Before the Adelaide Football Club came to be, inaugural Chairman Bob Hammond was hard at work keeping South Australia’s brightest football prospects from going interstate.

A list of 10 players were allowed to remain in South Australia to form part of the club’s first squad, with Hammond successfully signing nine of them in one week.

Speaking to 5aa radio, Hammond reflected on the early days of the club and the challenges that faced the inaugural group…

“The thrill of being part of that first group is what’s most memorable to me, Hammond said. “We started with nothing; we didn’t even have footballs for the first training run. We had to borrow them from one of the junior squads.

“It was an exciting time. There were highs and lows, disappointment, elation, there was everything. The thing is it was brand new to all of us, taking the next step. Whether it be playing at Moorabin, or Vic Park, or going to Perth to play; trying to find the right combinations of people and the logistics of travel.

“The other thing is that it was a major change as far as football in South Australia was concerned; people’s stations in football life were being altered, and not everyone wanted us to succeed.”

Hammond believes a major turning point in winning over the respect of the football public and gaining the confidence that the club would be truly recognised was the first trial game against Essendon at Football Park.

“One of the most important games for the Crows was the trial game against Essendon,” he said. “Personally, I think that was a point of time that I became confident that we would be accepted by the South Australian public. There was always that doubt in your mind before that we wouldn’t.

“We put on a display that night that was fantastic. The group had just gathered together in October and Graham (Cornes) trained them through to this point in time, but the real test was whether people were going to accept us. 45,000 people rocked up to a trial game between Adelaide and Essendon and we were on our way.

“You talk about the high and lows of football, the next week we travelled to Bunbury through bushfires and got walloped by West Coast, with Stephen Schwerdt breaking his jaw.”

Adelaide’s inaugural Chairman reflects on the first game against Hawthorn and how far the club has come since.

“(The first game against Hawthorn) it was goosebumps. I’m still trying to come to terms with the fact it was 20 years ago. That first year with what we were able to put up with and what we were able to achieve, to reflect after 20 years and what we have got is a club that is well respected, well run, it is one of the leaders in the AFL, and I don’t think anyone thought that would be the case 20 years ago.”