In the lead-up to the Adelaide Football Club’s last-ever game at AAMI Stadium on Saturday, afc.com.au is taking you for a trip down memory lane. As part of our Farewell to Footy Park, we’ll highlight some of the most memorable games and moments at the ground over the past 23 years.
Today, wingman David Mackay recalls some of his favourite memories ...
The most memorable moment for me was the last game of 2010, against St Kilda.
We had a lot of players retire that year – a lot of champions.
Simon Goodwin, Andrew McLeod, Brett Burton and Trent Hentschel went around in cars after the game. We had a good win against the Saints, who went on to play in the Grand Final that year.
It was a really special moment.
It gave our fans a chance to farewell some of the legends of our Club and you got goose bumps listening to the applause as the boys went around AAMI Stadium. To get a good win as well, it really capped off the night.
Playing in finals and winning finals, in particular, is always special. I was lucky enough to play in a couple of winning finals at AAMI. We beat Essendon by nearly 100 points in 2009. It was a great occasion. Beating Fremantle here last year to go into the Preliminary Final was other significant moment for me.
The year before I got to the Club, I remember watching Adelaide play Fremantle in the 2006 Qualifying Final. I was just watching on TV at home in Melbourne, but it was one of the best games I’ve ever seen, just with the atmosphere and the crowd noise. It was a pretty close game and we got home in the end.
A lot of memories have been created here in 23 years. Just looking at some of the players, who have represented the Club out here and the feats they’ve achieved, is amazing and inspiring.