Recruited from the ten SANFL clubs or enticed home to South Australia from interstate clubs, the 52 players were pulled together over the summer of 1990-91 as the Adelaide Football Club prepared for its entry to the national competition.
In the first of a series to recognise the players’ role in the first year of the Adelaide Football Club, www.afc.com.au starts to run through the list in alphabetical order ...
Bruce Abernethy
Guernsey number: 5.
Crows debut: Round 3 v Sydney, 1991.
AFC games: 11. AFC goals: 2.
Recruited from: Port Adelaide (SANFL).
DOB: May 10, 1962.
Original squad selection 1991.
Abernethy started his SANFL career with Port Adelaide in 1979 and played in three premierships in his first three years. The classy wingman moved to the VFL in 1982 and played 43 games for North Melbourne in two seasons before joining Collingwood, where he played 58 games in three years. Abernethy then chose to return to the SANFL and Port Adelaide before the 1987 season and played in its 1989 and 1990 SANFL premiership teams. He signed with the new Adelaide Football Club late in his career but his experience and leadership was important to a new club. Played 10 games in Adelaide’s first year but just one in 1992, when he finished his career as a member of Port’s SANFL premiership side.
Allan Bartlett
Guernsey number: 14.
Crows debut: Round 2 v Carlton, 1991.
AFC games: 11. AFC goals: 3.
Recruited from: Glenelg (SANFL).
DOB: May 23, 1967.
Original squad selection 1991.
An original Crow who had played 46 league games for Glenelg, Bartlett was a hard-working centre half-forward or key defender. He missed the club’s first game against Hawthorn but was picked the next week against Carlton and managed to play half the season in the Crows’ first year. He did not add to his AFL tally in 1992, however, and was delisted. Is a member of the SANFL 200-game club.
Darren Bartsch
Original squad selection 1991
Did not play an AFL game.
Recruited from: West Adelaide (SANFL).
DOB: April 28, 1969.
One of the most talented young ruckmen in SA, the former Riverlander played 29 league games for West before the Crows called. Earlier, he had been drafted by West Coast and Geelong but had opted to stay in his home State. He failed to play a game for the Crows, however, and was then drafted by Brisbane (again staying in Adelaide) before finally agreeing to join Essendon before the 1994 season. Again, he did not play an AFL game and he returned to the SANFL before retiring, aged 25, because of a back injury.
Mark Bickley
Guernsey number: 26.
Crows debut: Round 4 v Essendon, 1991.
AFC games: 272. AFC goals: 77.
Recruited from: South Adelaide (SANFL).
DOB: August 4, 1969.
Original squad selection 1991.
Bickley, one of the last players chosen in Adelaide’s inaugural 52-man squad, spent the first three weeks of the 1991 season with South Adelaide before making his AFL debut at the age of 21. Six seasons later he lifted the AFL Premiership Cup as Adelaide’s first premiership captain.
From Port Pirie, where he played for Solomontown, Bickley appeared in some SANFL trials with North Adelaide early in 1988 but was not invited to stay and headed back home, where he played in a senior premiership and won the Association best-and-fairest medal. He later returned to the city, this time moving to South Adelaide where he played 53 games in 1989 and 1990. Small but strong (178cm and 82kg), Bickley played much of his early career at half back before evolving into a midfielder. He was one of the club’s most consistent performers and although he did not win a best-and-fairest he was runner-up in 1993, third in 1992 and in the top ten in 11 of his 13 seasons. Even in his final season (2003) he remained a force, finishing fourth. Bickley also was a three-time Best Team Man winner (1992, 1993 and 2000). After four seasons and 102 games as captain, Bickley passed on the leadership baton to Mark Ricciuto in 2001 but continued to play and contribute until beyond his 34th birthday. He retired with 272 AFL games to his name. Bickley soon became heavily involved in the media, working in radio and television. However, at the end of 2008 he accepted an offer to return to the Crows as an assistant coach. He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2009.
Randall Bone
Guernsey number: 51.
Crows debut: Round 3 v Melbourne, 1992.
AFC games: 12. AFC goals: 13
Recruited from: South Adelaide (SANFL).
DOB: November 13, 1973.
Original squad selection 1991.
Bone looked to be a promising big man prospect for the Adelaide Football Club, showing plenty of ability in his first season when he kicked three goals on debut. He played mainly across centre half forward and as a back-up ruckman. But he struggled to find consistency and moved to Hawthorn in 1995 to play another 16 games in four seasons.
David Brown
Guernsey number: 21.
Crows debut: Round 12 v Fitzroy, 1991.
AFC games: 69. AFC goals: 55.
Recruited from: Port Adelaide (SANFL).
DOB: September 29, 1969.
Original squad selection 1991.
An unfashionable and courageous small forward/midfielder, Brown played in two SANFL premierships with Port (and missed two through injury) before joining Adelaide’s inaugural squad for the 1991 season. After six years with the Crows for 69 games he was traded to Port to join its inaugural AFL squad in 1997. He played 22 games in two seasons for the Power.
Trevor Clisby
Original squad selection
Did not play an AFL game
Recruited from: North Adelaide (SANFL)
DOB: March 8, 1961
A reliable key defender for North Adelaide over many years and more than 250 SANFL games, Clisby was badly injured in a pre-season game with the Crows and did not get another opportunity to wear the Adelaide guernsey in a premiership game. He retired at the end of the season after playing in North’s 1991 premiership.
Next: Part two starts with Grantley Fielke.
