North Adelaide wins national title before SANFL football finals leave Adelaide Oval for West Lakes in 1974
North Adelaide, South Australian National Football League (SANFL) premiers, won the champions of Australia title, defeating the Victorian Football League premiers Carlton at Adelaide Oval in 1972. All SANFL finals matches were transferred to the league's new West Lakes stadium from 1974.
Australian football finals left Adelaide Oval in 1974. They went out on a high note with Barrie Robran starring in South Australian National Football League (SANFL) premiers North Adelaide's win over Victorian Football league premiers Carlton in 1972 to become national club champion in Australian football. It would be the last win by a non-Victorian football side for a national championship until West Coast Eagles took out the 1992 Australian Football League premiership.
The 1973 South Australian National Football League (SANFL) grand final between North Adelaide and Glenelg was the last at Adelaide Oval until the return to the remodelled oval, with control shared by cricket and football, in 2014. The 1973 high-scoring grand final saw Glenelg beat North Adelaide by seven points.
The SANFL moved football finals to its new Football Park at West Lakes from 1974. This climaxed SANFL’s long-running dispute with the South Australian Cricket Association over its control of Adelaide Oval.
Part of filling the gap left in Adelaide Oval fixtures in 1975 was the first limited-over international cricket match between Australia and West Indies. In the first limited-over international cricket match at Adelaide Oval on December 20, 1975, Australia defeated the West Indies by five wickets.
Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 concert was the first of a string of big-name music performers at the oval. Next year, David Bowie presented his first concert in the southern hemisphere and at the first large outdoor event he’d played. Among others to present oval concerts were Linda Ronstadt, KISS, Simon and Garfunkel, Paul McCartney, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Elton John and Billy Joel, Neil Diamond, Pearl Jam, AC/DC and the Foo Fighters.