Port Adelaide’s 150 Greatest Players in club’s 150 years

In Port Adelaide’s 150th year, we’ve unveiled the full list of the club’s Greatest 150 Players. See it here – from nearly forgotten heroes of the 1800s to modern-day Power superstars.

• Greatest school footy teams: Le Fevre, Woodville High
• How to get the most out of your Advertiser digital subscription

Who have been Port Adelaide’s greatest footballers since the club’s formation in 1870?

Port fans, players, opponents, antagonists and critics will have debated this question countless times on the terraces, in grandstands, at dinner tables, work or school and on talkback radio over the past 150 years.

Now, with the club’s support, The Advertiser has spent the past few months trying to answer the question by selecting the cream of the crop.

A panel, featuring club greats Warren Tredrea, Brian Cunningham, Tim Ginever, Bob Philp, historian Mark Shephard, media manager Daniel Norton and Advertiser reporter Matt Turner, have delved through archives, statistics, articles and their own memories and experiences to choose Port’s Greatest 150 Players.

The list was divided into three instalments – you can toggle between the eras 1870-1950, 1950-1980 and 1980-2020 in the interactive below.

Many names on the list will be familiar to Port fans and some will be obvious because they are not only champions of the club but of SA football.

But unheralded players who made a mark in Port’s formative years in the late 1800s also made the cut, as well as plenty from the start of the 20th century when the club was trying to cement its standing in a growing competition.

There has also been vigorous debate about how many Power players should be included.

In all, there have been 1555 footballers line up in a SANFL league or AFL match for Port, so fewer than 10 per cent have made this list.

Whittling it down proved incredibly difficult and many great players were squeezed out.

Players were judged on their contributions to Port, not what they did at other clubs or as coaches or administrators.

It is worth noting that Tredrea, Cunningham, Ginever and Philp have left the room – or in recent weeks the virtual meeting – when their names have been discussed.

Port’s Greatest 150 Players is an unranked list.

However, we are ranking the 50 here:

Top 50-41 | Top 40-31

Let the debate continue.

Originally published as Port Adelaide’s 150 Greatest Players in club’s 150 years