1881 SAFA season

1881 SAFA premiership season
Teams	6
Premiers	Norwood (4th premiership)
Matches played	34
Highest attendance	1,500 (Round 2, Norwood vs. Port Adelaide)
Leading goalkicker	Joe Pollock Norwood (7 Goals) W J Duffy Norwood (7 Goals)
← 1880 1882 →

The 1881 South Australian Football Association season was the 5th season of the top-level Australian rules football competition in South Australia. The premiership season began on Saturday 7 May.

Norwood went on to record its 4th consecutive premiership.

The years premiership trophy was called the Fowler Challenge Cup.^[1]

Kensington and Adelaide merged to create a full squad but withdrew after 4 games.^[1]

Premiership Season

Round 1

	Round 1
Saturday, 7 May (3:12 pm)	Victorian 0.7 (0)	drew with	South Adelaide 0.5 (0)	Adelaide Oval	[2]
Saturday, 7 May (3:30 pm)	South Park 0.3 (0)	def. by	Norwood 2.7 (2)	South Park Lands (crowd: 550)	[2][3]
Saturday, 7 May (3:25 pm)	Port Adelaide 3.15 (3)	def.	Adelaide-Kensington 1.2 (1)	Alberton Oval (crowd: 200)	[2]

Round 2

	Round 2
Saturday, 14 May (3:20 pm)	Victorian 3.21 (3)	def.	Adelaide-Kensington 0.0 (0)	Montefiore Hill	[4][5]
Saturday, 14 May (2:45 pm)	Norwood 4.6 (4)	def.	Port Adelaide 1.3 (1)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 1,500)	[6][5]
Saturday, 14 May (3:00 pm)	South Park 0.6 (6)	def. by	South Adelaide 1.7 (1)	South Park Lands	[7][5]

Round 3

	Round 3
Saturday, 21 May (3:15 pm)	Norwood 2.5 (2)	drew with	Victorian 2.3 (2)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 1,500)	[8][9]
Saturday, 21 May (3:15 pm)	Port Adelaide 3.18 (3)	def.	South Park 1.2 (1)	Alberton Oval	[8]
Saturday, 21 May	Adelaide-Kensington 0.4 (0)	def. by	South Adelaide 4.8 (4)	Kensington Oval	[10]

Round 4

	Round 4
Saturday, 28 May (3:30 pm)	Victorian 0.1 (0)	drew with	Port Adelaide 0.2 (0)	Adelaide Oval	[11]
Saturday, 28 May (3:30 pm)	South Adelaide 3.5 (3)	drew with	Norwood 3.11 (3)	South Park Lands	[11][12]
Saturday, 28 May	Adelaide-Kensington 0.1 (0)	def. by	South Park 7.14 (7)	Adelaide Bridge Ground	[13]
Adelaide-Kensington's game against South Park would be its last for the season resigning from the competition on the Wednesday 1 June.[14]

Round 5

	Round 5
Saturday, 4 June (3:15 pm)	Victorian 0.4 (0)	def. by	South Park 2.6 (2)	Adelaide Oval	[15]
Saturday, 4 June (3:30 pm)	Port Adelaide 0.6 (0)	drew with	South Adelaide 0.8 (0)	Alberton Oval	[15]

Round 6

	Round 6
Saturday, 25 June	South Park 1.5 (1)	def. by	Norwood 4.6 (4)	Adelaide Oval	[16]
Saturday, 25 June	Victorian 1.9 (1)	def.	South Adelaide 0.0 (0)	Montefiore Hill	[16]

Round 7

	Round 7
Saturday, 2 July	South Adelaide 2.4 (2)	def. by	South Park 4.6 (4)	Adelaide Oval	[17]
Saturday, 2 July	Port Adelaide 1.11 (1)	drew with	Norwood 1.16 (1)	Alberton Oval	[17]

Round 8

	Round 8
Saturday, 9 July (3:15 pm)	Victorian 0.2 (0)	def. by	Norwood 4.8 (4)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 1,000)	[18][19]
Saturday, 9 July (3:00 pm)	South Park 3.9 (3)	def.	Port Adelaide 1.5 (1)	South Park Lands	[19]

Round 9

	Round 9
Saturday, 16 July	Norwood 6.17 (6)	def.	South Adelaide 0.1 (0)	Adelaide Oval	[20]
Saturday, 16 July (3:25 pm)	Port Adelaide 0.11 (0)	def. by	Victorian 1.4 (1)	Alberton Oval	[20]

Round 10

	Round 10
Saturday, 23 July (3:20 pm)	South Adelaide 5.19 (5)	def.	Port Adelaide 0.7 (0)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 500)	[21][22]
Saturday, 23 July	South Park 3.10 (3)	def.	Victorian 0.6 (0)	South Park Lands	[21]

Round 11

	Round 11
Saturday, 30 July (3:20 pm)	Norwood 3.6 (3)	def.	South Park 0.10 (0)	Adelaide Oval	[23]
Saturday, 30 July (3:30 pm)	South Adelaide 2.8 (2)	def.	Victorian 0.6 (0)	South Park Lands	[23]

Round 12

	Round 12
Saturday, 6 August	South Park 1.4	drew with	South Adelaide 1.4	South Park Lands	[24][25]

Round 13

	Round 13
Saturday, 3 September	Port Adelaide 0	drew with	South Park 0	Alberton Oval	[26]
The newspaper reporter at the game was critical of the ground condition at Alberton Oval noting that areas had grass up to one foot high.[26]

Round 14

	Round 14
Saturday, 10 September	South Adelaide 0.6 (0)	def. by	Norwood 3.10 (3)	South Park Lands	[27]
Saturday, 10 September	Victorian Score	vs.	Port Adelaide Score	Montefiore Hill	[27]

Round 15

	Round 15
Saturday, 17 September (3:30 pm)	Victorian 0.5 (0)	drew with	South Park 0.10 (0)	Montefiore Hill	[28]
Saturday, 17 September	Port Adelaide 1	drew with	South Adelaide 1.4 (1)	Alberton Oval	[28]

Round 16

	Round 16
Saturday, 24 September (3:00 pm)	Norwood 6.14 (6)	vs.	Port Adelaide 0.0 (0)	East Park Lands	[29]

Round 17

	Round 17
Saturday, 1 October	Victorian 1.2 (1)	def. by	Norwood 2.9 (2)	Montefiore Hill (crowd: 500)	[30][31]

Ladder

1881 SAFA Ladder
	TEAM	P	W	L	D	GF	GA
1	Norwood	13	10	0	3	40	9
2	South Adelaide	13	4	4	5	19	18
3	South Park	13	5	5	3	21	17
4	Victorian	13	4	5	4	8	15
5	Port Adelaide	13	2	6	5	10	23
6	Adelaide / Kensington	4	0	5	0	1	17
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, (P) = Premiers							[32]

Intercolonial matches

	1881 Intercolonial Matches
Saturday, 20 August	Victoria 8.24	def.	South Australia 1.8	East Melbourne Cricket Ground	[33]
Wednesday, 24 August	Victoria 4.14	def.	South Australia 1.5	East Melbourne Cricket Ground (crowd: 1,000)	[34]

Additional matches

	South Park vs. South Adelaide rematch
Saturday, 24 September	South Park 0.10 (0)	drew with	South Adelaide 0.8 (0)	South Park Lands	[35]

References

1. "22 Oct 1881 - Football. THE FOOTBALL SEASON OF 1881". nla.gov.au.
2. "FOOTBALL.". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 9 May 1881. p. 1 Supplement: SUPPLEMENT TO THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN REGISTER. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
3. "FOOTBALL.". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 9 May 1881. p. 7. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
4. "FOOTBALL.". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 16 May 1881. p. 6. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
5. "FOOTBALL.". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 16 May 1881. p. 6. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
6. "FOOTBALL.". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 16 May 1881. p. 6. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
7. "FOOTBALL.". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 16 May 1881. p. 6. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
8. "FOOTBALL.". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 23 May 1881. p. 1 Supplement: SUPPLEMENT TO THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN REGISTER. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
9. "Football.". South Australian Weekly Chronicle. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 28 May 1881. p. 16. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
10. "FOOTBALL.". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 25 May 1881. p. 7. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
11. "FOOTBALL.". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 30 May 1881. p. 7. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
12. "FOOTBALL.". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 31 May 1881. p. 2 Supplement: SUPPLEMENT TO THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN REGISTER. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
13. "FOOTBALL.". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 1 June 1881. p. 6. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
14. "SOUTH AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION.". Adelaide Observer. National Library of Australia. 4 June 1881. p. 15. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
15. "FOOTBALL.". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 6 June 1881. p. 6. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
16. "FOOTBALL.". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 27 June 1881. p. 7. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
17. "FOOTBALL.". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 4 July 1881. p. 6. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
18. "FOOTBALL.". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 11 July 1881. p. 7. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
19. "FOOTBALL.". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 12 July 1881. p. 2 Supplement: SUPPLEMENT TO THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN REGISTER. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
20. "FOOTBALL.". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 18 July 1881. p. 2 Supplement: SUPPLEMENT TO THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN REGISTER. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
21. "[No heading].". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 25 July 1881. p. 6. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
22. "FOOTBALL.". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 25 July 1881. p. 7. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
23. "FOOTBALL.". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 1 August 1881. p. 1 Supplement: SUPPLEMENT TO THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN REGISTER. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
24. "FOOTBALL.". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 11 August 1881. p. 7. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
25. "FOOTBALL.". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 9 August 1881. p. 6. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
26. "FOOTBALL.". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 9 September 1881. p. 6. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
27. "FOOTBALL.". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 12 September 1881. p. 7. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
28. "FOOTBALL.". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 19 September 1881. p. 7. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
29. "FOOTBALL.". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 26 September 1881. p. 6. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
30. "FOOTBALL.". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 3 October 1881. p. 7. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
31. "FOOTBALL.". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 4 October 1881. p. 3 Supplement: Supplement to the South Australian Register. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
32. "22 Oct 1881 - Football. THE FOOTBALL SEASON OF 1881". nla.gov.au.
33. "Intercolonial Football Match". South Australian Register. Adelaide, SA. 25 August 1881. p. 6.
34. "Intercolonial Football Match". South Australian Register (Supplement). Adelaide, SA. 29 August 1881. p. 1.
35. "FOOTBALL.". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 26 September 1881. p. 1 Supplement: SUPPLEMENT TO THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN REGISTER. Retrieved 16 January 2015.