List of SANFL wooden spoons

The wooden spoon is the imaginary and ironic "award" which is said to be won by the team finishing in last place in the South Australian National Football League. No physical wooden spoon award exists nor is such an award officially sanctioned by the SANFL.

Competitions

South Australian Football Association (1877) was dissolved in May 1888 after the remaining three Clubs Norwood, Hotham (North Adelaide 1888) and Gawler applied and joined the South Australian United Football Association newly formed by Adelaide, Port Adelaide and South Adelaide who had all resigned from the South Australian Football Association.
South Australian United Football Association (1888) was renamed South Australian Football Association in 1889.
South Australian Football Association (1889) was renamed South Australian Football League in 1907.
South Australian Football League (1907) was renamed South Australian National Football League in 1927.

Criteria

The team which finishes with the worst record across the completed season is awarded the wooden spoon. This is determined by:

Fewest premiership points (two points for a win, one point for a draw)
Lowest percentage

Wooden spoons by season

Season	Club	Total	Wins	Losses	Draws	Percentage	Points
1877	Bankers	1	0	15	0	N/A	0
1878	Kensington	1	0	9	3	N/A	3
1879	Kensington	2	0	8	1	N/A	1
1880	Adelaide (I)	1	1	8	2	N/A	4
1881	Adelaide (I) - Kensington	1	0	5	0	N/A	0
1882	Royal Park	1	0	10	0	N/A	0
1883	Victorian (SAFA) (North Adelaide 1883-1884)	1	2	11	2	N/A	6
1884	Victorian (SAFA) (North Adelaide 1883-1884)	2	1	10	1	N/A	3
1885	Adelaide (II) (1885 - 1893 SAFA)	1	4	11	0	N/A	8
1886	Port Adelaide^[1]	1	3	11	1	N/A	7
1887	West Adelaide (1887)	1	1	13	2	N/A	2
1888	Medindie (North Adelaide)	1	1	16	0	N/A	2
1889	Medindie (North Adelaide)	2	0	15	0	N/A	0
1890	Gawler	1	0	12	2	N/A	2
1891	Adelaide (II) (1885-1893 SAFA)	2	0	16	0	N/A	0
1892	Adelaide (II) (1885-1893 SAFA)	3	0	15	1	N/A	1
1893	Adelaide (II) (1885-1893 SAFA)	4	1	15	0	N/A	2
1894	North Adelaide^[2]	3	1	17	0	N/A	2
1895	Natives (West Torrens)	1	2	14	0	N/A	4
1896	Port Adelaide^[1]	2	4	13	1	N/A	9
1897	West Adelaide^[3]	1	1	15	1	20.77%	3
1898	West Adelaide^[3]	2	0	14	0	20.11%	0
1899	North Adelaide^[2]	4	1	10	1	35.59%	3
1900	Port Adelaide^[1]	3	2	10	0	40.3%	4
1901	Sturt^[4]	1	5	12	1	37.87%	11
1902	Sturt^[4]	2	1	11	0	26.43%	2
1903	Sturt^[4]	3	2	9	1	35.44%	5
1904	West Adelaide^[4]	3	1	11	0	27.94%	2
1905	West Adelaide^[3]	4	1	11	0	28.61%	2
1906	West Adelaide^[3]	5	0	12	0	26.91%	0
1907	Sturt^[4]	4	3	9	0	41.60%	6
1908	Sturt^[4]	5	0	12	0	32.99%	0
1909	South Adelaide^[5]	1	0	12	0	32.72%	0
1910	South Adelaide^[5]	2	1	11	0	35.37%	2
1911	South Adelaide^[5]	3	1	11	0	41.24%	2
1912	North Adelaide^[2]	5	3	9	0	44.54%	6
1913	Norwood^[6]	1	2	10	0	44.20%	4
1914	Norwood^[6]	2	4	8	0	45.46%	8
1915	Norwood^[6]	3	3	9	0	40.34%	6
1919	Norwood^[6]	4	1	11	0	39.52%	2
1920	West Adelaide^[3]	6	2	9	1	40.59%	5
1921	Glenelg^[7]	1	0	14	0	30.00%	0
1922	Glenelg^[7]	2	0	14	0	31.81%	0
1923	Glenelg^[7]	3	0	14	0	32.35%	0
1924	Glenelg^[7]	4	0	14	0	36.97%	0
1925	Glenelg^[7]	5	2	12	0	38.81%	4
1926	South Adelaide^[5]	4	0	13	1	40.26%	1
1927	South Adelaide^[5]	5	2	15	0	39.11%	4
1928	South Adelaide^[5]	6	2	14	1	44.67%	5
1929	South Adelaide^[5]	7	3	14	0	41.72%	6
1930	West Torrens^[8]	1	3	14	0	45.35%	6
1931	West Adelaide^[3]	7	2	13	0	41.82%	4
1932	South Adelaide^[5]	8	2	14	1	43.59%	5
1933	West Adelaide^[3]	8	0	17	0	43.37%	0
1934	South Adelaide^[5]	9	4	13	0	43.33%	8
1935	Glenelg^[7]	6	1	16	0	39.26%	2
1936	West Adelaide^[3]	9	2	15	0	34.99%	4
1937	Glenelg^[7]	7	3	13	1	41.82%	7
1938	Glenelg^[7]	8	3	14	0	41.87%	6
1939	Glenelg^[7]	9	2	15	0	43.64%	4
1940	Glenelg^[7]	10	3	14	0	41.07%	6
1941	West Torrens^[8]	2	4	13	0	42.14%	8
1945	South Adelaide^[5]	10	3	14	0	45.90%	6
1946	Glenelg^[7]	11	1	16	0	40.92%	2
1947	South Adelaide^[5]	11	2	15	0	39.93%	4
1948	South Adelaide^[5]	12	0	17	0	35.20%	0
1949	Sturt^[4]	6	3	14	0	40.78%	6
1950	South Adelaide^[5]	13	0	17	0	31.46	0
1951	South Adelaide^[5]	14	1	17	0	36.63%	2
1952	Sturt^[4]	7	3	14	0	40.79%	6
1953	South Adelaide^[5]	15	5	13	0	38.75%	10
1954	Glenelg^[7]	12	4	14	0	44.90%	8
1955	South Adelaide^[5]	16	2	15	0	39.01%	4
1956	Sturt^[4]	8	3	14	1	40.44%	7
1957	South Adelaide^[5]	17	2	16	0	39.64%	4
1958	Sturt^[4]	9	2	15	1	42.33%	5
1959	South Adelaide^[5]	18	3	15	0	38.20%	6
1960	Glenelg^[7]	13	2	16	0	40.31%	4
1961	Sturt^[4]	10	3	16	0	42.70%	6
1962	South Adelaide^[5]	19	3	16	0	35.41%	6
1963	South Adelaide^[5]	20	2	18	0	41.28%	4
1964	Central District^[9]	1	0	20	0	31.10%	0
1965	Woodville	1	3	17	0	42.05%	6
1966	Glenelg^[7]	14	3	17	0	39.30%	6
1967	Woodville	2	1	18	1	39.60%	3
1968	Norwood^[6]	5	3	16	1	44.56%	7
1969	South Adelaide^[5]	21	2	18	0	38.23%	4
1970	South Adelaide^[5]	22	3	17	0	40.35%	6
1971	Woodville	3	6	15	0	37.12%	12
1972	West Adelaide^[3]	10	4	16	1	44.35%	9
1973	West Adelaide^[3]	11	3	17	1	42.35%	7
1974	West Adelaide^[3]	12	4	18	0	40.53%	8
1975	West Torrens^[8]	3	2	16	0	41.84%	4
1976	West Torrens^[8]	4	2	19	0	40.12%	4
1977	Central District^[9]	2	5	16	1	42.00%	11
1978	North Adelaide^[2]	6	5	17	0	42.82%	10
1979	West Adelaide^[3]	13	7	14	1	48.30%	15
1980	Woodville	4	4	18	0	40.60%	8
1981	Woodville	5	3	19	0	36.53%	6
1982	Woodville	6	1	21	0	37.47%	2
1983	Woodville	7	4	18	0	39.51%	8
1984	Woodville	8	4	18	0	43.29%	8
1985	Woodville	9	6	16	0	46.35%	12
1986	West Torrens^[8]	5	6	16	0	41.61%	12
1987	South Adelaide^[5]	23	5	17	0	41.37%	10
1988	South Adelaide^[5]	24	1	21	0	32.31%	2
1989	Sturt^[4]	11	4	18	0	42.92%	8
1990	Sturt^[4]	12	2	18	0	37.20%	4
1991	Sturt^[4]	13	3	19	0	38.07%	6
1992	Sturt^[4]	14	2	20	0	37.16%	4
1993	Sturt^[4]	15	4	16	0	41.25%	8
1994	Sturt^[4]	16	5	17	0	42.04%	10
1995	Sturt^[4]	17	0	22	0	32.22%	0
1996	Sturt^[4]	18	4	16	0	38.78%	8
1997	South Adelaide^[5]	25	4	14	2	40.85%	10
1998	Glenelg^[7]	15	4	16	0	42.93%	8
1999	North Adelaide^[2]	7	2	18	0	38.17%	4
2000	Glenelg^[7]	16	3	17	0	39.81%	6
2001	Glenelg^[7]	17	3	16	1	39.09%	7
2002	Glenelg^[7]	18	3	17	0	38.53%	6
2003	North Adelaide^[2]	8	1	17	2	36.77%	4
2004	Norwood^[6]	6	4	16	0	41.82%	8
2005	West Adelaide^[3]	14	3	17	0	38.01%	6
2006	West Adelaide^[3]	15	2	18	0	39.25%	4
2007	West Adelaide^[3]	16	3	17	0	38.47%	6
2008	West Adelaide^[3]	17	2	18	0	39.17%	4
2009	South Adelaide^[5]	26	2	18	0	38.35%	4
2010	South Adelaide	27	2	17	1	40.48%	5
2011	Sturt^[10]	19	5	15	0	44.45%	10
2012	Sturt^[10]	20	6	14	0	44.06%	12
2013	Glenelg^[11]^[12]	19	4	16	0	41.13%	8
2014	Glenelg	20	4	14	0	38.22%	8
2015	North Adelaide^[13]	9	1	17	0	33.91%	2
2016	West Adelaide	18	2	16	0	34.78%	4
2017	North Adelaide	10	4	14	0	43.97%	8
2018	Adelaide (III) (AFL Reserves)	1	1	17	0	37.10%	2
2019	West Adelaide	19	2	16	0	38.83%	4
2020	West Adelaide	20	2	11	1	40.42%	5
2021	West Adelaide	21	2	16	0	39.39%	4
2022	West Adelaide	22	3	15	0	41.90%	6
2023	West Adelaide	23	4	13	1	45.83%	9
2024	Port Adelaide (AFL Reserves)	4	4	14	0	40.28%	8

Wooden spoons by SANFL clubs

Club	Total Wooden Spoons	First Season	Years of Wooden Spoon
South Adelaide	27	1877	1909, 1910, 1911, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1932, 1934, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1969, 1970, 1987, 1988, 1997, 2009, 2010
West Adelaide	23	1897	1897, 1898, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1920, 1931, 1933, 1936, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1979, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Sturt	20	1901	1901, 1902, 1903, 1907, 1908, 1949, 1952, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2011, 2012
Glenelg	20	1921	1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1946, 1954, 1960, 1966, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2013, 2014
North Adelaide	10	1888	1888, 1889, 1894, 1899, 1912, 1978, 1999, 2003, 2015, 2017
Woodville	9	1964	1965, 1967, 1971, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985
Norwood	6	1878	1913, 1914, 1915, 1919, 1968, 2004
West Torrens	5	1897	1930, 1941, 1975, 1976, 1986
Port Adelaide	4	1877	1886, 1896, 1900, 2024
Central District	2	1964	1964, 1977
Adelaide (III) (AFL Reserves)	1	2014	2018
Woodville-West Torrens	0	1991	N/A

Bold indicates clubs currently playing in the SANFL.
North Adelaide joined SAFA in 1888 as Medindie and renamed to its current name in 1893.
West Torrens and Woodville merged at the end of the 1990 season. The merged club has never collected a wooden spoon.
Adelaide AFL Crows reserves first competed in SANFL in 2014 season.

Wooden spoons by former SAFA clubs (1877-1896 pre Electoral Districts)

Club	Total Wooden Spoons	First Season	Number of Seasons	Wooden Spoons
Bankers	1	1877	1	1877
Kensington	2	1877	4	1878,1879
Adelaide (I)	1	1877	4	1880
South Park	0	1877	8	N/A
Adelaide (I)-Kensington	1	1881	1	1881 *
Royal Park	1	1882	1	1882
Victorian (North Adelaide (I) 1883-84)	2	1877	8	1883,1884
Adelaide (II) (1885-1893)	4	1885	9	1885,1891,1892,1893
West Adelaide (1887)	1	1887	1	1887
Hotham (North Adelaide (II) 1888)	0	1887	2	N/A
Gawler	1	1887	4	1890
Natives (West Torrens)	1	1895	2	1895

Notes: Adelaide Football Club merged with Kensington for 1881 and resigned after 4 games (excluding 1 forfeit)
Victorian in 1883 and Hotham in 1888 both renamed to North Adelaide but have no connection with the current SANFL North Adelaide (which joined in 1888 as Medindie and also changed its name to North Adelaide in 1893)
Adelaide (1885-1893) was formed from the merger of the North Adelaide Junior (renamed Adelaide in 1884)^[14] and North Parks both junior clubs from the Adelaide and Suburban Football Association. ^[15]
Natives (formerly Port Natives) after 2 seasons changed their name to West Torrens in 1897 with the introduction of Electoral District Football

Longest wooden spoon droughts

Club	Time period	Years
Port Adelaide	1901-2023	123
North Adelaide	1913-1978	66
Norwood	1920-1968	49
Central District	1978-present	47
Sturt	1909-1949	41
Norwood	1878-1913	36
West Adelaide	1937-1972	36
Norwood	1969-2004	36
Woodville-West Torrens	1991-present	34
West Torrens	1942-1975	34
West Torrens	1897-1930	34
Glenelg	1967-1998	32
Sturt	1962-1989	28
West Adelaide	1980-2005	26

Active wooden spoon drought by Clubs

Club	Last won	Years since
Central District	1977	47
Woodville-West Torrens	never	33
Norwood	2004	20
South Adelaide	2010	14
Sturt	2012	12
Glenelg	2014	10
North Adelaide	2017	7
Adelaide (AFL Crows Reserves)	2018	6
West Adelaide	2023	1
Port Adelaide	2024	0

Consecutive Wooden Spoons

Eight clubs have finished last in 4 or more consecutive seasons.

Club	Consecutive Wooden Spoons	Sequence of Seasons
Sturt	8	1989–1996
Woodville	6	1980–1985
Glenelg	5	1921–1925
West Adelaide	5	2019–2023
Norwood	4	1913–1915,1919
South Adelaide	4	1926–1929
Glenelg	4	1937–1940
West Adelaide	4	2005–2008

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Port Adelaide". South Australian National Football League. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "North Adelaide". South Australian National Football League. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p "West Adelaide". South Australian National Football League. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s "Sturt". South Australian National Football League. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z "South Adelaide". South Australian National Football League. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Norwood". South Australian National Football League. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r "Glenelg". South Australian National Football League. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Woodville-West Torrens". South Australian National Football League. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
^ ^a ^b "Central District". South Australian National Football League. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
^ ^a ^b "Achievements". Sturt Football Club. Archived from the original on 31 October 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
^ Capel, Andrew (11 September 2013). "Glenelg sacks coach Kris Massie for 'under-performing' in the role". News Corporation. The Advertiser. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
^ Thring, Harry (30 October 2013). "Stevens named Glenelg coach". Australian Football League. Australian Football League. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
^ Thring, Harry (3 September 2015). "Port assistant Carr moves to take up senior role". Telstra Media. AFL.com.au. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
^ "Football". South Australian Register. 25 March 1884.
^ "Football". Adelaide Observer. 22 November 1884.

http://www.sanfl.com.au/clubs/glenelg/

[PortSpoons-1] "Port Adelaide". South Australian National Football League. Retrieved 16 December 2014.

[NorthSpoons-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "North Adelaide". South Australian National Football League. Retrieved 16 December 2014.

[WestSpoons-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p "West Adelaide". South Australian National Football League. Retrieved 16 December 2014.

[SturtSpoons-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s "Sturt". South Australian National Football League. Retrieved 16 December 2014.

[SouthSpoons-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z "South Adelaide". South Australian National Football League. Retrieved 16 December 2014.

[NorwSpoons-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Norwood". South Australian National Football League. Retrieved 16 December 2014.

[GlenSpoons-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r "Glenelg". South Australian National Football League. Retrieved 16 December 2014.

[TorrensSpoons-8] "Woodville-West Torrens". South Australian National Football League. Retrieved 16 December 2014.

[CDFCspoons-9] "Central District". South Australian National Football League. Retrieved 16 December 2014.

[SturtAchieve-10] "Achievements". Sturt Football Club. Archived from the original on 31 October 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2014.

[11] Capel, Andrew (11 September 2013). "Glenelg sacks coach Kris Massie for 'under-performing' in the role". News Corporation. The Advertiser. Retrieved 16 December 2014.

[12] Thring, Harry (30 October 2013). "Stevens named Glenelg coach". Australian Football League. Australian Football League. Retrieved 16 December 2014.

[13] Thring, Harry (3 September 2015). "Port assistant Carr moves to take up senior role". Telstra Media. AFL.com.au. Retrieved 22 October 2015.

[14] "Football". South Australian Register. 25 March 1884.

[15] "Football". Adelaide Observer. 22 November 1884.

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