Australian Football

Smithfield

Smithfield Football Club hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2013 when the  Panthers were suspended from Division Seven of the SAAFL following an incident during their match against Flinders Park on 20th July. Two Smithfield players were reported for striking a player and verbally abusing umpires and received suspensions totalling 24 games. In addition Andy Stewart, who had coached the club's senior grade side for almost a quarter of a century, was banned from football for a year. The Panthers had actually qualified for the finals in fifth place but their berth in the elimination final was given to sixth placed Flinders University.

The punishments sustained and controversy generated appear to have acted as a spur to the club because in 2014 they won every Division Seven match contested culminating in a 24.14 (158) to 9.13 (67) grand final defeat of Adelaide University. The 2015 season saw the Panthers maintaining their winning habit as they overcame the setback of a second semi final loss to Lockleys to win the Division Six grand final re-match by 28 points, 16.16 (112) to 10.18 (78). In 2016 the Panthers, competing in Division Five, made their third straight grand final only to lose on this occasion to Hectorville. In stark contrast the 2017 season saw them finish dead set last in Division Four with -1 points after incurring penalties for on-field transgressions. The 2018 season therefore saw them lining up in Division Five where they struggled somewhat, winning just 4 of their 18 matches to finish eighth on the ten team premiership ladder.

Formed in 1965, the Panthers spent their first thirty seasons competing in the Central Districts Football Association, which was renamed the Northern Metropolitan Football League in 1988. They enjoyed senior grade premiership success on one occasion, in 1992.