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Messenger shield for the Annual Lightening Football Carnival
South Australian Maritime Museum
Port Adelaide, Australia
Messenger Shield awarded to the winner of the Port Adelaide District Schools, Annual Lightening Football Carnival. Lightning football is a shortened variation of Australian Rules football, often played at half of the duration of a full match. It is typically used as a means to accommodate a small tournament inside a single day or weekend. This football shield was sponsored by Messenger newspapers. Reflective of the popularity of Australian Rules football at school level in South Australia. The South Australian Football League was the first to initiate 'lightening' competitions, comprising matches of shorter duration.
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- Title: Messenger shield for the Annual Lightening Football Carnival
- Provenance: Lightning football is a shortened variation of Australian rules football, often played at half of the duration of a full match. It is typically used as a means to accommodate a small tournament inside a single day or weekend, particularly at junior or amateur level; these tournaments are generally known as lightning premierships or lightning carnivals.Lightning premierships saw an increase in frequency around World War II, when many such events were staged as wartime fundraisers. The first occurred during 1940, the first football season following the outbreak of World War II. On 13 July 1940, the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) staged its 'Lightning Football Carnival' at the Adelaide Oval, attracting a crowd of almost 17,500 people, with Sturt victorious; the carnival was an eight-team knock-out tournament, with each match played over two periods of 14 minutes each. This football shield was sponsored by Messenger newspapers. In 1951, Port Adelaide courier Roger Baynes, in partnership with Len Croker, took over the Largs North Progressive Association's Progressive Times. In March 1951, the Progressive Times was relaunched as the Messenger. The Messenger originally operated out of a small room above a Port Adelaide bicycle shop. The business later moved to an old butcher's shop on Commercial Road, Port Adelaide. In 1954, Croker left the Messenger to run the Woodville Times. In 1959, Baynes' fellow courier, Ron Mitchell, joined Messenger to run its newest acquisition, the Standard. Messenger Press continued to acquire suburban newspapers across Adelaide and turned them into Messenger titles.
- Subject Keywords: Sport, AFL, Awards
- Rights: History Trust of South Australia, CC-0, photographer: Rachel Harris, Bit Scribbly Design
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