# Port Adelaide and District Football Association

The Port Adelaide and District Football Association (PADFA) was an Australian rules football competition based in the western and north-western suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia until it folded in 1952.
It was first formed in 1921 as the Port Adelaide and Suburban Football Association under the auspices of the Port Adelaide Y.M.C.A., initially as a church based competition.
Following World War I, the association reformed, between 1921 and 1923 was known as the Port Adelaide and Suburban Church Football Association, and in 1924 was renamed the Port Adelaide and District Football Association.

## Controversy

* The competition made the news in 1915 when late during the Grand Final, an Ethelton player kicked his Port Catholic opponent after he was beaten to the ball. Multiple fights broke out on the field as a result. Ethelton, who held a small margin at the time, lost the lead, and as a result, the match. When the siren sounded, several hundred spectators stormed the ground fighting. A number of people were injured. Ethelton went on to win the Challenge Final for the Premiership the following week.
* The association came into potential legal trouble in 1923 when a group of footballers calling themselves the "Rosewater Catholics" nominated a team in the place of the existing club of that name. The existing Rosewater Catholic club that participated in the previous season were instructed to adopt a new name to avoid confusion. Father Gearon, the Parish Priest of Rosewater, was given special permission to state his case for his team and not the new team. It is not known which team eventually participated as Rosewater Catholic.

## Member Clubs

| Club | Years Participating | Notes |
| Abattoirs | 1915 | |
| Albert Park | 1910–15, 1920–32 | |
| Alberton Baptist | 1911–12, 1920–22 | |
| Alberton Church United | 1915, 1924–30 | |
| Alberton Juniors | 1915 | |
| Alberton Methodist | 1911–13, 1920 | |
| Birkenhead | 1915, 1933 | |
| Birkenhead Junior | 1929–41 | |
| Birkenhead Sports | 1947–51 | |
| Brighton | 1936 | |
| Camden | 1936 | |
| Central Junior | 1911 | |
| Eastwood | -1952 | |
| Ethelton | 1913–15, 1920–51 | |
| Exeter | 1931, 1949 | Semaphore Central Juniors (1931) |
| Glanville Methodist | 1920 | |
| Kilkenny Terminus | 1933 | |
| Kilkenny United | 1927–1933 | |
| Largs Bay | 1932–33 | |
| Naval Cadets | 1915 | |
| Ottoway | 1933–35 | |
| Peterhead | 1933 | |
| Peterhead Mission | 1920 | |
| Port Adelaide Methodist | 1912–13 | |
| Port Catholic | 1914–15 | |
| Port Adelaide Church United | 1920–23 | |
| Port Adelaide Congregational | 1911–13 | Port Congregationalist (1911) |
| Port Junior | 1912 | |
| Queenstown | 1912–15 | Queenstown Church of Christ (1912) |
| Riverside | 1933–48 | |
| Rosatala | 1922–1933 | Rosatala Church United (1922–31) |
| Rosewater | 1920–48 | |
| Rosewater Catholic | 1922–23 | |
| Semaphore Baptist | 1911 | |
| Semaphore Central B | 1949 | |
| Semaphore Park | 1934–50 | |
| Semaphore Church United | 1920–23 | |
| St. George | 1913 | |
| Woodville | 1938–39 | |
| Woodville Catholic | 1922–24 | |

## Premierships
### A-Grade

* 1911 - Albert Park
* 1912
* 1913 - Ethelton
* 1914 - Port Catholic
* 1915 - Ethelton
* 1916–19 - in recess (World War I)
* 1920 - Rosewater
* 1921 - Rosewater
* 1922 - Rosewater
* 1923 - Port Adelaide Church United
* 1924 - Ethelton
* 1925 - Alberton Church United
* 1926 - Albert Park
* 1927 - Albert Park
* 1928 - Rosatala Church United
* 1929 - Rosewater
* 1930 - Semaphore
* 1931 - Rosatala
* 1932 - Kilkenny United
* 1933 - Riverside
* 1934 - Riverside
* 1935 - Riverside
* 1936 - Riverside
* 1937 - Riverside
* 1938 - Birkenhead Sports
* 1939
* 1940
* 1941
* 1942–46 - in recess (World War II)
* 1947
* 1948 - Rosewater
* 1949 - Semaphore Park
* 1950 - Semaphore Park
* 1951

## Medallists

* President's Medal
** 1923 - L. Graves (Rosatala Church United)
** 1925 - H. Penn (Rosewater)
** 1926 - K. T. Williams (Alberton Methodist)
** 1928 - T. Waye (Rosatala Church United)
* S. Hosking Medal
** 1929 - J. Howe (Semaphore Central B)
* President's Medal
** 1930 - V. Williams (Queenstown)
* A.J. Swain Trophy
** 1951 - H. Dennis (Ethelton)

## Leading Goalkickers

* 1923 - J. Wallace (Semaphore Church United)
* 1925 - J. Simon (Rosatala Church United) - 40
* 1950 - C. Berry (Birkenhead) -
* 1951 - C. Berry (Birkenhead) - 69