southeast town’s hotel was primed to watch hometown boy Darcy Fogarty. “The community has been waiting in anticipation like everyone for footy to crank up again,” said manager James McKay. At Ceduna, birthplace of Port’s Scott Lycett, the beer flowed.
“There are a few diehard Port fans in here,” said Kade Halbert at the Thevenard Hotel. In Whyalla, base of Port sponsor GFG Alliance, the Eyre Hotel was booked out, said manager Carl Church. “Unfortunately we’ve got a lot of Port supporters in – being a Crows fan it’s going to cost me quite a few beers if my boys don’t get up,” he said.
Australia’s first major professional sports match in front of a crowd is being used as a test case to decide future spectator numbers at the 53,000-capacity venue. Oval bosses hope an “exemplary” event will allow more fans. Prof Spurrier said she was impressed by her early observations.
“This a really good opportunity for all of us in SA to learn how to have a large event in a COVID-safe way,” she said. “I think the crowds, the people that are coming are doing a great job and the Adelaide Oval management have done an excellent job as well.”
With Emily Dawe