Adelaide’s longest serving Senior Coach, Neil Craig, has received Crows Life Membership in recognition of his contribution to the Club over 14 years.

Craig was one of five coaches, players and officials to receive the honour at the Club’s annual corporate event on Thursday night.

After joining the Crows in 1997 as Fitness Specialist Coach, Craig played a vital role in the Club’s back-to-back AFL premierships in 1997 and 1998.

He progressed to Assistant Coach under Gary Ayres before taking on the full-time senior role in 2005.

During that time he guided the Crows to their first minor premiership that year before finishing in 2011 after 166 games and with a winning percentage of 55 per cent.

Also receiving Life Membership on Thursday was the Club’s former Chairman Rob Chapman who stepped down from the position after 12 years in 2020.

Chapman was appointed to the Board in 2006 before stepping into the Deputy Chairman role in 2007, and Chairmanship in 2008.

During his time as Chairman, Chapman led the Club through the move to Adelaide Oval, the establishment of the AFLW Team and two AFLW premierships, the first AFL Grand Final appearance in 20 years and some of its most challenging times including the tragic passing of Senior Coach Phil Walsh in 2015 and global pandemic of the past 12 months, all the while with distinction and calmness.

Current player Brodie Smith was also awarded Life Membership after 183 games in the past 10 seasons.

Smith joined the Club in the 2010 National Draft at Pick 14 and debuted in Round 1 the following year. He was named All-Australian in 2014 and recently signed a three-year contract extension in a show of faith in the direction of the Club.

Two officials to receive Life Membership were Alan Trewartha and Terry Moore.

Trewartha has been with the Club since its inception after answering a newspaper advertisement seeking room staff, trainers and statisticians.

He was doing stats for the Glenelg Football Club at the time and commenced with the Crows for their first trial game against Essendon in 1991.

He now works on match day for both SANFL and AFL games and is believed to have missed only six Crows games in 30 years.

Moore joined the Club in 1997 as Team Selector and as part of the Match Committee, roles he held for seven years and went on to host coterie groups, mentor players and is now a volunteer of the Club’s Heritage Committee.