Ross Oakley says Port Adelaide’s bid to join the AFL in 1991 made the Adelaide Crows
Ross Oakley, the former AFL CEO from 1986-1996, says Port Adelaide’s bid 30 years ago to join the AFL ultimately created the Adelaide Crows. DIVIDED PODCAST: LISTEN TO EPISODE 1
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Former AFL boss Ross Oakley says Port Adelaide’s bold move to enter the AFL 30 years ago forced the hand of the SANFL and ultimately created the Adelaide Crows.
Oakley, who was AFL chief executive from 1986-1996, said the league was going to do whatever it took to get the national competition into South Australia in 1991.
“We (AFL) felt it was time we had a club from South Australia in the competition and we were moving to make sure that happened for the following (1991) season,” Oakley told The Advertiser’s DIVIDED podcast series.
STREAM EPISODE ONE HERE:
Oakley knew once Port Adelaide or any SANFL club got involved with the AFL, the SANFL would take action.
“We knew they would rise up, why wouldn’t they, they controlled football in South Australia,” he said.
Port Adelaide’s bid to join the AFL was labelled ‘treason’ by most pundits, but Oakley said a majority of SANFL clubs were involved in discussions with the AFL during 1990.
“The South Australian National Football League were still not ready, they hadn’t been convinced, so we started to talk to clubs,” Oakley said.
“We made it known (to SANFL clubs) quietly that we were looking at this arrangement (for a South Australian presence in the AFL).
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“Alan Schwab (former AFL operations manager) went over and talked to a couple of clubs.
“A couple of other guys also got in the mix, John Adams (former West Coast Eagles official) and Ian Collins (former Carlton president) and they were talking to a club or two.”
Adams and Collins had reportedly approached Norwood with a pre-typed letter to show their intent to join the national arena, but the Redlegs never signed it.
The main reason behind the SANFL refusing for years during the 1980s to join the VFL/AFL was a $4 million license fee the league had put on a team to join the competition.
West Coast and Brisbane had paid this figure for their place on the national stage in 1987, but the SANFL refused to pay.
“We charged $4 million to the other clubs and in today’s terms it was a bit questionable. There weren’t too many clubs making a quid,” Oakley said.
“At that time the current AFL clubs all still had a director on the VFL board, and the entry and exit of clubs were made by that board.
“Those clubs were not going to let anyone in unless they paid a fee and they got a share of it, simple as that.”
Oakley said the only thing holding the Port Adelaide bid back was the SANFL.
“The (Port Adelaide) deal was basically done and that’s when the SANFL took legal action, that’s what happened and they got a result (the Adelaide Crows) out of it.”
The AFL’s initial license fee offer to Port Adelaide was for $1 million, which Oakley said was what the league had to do to get interest from a South Australian entry.
“The Port Adelaide situation (license fee) was we have to get this done,” he said.
The SANFL wanted to enter the national competition in 1993, when they thought the time was right for South Australia to have an AFL presence.
“We felt it was time that we had a club from South Australia in the competition and we were moving to make sure that happened for the following (1991) season,” Oakley said.
Oakley said he was impressed with Bruce Weber and the Port Adelaide president’s vision for the future of South Australian football.
“He (Weber) could see this as the one opportunity that Port could really shoot to prominence,” Oakley said.
“He felt it was time that a club came in from Adelaide and he wanted it to be Port Adelaide.”