Showdown (AFL)

Showdown

In focus players Andrew McLeod (left) and Kane Cornes (right) about to engage in a marking contest.
Locale	Adelaide, South Australia
First meeting	20 April 1997 (Adelaide 72-83 Port Adelaide)
Latest meeting	20 August 2016 (Port Adelaide 94-109 Adelaide)
Next meeting	8 April 2017
Stadiums	Adelaide Oval
Statistics
Meetings total	41
All-time series	Port Adelaide (21 wins) Adelaide (20 wins)

The Showdown is an Australian rules football local derby game played by the two Australian Football League teams from South Australia, the Adelaide and Port Adelaide football clubs.

The South Australian Brewing Company, makers of West End beers, were the first sponsors of the game and decided that the "Showdown" would be an appropriate name as a promotional opportunity for games between these two clubs, since it was the first time two South Australian teams had played against each other in the AFL.

Pre-season and SANFL meetings between these two clubs do not count to the head-to-head total.

The Showdown's intense rivalry can be traced back to 1982 when the SANFL, along with Port Adelaide, approached the VFL in regards to entering two sides, itself and longtime major rival Norwood, in the Victorian league. This action was also taken by WAFL club East Perth in 1980. All approaches were ignored by the VFL at the time with the reason given by Jack Hamilton being that the VFL clubs thought that one or two SANFL teams would end up being too strong later admitting that they also wanted to continue to poach the states best players, which would soon include Craig Bradley and Stephen Kernahan. The Port Adelaide Football Club's annual report from late 1982 showed that the failure of these attempts significantly impacted the club's understanding of its future. From this point Port Adelaide restructured the club in regards to economics, public relations and on-field performance for an attempt to enter the league in 1990. There was genuine feeling that failure to do this would result in the club ceasing to exist in the future. In 1985 Port Adelaide registered itself as a national football club. The following year the SANFL registered the name "Adelaide Football Club" in 1986 but ended up deciding against entering a team into the VFL. In 1986 Norwood Football Club made an independent approach to the VFL with entry into the league discussed in great detail but ultimately failed to materialise. By 1989 seven out of ten SANFL clubs were recording losses and the combined income of the SANFL and WAFL had dropped to 40% of that of the VFL.