Formed 1946.

The Club was founded in 1946 by Italian migrants and named Juventus.

The first of many League Championships arrived in 1953. This was followed by an additional 5 titles before the end of the 1950s including an unprecedented 4 in-a-row between 1956 and 1959.

An additional 3 League Championships were won in the 1960s. In 1966 the clubs name changed to become Adelaide Juventus and 3 more titles were won in the 1970s up to 1976.

 In 1977 Adelaide Juventus changed their name to Adelaide City became a foundation member of Australias first truly national sporting club competition, the National Soccer League (NSL).

Whilst the club remained a front runner and developed a reputation for playing an attractive brand of football it was not until 1986 that the first of 3 NSL titles arrived.

That first NSL success arrived under steely faced coach Zoran Matic whose tactical nous would lead Adelaide City to further NSL Championship successes in 1992 and 1994.

The club also holds the record for most consecutive finals appearances. That record stands at 11 years having being achieved between 1990 and 2001.

With the collapse of the NSL imminent Adelaide City withdrew from the NSL just prior to the 2003-2004 season. They had competed in the NSL for 27 seasons. They applied to play in the South Australian Super League.  

After a season of consolidation in 2004, they won the S.A. Premier League Championship in 2005. Adelaide City celebrated its 60 year anniversary in 2006 by winning all 3 domestic competitions. It won the 2006 pre-season Errea Cup, the 2006 Knock-out Federation Cup and the 2006 BEST Super League completing the season undefeated