About

West Adelaide Soccer Club is an Australian soccer club currently playing in the South Australian State League 1. Traditionally named Hellas, the club was founded by members of the Greek community of Adelaide. West Adelaide became a founding member of the National Soccer League in 1977 and a year later became the first Adelaide team to be crowned national champion when it won the 1978 National Soccer League after a 1–1 draw in the final round match with Adelaide City in the local derby. One of the most successful clubs in South Australia, West Adelaide competed in the national league for 19 seasons, interrupted briefly by two short periods in which it was relegated back to state competition. In the late 1990s, the club renamed itself the Adelaide Sharks in an effort to attract support beyond its traditional base in the Greek community. At the end of the 1998–99 National Soccer League season, the club was overcome by financial turmoil and entered administration. West withdrew from the national competition and its senior arm declared bankruptcy while the club's juniors legally separated from the club and remained afloat. In 2007, West Adelaide fielding senior teams in the South Australian competition once again. West gained promotion to the second tier in 2012 and returned to the top tier a year later, winning its first South Australian championship in 2015.