Announcement

Australian Football League | A.F.L.

Australian Rules is the oldest coded sporting competition in the world

The Australian Rules Football League [men] comprises 18 teams in 6 states, played over 23 rounds, a finals series culminating in a grand final.

Originally known as the Victorian Football League (VFL), it was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition from the Victorian Football Association (VFA), with its inaugural season commencing the following year. The VFL, aiming to become a national competition, began expanding beyond Victoria to other Australian states in the 1980s, and changed its name to the AFL in 1990.

Short History

The game of football was devised by Tom Wills, H.C.A. Harrison, W.J. Hammersley and J.B. Thompson. The Melbourne Football Club was formed on August 7, 1858 - the year of the code's first recorded match between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar School.

Originally the Victorian Football League (VFL) emerged from the Victorian Football Association (VFA) in 1897. The VFL aiming to become a national competition and officially changed its name to the AFL in 1990.

The Victorian Football League (VFL) foundation clubs were Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne. In 1908, Richmond, 1925, Footscray (now the Western Bulldogs), Hawthorn and North Melbourne (now the Kangaroos).

The Victorian Football League (VFL) became the Australian Football League (AFL) in 1990 with clubs in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.

The 12 VFL clubs expanded to include the West Coast Eagles and the Brisbane Bears. By 1997, the competition comprised 16 clubs after Adelaide (1991), Fremantle (1995), and Port Adelaide (1997) joined the AFL and Fitzroy merged with the Brisbane Bears to form the Brisbane Lions (1997).

In 2011, Gold Coast Suns joined the competition as the 17th club followed by Greater Western Sydney Giants (GWS) in 2012 as the 18th club.

AFL Premiers

1990 - Collingwood
1991 - Hawthorn
1992 - West Coast
1993 - Essendon
1994 - West Coast
1995 - Carlton
1996 - North Melbourne
1997 - Adelaide
1998 - Adelaide
1999 - North Melbourne
2000 - Essendon
2001 - Brisbane Lions
2002 - Brisbane Lions
2003 - Brisbane Lions
2004 - Port Adelaide
2005 - Sydney Swans
2006 - West Coast
2007 - Geelong
2008 - Hawthorn
2009 - Geelong
2010 - Collingwood
2011 - Geelong
2012 - Sydney Swans
2013 - Hawthorn
2014 - Hawthorn
2015 - Hawthorn
2016 - Western Bulldogs
2017 - Richmond
2018 - West Coast
2019 - Richmond
2020 - Richmond
2021 - Melbourne
2022 - Geelong Cats