1877 SAFA season

The 1877 South Australian Football Association season was the inaugural season of the South Australian Football Association, the top-level league of Australian rules football in South Australia.
The clubs participating were [Old Old Adelaide Football Club|Adelaide Football Club|Adelaide], Bankers, Kensington, Port Adelaide, South Adelaide, South Park, Victorian, Woodville.
and Victorian would share the premiership honours as there was no grand final playoff, while the Bankers Football Club, who finished last without a win and forfeited a number of games, folded before the end of the season.
Top Goalkickers for the season were:
John Young - 14 goals
William (Billy) Dedman - 10 goals

South Australian Football Association

The newly formed South Australian Football Association decided that the playing fields for the season must be between 180 and 200 yards long and 120-150 yards wide, with pushing from behind being prohibited. For clubs to gain membership of the association, they would need to pay two guineas for the year.
At a meeting on 14 May 1877 held at the Prince Alfred Hotel, the list of fixtures for the season was arranged by the match committee, and it was resolved that the Honorary Secretary advertise every Friday the matches for the following Saturday, and also that a tabulated card of the fixtures be printed for circulation.

Inaugural Senior Clubs

Club	Colours	Home Ground	Captain	Membership
Adelaide	black, red	Old Adelaide Ground (North Park Lands)	R.E.N.Twoppeny	50
Bankers	White Blue	Shared with Adelaide - Old Adelaide Ground	Mr Cotton	50
Kensington	Scarlet white	Kensington Oval	P.Wood	65
Port Adelaide	Magneta	Glanville Hall Estate	W. Fletcher	85
South Adelaide	Navy Blue White	South Terrace, Adelaide	G.D.Kennedy	85
South Park	Light Blue White	South Park Lands, Adelaide	J.H.Sinclair	56
Victorian	Orange Black	Montefiore Hill, North Adelaide	G.E.Downs	76
Woodville	Dark Blue	Woodville	J.R.Osborne

Premiership Season

Round 1

FOOTBALL. — ADELAIDES V. BANKERS will be played on the Old Adelaide Ground, near the Adelaide Bridge, Tomorrow, May 5. Play will commence at 2.30 sharp. Adelaides in colored, Bankers in white jerseys.
Teams for the first games played on 12 May were advertised on the day as follows:
Football matches will be played this afternoon between the Kensington and Port Adelaide clubs on the Kensington Oval, and Adelaide v. Bankers on the Adelaide ground, North Park Lands. A color match will also be played on the grounds of the South Park Club.
The names of the Adelaide Club players are Messrs. M. Acraman, F. A. Bleechmore, G. Butterworth, W. Cate, Canaway, W. E. Dalton, A.Fesenmeyer, H. and C. Hughes, Morgan, Poole, A. and D. C.Scott, R. N.Twopeny, Wyatt, and Jas, Jno., and E. B. Young.
The players in the match between the Port Adelaide and Kensington Clubs are:—
Port Adelaide — Messrs. E. Ede, W. Fletcher, J, S. Hawkes, W. Kelly, A. LeMessurier, J. A. Rann, H. Fletcher, J. Sidoli, A. Pickhaver, T. Wildrew, H. Dewar, T. Prideaux, F.Dewar, A. Dewar, F. A. Colman, T. Smith, D.Kettie, Et. LeMessurier, A. Wald, and Ed. LeMessurier, with W. Bennett, T. C. Neill, and W. Pyne, as emergency men.

Kensington — Messrs. E.Woods, J. Woods, H. Goode, W. Day, F. Day, A. Frew, T. Burton, F. G. Stanton, P. Wood, C.A. Patterson, W. Gwynne, H. Muirhead, T.Pope, H. Stanton, A. Harrison, B. Hall, A. M. Hargrave, and Moulden, with C. T. Hargrave,H. W. Hargrave, J. Thomas, and T. James, as emergency men.
12 May - South Park played an internal colour match on South Park Lands.

Round 9

Round 17

Round 19 (Postponed)

FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION MATCHES for SATURDAY, 22 September.

At Montefiore — Victorian v. South Adelaide.

At South Park— Port v. South Park

Football. — Two Association matches are announced for today one between the Port Adelaide and South Park Clubs on the ground of the latter, and the other between the Victorian and South Adelaide Clubs at Montefiore Hill. The latter match will decide the question of the championship of the season, and will, it is to be hoped, be largely attended, as a hat is to be passed round at half-time for the benefit of the sufferers by the Indian famine.
In consequence of the inclement weather on Saturday, 22 September, the football matches which were to have been played between the South Adelaide and Victorian Clubs and the Port Adelaide and South Park Clubs were postponed.

Round 19

Earlier in the season the teams played a scoreless drew at South's home ground. Victorians had only lost one game which was against Port Adelaide. South Adelaide was clearly the best club in the competition during the course of the season being undefeated, but an inexplicable and very costly lapse in form in the final game of the season, together with one devastating error by the goalkeeper in this vital final match, saw it lose to Victorian which gave the two clubs an equal record of only losing one game.

Summary of matches Metro vs Country

Thursday 24 May - Adelaide, 4 goals, beat Kapunda, 2 at Kapunda.

Thursday 24 May - Woodville, 1 goal, beat Gawler, 0.

Wednesday 21 June - Adelaide, 1 goal tied Gawler, 1. Crowd 450 at Gawler

Monday 6 August Adelaide, 3 goals, beat Kapunda, 2 at South Adelaide's Ground

Summary of other Matches

Monday 6 August South Australians, 3 goals, beat Victorians, 1. Played at Exhibition Ground.

Intercolonial Matches

Saturday 11 August Melbourne, 1 goal, beat Victorian, 0. Crowd: 2000 at Exhibition Grounds

Monday 13 August Melbourne, 5 goals, beat South Australian Combined Team, 0. Crowd: 1000 at Exhibition Grounds

The combined team comprised players selected from the following local Clubs:
Victorians, G. Downs, C. Warren, H.Barry, Knill, Kingsford, W. Lanjmey, H. Allen, and J. Sharp;
Ports, T. Smith, A. LeMessurier, Fletcher, W. Frideaux, and Tysack;
Woodvilles, T. Beeves, Letchford, G. Giffen, Aitken, and J. B. Osborne;
South Parks, J. M. Sinclair and Cresswell.
Saturday 18 August - St. Kilda, 5 goals, beat Adelaide, 2. Crowd 3500 at Adelaide Oval

Monday 20 August - St. Kilda. 7 goals, beat South Australians, 2.

Ladder

finished the season with eight more goals but a slightly inferior record than, but one should consider that played the Bankers twice whereas did not. Further, while Adelaide finished with one more win than the other two clubs, they played 17 games to 13 and 14 respectively.
It was declared and would be deemed joint Champion Club. which was also acknowledged by South Adelaide at their Annual Dinner on evening of Tuesday 2 October.

Note: Woodville were ranked above South Park on head-to-head record.
It was reported at the end of the season that Bankers had forfeited 6 out of their 15 games.