Glenelg looking to emulate success of 1934 premiership heroes who shocked Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval to win club’s first flag
Port Adelaide has won five of its six grand finals against Glenelg but all at Football Park. The Magpies’ sole loss was at Adelaide Oval in 1934 in a shock result that still seems hard to believe.
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For all its grand final misery against Port Adelaide, Glenelg has one edge in premiership battles with its arch rival — it has never lost to the Magpies in a flag decider at Adelaide Oval.
Sunday’s game at the ground will be the seventh grand final meeting between the clubs and Port holds a 5-1 overall record.
But all five of its victories — 1977, 1981, 1988, 1990 and 1992 — were at Football Park, while the Tigers’ sole success came at Adelaide Oval in 1934.
Eighty-five years ago, Glenelg shocked SA football when it recorded an 18.15 (123) to 16.18 (114) triumph over the Magpies to claim the club’s first premiership.
The result was a surprise not merely due to the Tigers’ lack of success to that point, but because they had been a laughing stock for years after entering the competition.
Glenelg was bottom and winless in each of its first four seasons (1921-24), losing its opening 56 games.
From 1925-32, the Tigers boasted a 33-83 record, finishing no higher than third-bottom along the way.
Signs of a turnaround emerged in 1933 — a year before the premiership — when Glenelg finally ended a campaign with more wins (nine) than losses (eight).
But the 1934 season that culminated with a flag started horribly.
The Tigers lost their first three games, drew their fourth and sustained another defeat in the fifth.
Glenelg’s breakthrough win in round six kickstarted its campaign and it charged into second spot and first finals series.
Just like this month, Port beat Glenelg in the second semi-final and the Tigers rebounded with a preliminary final victory.
The premiership decider was, by all reports, a fierce battle.
That year’s Magarey medallist, ruckman George “Blue Johnston”, centre half-forward Archie Goldsworthy, full-forward Jack Owens, centreman Len Sallis and 1940 Magarey winner Mel Brock were among the stars for Glenelg, while SA footy legend Bob Quinn, wingman Jack Dermody, key forward Albie Hollingworth and half-back flanker Basil Bampton led the way for Port.
The Tigers led by 18 points at quarter-time, 19 at the main break and 17 at three-quarter time, only for the Magpies to close to within a goal after a Quinn major in the last term.
Glenelg held firm, keeping the ball inside its forward half and adding three more behinds.
At the time, the Glenelg Guardian newspaper called the result “the most popular win ever witnessed on Adelaide Oval”.
“The cheering of the Port Adelaide supporters being almost as loud as that from the most rabid Tiger supporters,” said the article, referenced in the book Pride of the Bay: The Story of Glenelg Football Club.
Unfortunately for the Bays, the drought-breaking success did not spark more good times — quite the opposite.
Glenelg was back to the bottom in 1935 with a 1-16 record despite having a similar squad.
It was also wooden spooners for four consecutive years from 1937-40, while Port went on to win flags in 1936-37 and 1939, then had the Tigers’ measure in grand finals ever since.
But Glenelg still holds that record at Adelaide Oval and will be hoping to replicate the Bay heroes of 1934 on Sunday.