The Adelaide Football Club has today formally written to the City of Adelaide and put on hold its proposal to build a sports and community hub in North Adelaide.

The extremely challenging environment created by the coronavirus pandemic means the Club is currently not in a position to advance to stage two of the unsolicited proposal process.

Adelaide had intended to build a state-of-the-art community and aquatic facility, which would have also housed the Club’s headquarters and high-performance training centre, at the ageing aquatic centre site on Jeffcott Road.

Crows CEO Andrew Fagan thanked the council for its support and understanding during this difficult time for not just the Club but people throughout Australia and across the world.

“We are extremely disappointed to officially withdraw our proposal however we cannot meet the required obligations of the formal process right now,” Fagan said.

“Like many organisations and industries, our Club and the entire AFL is confronting a financial crisis brought about by the coronavirus.

Our focus is firmly on the health and wellbeing of our people, and fighting hard to ensure the Club’s survival during this unprecedented time. - CEO Andrew Fagan

“We are grateful for the significant and widespread support our proposal had received from the South Australian public, and we were excited about the benefits it would bring for our members and fans, as well as community and sporting groups among others.

“We will maintain our communication with the council with a view to revisiting the opportunity at a later date should it remain a viable option.”