Adelaide has launched stage one of its new official website.

As one of the first AFL clubs to go ‘live’ with the completely rebuilt site, we look forward to maximising the potential of the versatile new format to provide our supporters with the best online coverage of the Crows.

The fans have been the priority through the research and development phases and the new afc.com.au responds to this input, with bigger photos and new photo galleries, bigger and better video players, more statistics and easier access to football related content.

The focus of the home page is the large image cycler, which will be used to promote key content. News and feature articles, video and photos will also be prominent on a page that has the flexibility to change according to the football cycle of team selection, match day, post-game, breaking news and special events.

The simplified top level navigation leads to drop down menus showing all the pages in that section.

Rather than “cut and paste” all the content from the old site to the new, we aim to add new features and sections as we approach the 2013 season. This will include a new history area.

A much stronger focus on football news and features, plus video, was a key driver to the huge 45% growth of Unique Visitors to our website in 2012, while the introduction of the free club app also improved mobile access.

This is a rapidly changing area but the Adelaide Football Club is keen to engage as many supporters as possible – wherever they are in the world – though a range of digital platforms.

We expect there to be some early teething issues during the switch from the old website system but please be patient as the AFL network works through any bugs or problems.