The 1954 SANFL Grand Final was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

game contested between the

Port Adelaide Football Club Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where it is nicknamed the ...

and the

West Adelaide Football Club West Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Nicknamed the Bloods and commonly known as the Westies, the club's home base is Richmond Oval (currently known as Hisens ...

, held at the

Adelaide Oval The Adelaide Oval is a stadium in Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is located in the Adelaide Parklands, parklands. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby league, ...

on Saturday 2 October 1954. It was the 56th annual

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

of the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

, staged to determine the premiers of the 1954 SANFL season. The match, attended by 42,895 spectators, was won by Port Adelaide by a margin of 3 points, marking that clubs fifteenth premiership victory.

Background

Before the 1954 SANFL Grand Final there had been four meetings between Port Adelaide and West Adelaide during the season with the former winning all four encounters. The SANFL spent £1,500 insuring the game against inclement weather. The SANFL also put forward £200 as prize money for the winning team. Brothers Fos Williams and Glynn Williams played against each other representing Port Adelaide and West Adelaide respectively.

Match Summary

The weather during the day was hot with newspaper writers suggesting that it would be a gruelling match for the players. It was also humid.

First quarter

West Adelaide's small forwards helped them to take a 3 point lead in the first quarter.

Second quarter

Towards the end of the second quarter Brian Faehse punched Dave Boyd causing him to fall over. As a result of this confrontation a large fracas broke out which was only quelled when the siren to end the quarter sounded. On the way back to their rooms some West Adelaide players were assaulted by spectators leading to calls after the game for improved security for players. During half time Fos Williams gave his players a significant

pep talk A motivational speaker (or inspirational speaker) is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep ta ...

Third quarter

After the half time break

Geof Motley Geofrey Peter Motley (3 January 1935 – 26 September 2023) was an Australian rules footballer and coach who played for South Australian National Football League (SANFL) side Port Adelaide. Motley was born near Alberton Oval, the home ground o ...

moved to centre-half forward. West Adelaide captain Brian Faehse was injured early in the third quarter.

Fourth quarter

West Adelaide had opportunities to win the game in the last quarter but wayward kicking let them down.

Post-match

The Port Adelaide players and officials had a celebratory dinner at the Largs Pier Hotel after the match. Bob McLean placed Lloyd Zucker at the head of the table as a gesture of appreciation for his game. Six of the Port Adelaide players had to leave the dinner early to attend a function run by radio station 5KA, the precursor to

Triple M Adelaide Triple M Adelaide is a radio station broadcasting in Adelaide, Australia. Its target demographic is the 30–54 age group. Triple M Adelaide is part of Southern Cross Austereo's Triple M network and broadcasts on the 104.7 MHz frequency. Tripl ...

, which was held at the Port Adelaide Town Hall.

West End Brewery chimney

The 1954 SANFL Grand Final was the first instance of a tradition where the chimney of the West End Brewery would be painted in the colours of the winning team. At the suggestion of Fos Williams, the runner up would also have their colours added to the West End Brewery chimney.

Teams

The teams were unchanged.

Scoreboard

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1954 SANFL Grand Final South Australian National Football League Grand Finals SANFL Grand Final, 1954