1977 SANFL Grand Final

1977 SANFL Grand Final
Port Adelaide Glenelg 17.11 (113) 16.9 (105)
1 2 3 4 PTA 4.3 9.7 13.9 17.11 (113) GLE 5.2 8.3 12.6 16.9 (105)
Date	Saturday, 24 September (2:10 pm)
Stadium	Football Park
Attendance	56,717
Umpires	Peter Mead, Robin Bennet
Coin toss won by	Port Adelaide
Kicked toward	South End
← 1976 1978 →

The 1977 South Australian National Football League (SANFL) Grand Final saw the Port Adelaide Football Club defeat the Glenelg Football Club by eight points, 17.11 (113) to 16.9 (105). The match was played on Saturday, 24 September 1977 at Football Park in front of a crowd of 56,717.

1977 marked 100 years of the SANFL.

Background

Main article: 1977 SANFL season

Centenary of the SANFL

The South Australian Football Association (renamed SANFL in 1926) was founded in 1877 and the 1977 SANFL season marked the competitions centenary.

Port Adelaide's longest premiership drought

The 12-year period leading up to the 1977 SANFL Grand Final included six grand final losses for Port Adelaide, with four to Sturt and two to North Adelaide.

Teams

Port Adelaide B: 24. Anthony Hannan 22. Greg Phillips 3. Randall Gerlach HB: 21. Len Warren 17. Peter Woite 4. Ivan Eckermann C: 26. Bruce Light 1. Russell Ebert (c) 11. Kym Kinnear HF: 31. Trevor Sorrell 18. David Granger 6. Andy Porplycia F: 16. Paul Belton 5. Tim Evans 2. Darrell Cahill Foll: 10. John Spry 27. Max James 8. Brian Cunningham Int: 23. Tony Giles 13. Geoff Blethyn Coach: John Cahill

Glenelg B: Chris Hercock Dennis Phillis Rex Voight HB: Steve Hywood Paul Weston Jim Lihou C: David Johnson David Holst Neville Caldwell HF: Daryl Rady Peter Carey Michael Farquhar F: Peter McInerney Stephen Copping Robert Paech Foll: Wayne Phillis (c) Graham Cornes Kym Hodgeman Int: Syd Jackson Peter Johnston Coach: John Nicholls

Teams listed in the Sunday Mail.

Scorecard

	1977 SANFL Grand Final
Saturday, 24 September (2:10 pm)	Port Adelaide	def.	Glenelg	Football Park (Crowd: 56,717)
	4.3 (27) 9.7 (61) 13.9 (87) 17.11 (113)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	5.2 (32) 8.3 (51) 12.6 (78) 16.9 (105)
Evans 7 Eckerman 3 Granger, Cunningham 2 James, Blethyn, Sorrell 1		Goals	5 Paech 3 Phillis 2 Rady, Carey 1 Hodgeman, Farquhar, Holst, Jackson
Cunningham, Ebert, Gerlach, Light, Evans		Best	Hodgeman, Voight, Carey, Cornes

Physicality

The 1977 Grand Final was a physical affair with Port Adelaide wingman Bruce Light reported for striking, Kym Kinnear taken concussed from the ground, and several other players sustaining injuries throughout the match. Twenty players were involved in a brawl at the half-time siren.

Twenty-four-year-old Randall Gerlach retired after the game after playing for two years with kidney problems.

End of 12-year Premiership Drought for Port Adelaide

The 1977 premiership marked the end of a 12-year period for Port Adelaide without winning a premiership (a long time by their standards). The 1977 premiership was the first of four premierships in five years for Port Adelaide, with premierships in 1979, 1980 and 1981. Port Adelaide supporters voted the 1977 SANFL Grand Final as the fourth-greatest moment of the club's history at Football Park in August 2013.

2007 AFL Heritage Round

In the 2007 AFL Heritage Round, Port Adelaide wore a replica of their 1977 jumper. Playing in the Port Adelaide team were Brett Ebert, son of Russell Ebert; and Chad and Kane Cornes, sons of Graham Cornes.