Phil Harper has been Adelaide’s Head of Women’s Football since the inaugural season, helping build the team list in 2016, watching the side develop in its first season in 2017 and now through 10 seasons and 100 games.

Here, Harper pinpoints 10 moments that are among his favourites over those years, seasons and games.

1. 2019 AFLW Grand Final - March 31, 2019, v Carlton, Adelaide Oval 

This was an historic day not just for Australian football, but for women’s sport in general. A huge crowd of 53,034 – a record for a standalone women’s sporting event at the time – watched us beat Carlton by 45 points. That margin remains the biggest grand final winning margin in AFLW history. Erin Phillips won her second grand final best on ground medal; she remains the only player in AFLW history to claim two.

2. 2017 AFLW Grand Final – March 25, 2019, v Brisbane, Carrara Stadium

In the first season where experts didn’t expect us to challenge other sides, we became inaugural AFLW premiership winners, beating Brisbane by six points at Carrara Stadium. The celebrations that night – and then the next day at Adelaide Oval – were huge.

3. 2022 AFLW Grand Final (season 6) – April 9, 2022, v Melbourne, Adelaide Oval

The standout of this premiership win was our defence; we only had two goals kicked against us for the game. Anne Hatchard was best on ground with 26 touches and five clearances. The grand final loss the team had experienced the season before, had been the motivation all throughout season six and the team wasn’t going to lose another one.

4. First AFLW Showdown, September 30, 2022 at Adelaide Oval

A momentous occasion for South Australian sport with the first-ever Women’s Showdown held on Adelaide Oval in front of 20,652. Chelsea Randall won the inaugural AFLW Showdown Medal, with 27 touches, seven clearances and three majors (including kicking the first goal of the match). It was a big win, too, with an 8.15 (63) to 0.3 (3) scoreline.  

5. Winning the AFLW licence in 2016, in conjunction with NT

Initially, we knew we wanted to join the AFLW for its first season, but the AFL advised us that SA would not get a licence because they believed there was not enough footy talent to sustain a team. So, we joined forces with the NTFL and made a joint submission that the combined talent of the state and the territory would be plentiful. A lot of work went into the submission and we were successful and then able to join the inaugural season. I believe it remains one of the most important moments in the history of our club. And the Club embraced the early partnership between Adelaide and the Northern Territory. We had trips to the Territory for events such as Club Champion Awards, season launches, as well as playing games. And we got involved in all things Darwin, taking trips to waterfalls, meeting crocodiles and attending the Darwin Cup. They were great days.

6. Phone call to Erin Phillips in 2016 to see whether she’d be interested in joining the Crows

Once the AFL gave us a licence to join the AFLW we needed to start signing players. Erin Phillips was known as a superstar WNBA basketballer – and at the time she was playing in the United States for the Dallas Wings. But she had been a phenomenal football talent as a junior playing in SA. However, coming from Port royalty, thanks to her father Greg Phillips, and having been previously announced as Port’s face of women’s football, we knew she’d want to play for them … but they were still years away from obtaining a licence to form a team. So, I called Erin to ask her to join Adelaide, despite not knowing whether she would be open to the conversation. The last thing she said to me that day was how much she loved the game. She joined our club. And the rest is history.

7. February 4, 2017. AFLW game one v GWS, at Thebarton Oval

Our first game. We weren’t sure how many people would turn up and the predicted crowd at the time was 2500, which was then adjusted to 5000 during the week. But on the day, almost 10,000 people came to Thebarton Oval to see us beat the Giants by 36 points. It was so unexpected that the police actually contacted the Club to open the gates to ground early because the football traffic had gridlocked South Road. We still have five players playing for us from that first game – the most original players of any of the inaugural AFLW clubs. 

8. First away game, February 10, 2017, v Western Bulldogs, at Whitten Oval

Again, in that first season, we were told by the experts at the AFL that we were rated the second-worst team in the competition, with Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs rated the best. So, we headed to Melbourne to play the Bulldogs in our first away game, and we weren’t sure how we’d perform. We beat them by 25 points. We had beaten the best and it showed that we might be the real deal. But what I remember most was how different it was to AFL footy, which I was used to. It was all new to me: the music, the dancing, the singing on the bus trip on the way home. It was great.

9. March 16, 2019, Round Seven, v Melbourne, at Casey Fields

Melbourne had been touted as the team to beat in the 2019 season; better than us. But we beat them by 10 goals at windy Casey Fields. This game cemented Adelaide as the premiership favourites for that year.

10. October 29, 2023, Round 9, v North Melbourne, Norwood Oval

In what had been a tight tussle all day in the fight for second spot on the ladder, the team found themselves three points down with 90 seconds left in the game. It had been a frenetic last quarter and at this point, there was a stoppage in our forward-50. Jess Allan won the tap to find Taylah Levy, who handpassed off to Niamh Kelly who slotted through the winning goal. Our defence held strong as the final minutes ticked down to hold off North Melbourne and win.