The Adelaide Football Club will celebrate its 25th season in a Thursday night blockbuster against reigning premiers Hawthorn at Adelaide Oval.
The showpiece game in Round 12 is against the club the Crows first played in its inaugural 1991 season. The Crows hosted the first-ever ‘Thursday Night Lights’ at Adelaide Oval in Round Nine last season, recording a memorable win over Collingwood.
Download Adelaide’s 2015 Fixture as a PDF
It will be one of four night matches featuring the Crows at Adelaide Oval.
The Club will play Richmond at home in a big Friday night fixture in Multicultural Round (Round 19). Adelaide will also host Saturday night games against 2014 Preliminary Finalists Fremantle in Indigenous Round (Round Nine) and the Brisbane Lions (Round 21).
It will be only the second time Adelaide has played at home in Indigenous Round. The first time was this season when the Crows beat Gold Coast wearing a guernsey specially designed by AFL legend Andrew McLeod.
Adelaide will kick off the season against Preliminary Finalists North Melbourne at home on Easter Sunday afternoon, April 5. It will be the third time the Crows have started a season against the Kangaroos (also in 1995 and 2004). The Club will finish the minor round at Simonds Stadium against Geelong as part of the floating Round 23 fixture.
Adelaide will play two finalists of 2014, Port Adelaide and Geelong, twice. The Crows will host the first Showdown of the season in a Sunday twilight fixture in Round Five. The second ‘away’ Showdown will be played on a Sunday afternoon in Round 16. Adelaide also has double-up games against West Coast, Gold Coast and the Brisbane Lions.
As a result, the Crows will travel to Queensland twice. Adelaide will also make two trips to New South Wales including a rare trip to the SCG to play the Sydney Swans in a Saturday twilight match in Round 18. The Crows will play five games in Victoria including fixtures against powerhouse clubs Collingwood, Carlton and Essendon. The clash with the Blues will be Adelaide’s only minor-round match at the MCG.
Crows Chief Executive Officer Andrew Fagan said the fixture offered genuine benefits across the board.
“Every club would always like more elements weighted in its favour, but in this case we have positives from an on-field and commercial perspective as well as fan-friendly elements,” Fagan said.
“Hosting a stand-alone Thursday night match against Hawthorn will be a real highlight of our 25th season. The timing of that match also fits well with planned festivities.
“Our home matches are spread across a mix of timeslots, including four at night at the Adelaide Oval which is a real bonus.
“Among the other positives, our Indigenous programs are thriving and we see it as a real privilege to host a match during Indigenous Round.
“From a high performance perspective, we are happy with the amount of travel, but would have liked another match at the MCG.”
Adelaide has a bye in Round 11 leading into the Thursday night clash with Hawthorn. There is only one bye round in 2015 because of the delayed start to the Premiership Season because of the Cricket World Cup.
See Adelaide’s NAB Challenge fixture
All matches will be broadcast on Seven or 7mate in Adelaide, and nationally live on Foxtel.
Download the full 2015 Toyota AFL Premiership Season fixture
