Port Adelaide Soccer Club (PASC), originally Port Adelaide British Football Club and also known as the Port Adelaide Pirates, is a

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a cons ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club based in

Taperoo Taperoo is a suburb in the Australian state of South Australia, located on the Lefevre Peninsula in the west of Adelaide, about north-west of the Adelaide city centre. Description Taperoo is adjacent to Osborne and Largs North. It is bounded ...

, a north-western suburb of

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

in the

City of Port Adelaide Enfield The City of Port Adelaide Enfield (PAE),City of Port Adelaide Enfield, PAE Today, Issue 19, Autumn 2024 located across inner north and north-western suburbs of Adelaide, is one of the largest metropolitan councils within South Australia. It was ...

. The club plays in

State League 2 South Australia State League South Australia is a series of soccer leagues based in South Australia which consists of two divisions; SA State League 1 (SL1) and SA State League 2 (SL2). It runs as the second and third tiers of soccer in South Australia ( third ...

after being relegated to the fourth tier of Australian soccer in 2023. Port Adelaide is the oldest surviving soccer club in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, having been founded in 1905 after being one of two clubs to be created out of Woodville FC, which had been formed in 1903. From 1993 until 2018, the club was known as Port Adelaide Lion following a merger with Ukrainian Sports Club Lion. This was one of the club's many mergers, including earlier ones with Cheltenham in 1914 and Port Thistle in 1956. In the beginning, Port Adelaide SC played at a ground adjacent to

Alberton Oval Alberton Oval is a sports oval located in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, a north-western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It has been the home of the Port Adelaide Football Club since 1880. The ground is a public park and is exclusive ...

. It has been based at their current home ground, Ngarrpadla Josie Agius Reserve, since 2019, after moving from their previous home at John Hart Reserve. The club has won five

first division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

titles, the last coming in 1931, and the Federation Cup on four occasions, most recently in 1979.

History

The club was founded in 1905, making it the oldest surviving soccer club in South Australia. It was originally called Port Adelaide British Football Club. The founders included F.Salmon, G.Haywood, J.Haywood, EP Rowley, F.Meakin, and J.McColl. The club was founded after Woodville FC (1903) split into two clubs, the other being Hindmarsh. It started off playing at a site adjancent to

. The amalgamation of Port Adelaide and Cheltenham British Football Club was formalised on Friday 26 March 1914 in the Globe Hotel,

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

. There were elements of the Cheltenham Club who did not agree with the merger and they formed another Cheltenham Club for the 1914 season. The club played at John Hart Reserve from 1922 until 2018. At the end of the 1941 season the club went into recess and did not field a team in the local competition until 1944, due to members' participation and casualties in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1956 the club merged with Port Thistle S.C., which had been known as the Port Presbyterian Thistle S.C. Their home ground was Nazar Reserve, across the road from the Port Adelaide Club. The ground was also known as Stevedores Paddock, because horses used on the wharves were left in the paddock. The area was notorious for getting flooded every time there was an extra high tide in the

Port River The Port River (officially known as the Port Adelaide River) is part of a tidal estuary located north of the Adelaide city centre in the Australian state of South Australia. It has been used as a shipping channel since the beginning of European ...

. The club played at John Hart Reserve for over 75 years except for a period in 1955 and 1956 when they moved to Allenby Gardens Reserve while John Hart Reserve was being redeveloped. There was also a period in the late 1960s and early 1970s when the club played its home games at the old ICI Oval at

Peterhead Peterhead (; , ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is the council area's largest settlement, with a population of 19,060 at the 2022 Census for Scotland, 2022 Census. It is the largest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landi ...

while using John Hart Reserve for training and amateur games. In 1993 the club merged with the Ukrainian Sports Club Lion to form the Port Adelaide Lion Soccer club, known as the Pirates. In 2002, all teams PALSC teams started playing under the unofficial name of the "Pirates". On Tuesday 10 July 2018, life and financial members voted on a motion to change the official name of the club from Port Adelaide Lion Soccer Club Inc. to Port Adelaide Soccer Club Inc. in order to provide a simple, clear identity and name for members and others. The motion was passed, with 49 persons in favour and 16 against. The "Pirates" nickname was not a part of the motion, but remains the moniker of the club. On 4 August 2018, after drawing 1–1 against Western Strikers, they finished 11th in the 2018 State League 1 season, relegating them to State League 2. In September 2018, the club moved to a new purpose-built facility named Taperoo Reserve, in Taperoo. The senior team finished 3rd at the conclusion of the 2019 State League 2 season, but failed to secure promotion back to State League 1 via the Finals Series, losing their Elimination Final match against Adelaide Cobras at Taperoo Reserve on penalties following a 2–2 draw. The club was named Football SA 2019 Club of the Year. The

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

impacted the 2020 State League 2 senior team's season. After finishing in 4th place at the end of the regular season, they lost their home Elimination Final against

Adelaide University Adelaide University is a planned public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 2024, it will combine the University of Adelaide, the third-oldest university in Australia, and the University of ...

2–1, after initially leading the game. However, the U14 side won the Championship and the U16's finished in 2nd place in their respective JPL C competitions. In 2020 the club also fielded a team in the U15 Girls' competition. Ryan Mogg joined as head coach in 2021, with Lewis Vallelonga taking on the role of senior assistant coach and technical director. The Senior team secured the State League 2 Premiership on the last day of the season with a 4–1 victory over Gawler Eagles, which was enough to leapfrog Adelaide University. This first place finish also guaranteed promotion to State League 1 for the 2022 season.

Home ground

Port Adelaide SC's home ground was formerly known as Taperoo Reserve. On 15 February 2021, the

officially renamed the reserve Ngarrpadla (''Nar-pud-lah''; meaning "Auntie" in Kaurna) Josie Agius Reserve, in honour of Aboriginal health worker and educator Josie Agius, who lived in Taperoo.

Club honours

As Port Adelaide * 1st Division Champions: 1911, 1912, 1926, 1927, 1931, 1934 (Pt.Thistle) & 1937 (Pt.Thistle) * 2nd Division Champions: 1939, 1948 (Pt.Thistle), 1956, 1969, 1979 & 1988 * Federation Cup Winners: 1926, 1933, 1934 (Pt.Thistle), 1945 & 1979 As USC Lion * 1st Division Champions: 1965 * 2nd Division Champions: 1954 & 1964 * Federation Cup Winners: 1956 & 1961 As Port Adelaide Lion/Port Adelaide Pirates * Premier League Premiers: 1994 & 1999 * NPL State League Champions: 2014 * Football SA Club of Year: 2019 * State League 2 Premiers: 2021

Notable players

Dianne Alagich Dianne Marie Alagich (born 12 May 1979) is an Australians, Australian former Association football, soccer player, who last played for Adelaide United FC (W-League), Adelaide United in the W-League (Australia), W-League in 2009 and the Australia ...

* Richie Alagich * Charles Perkins * John Kundereri Moriarty *

Dario Vidošić Dario Vidošić ( ; ; born 8 April 1987) is a former Association football, soccer player and current coach who is the manager of Women's Super League club Brighton & Hove Albion W.F.C., Brighton & Hove Albion. Born in Yugoslavia, he represented ...

Derek Acorah Derek Francis Johnson (27 January 1950 – 4 January 2020), known professionally as Derek Acorah, was a British spiritual medium. He was best known for his television work on ''Most Haunted'', broadcast on Living TV (2002–2010). His career a ...

References

External links

* {{AUS fb state SA Soccer clubs in Adelaide State League South Australia clubs Association football clubs established in 1903 1903 establishments in Australia