Port Adelaide entered the AFL in 1997 as the competition’s second South Australian team.
Port Adelaide joined the national competition after the AFL granted it a licence for the 1997 season. Adelaide had already entered the AFL in 1991, so Port became South Australia’s second team at the highest national level.
The club had a much older football history. Port Adelaide was founded in 1870 and became one of the strongest clubs in the South Australian National Football League. Its AFL identity retained the nickname Power, while its traditional Magpies identity remained associated with its SANFL team.
Port Adelaide’s first AFL match was against Collingwood at Football Park on 29 March 1997. The Power lost that match, but quickly established itself in the national competition and reached the finals in its first AFL decade.