The South Australian Football Association (later to be renamed to South Australian National Football League) had existed as a competition since 1877, but by the early 1900s was structured on an "electorate system" where players qualified for clubs on the basis of electoral boundaries. Adelaide University Football Club was keen to field a team in the SAFA competition and applied each year from 1906 to 1910. Each time the application was rejected as it was felt the inclusion of a university team would threaten the electorate system.