Australian Football League
The
Australian Football League (AFL) is the
Australian national competition in the
sport of
Australian rules football. The organisation that runs the league has become the
de facto world
governing body for the sport. The AFL is one of the most popular professional sporting leagues in the country. In 2005 the AFL
Premiership Season had a total regular season attendance of 6,283,788, and the average attendance of 35,703 was the
third highest of any professional sports league in the world.
The AFL evolved from the
Victorian domestic competition, and over the past 25 years it has grown into a national competition with teams based in five of the six Australian states although nine of the sixteen clubs are still based in
Melbourne. Since the move toward a national competition, the AFL has become a very powerful, wealthy and influential organisation in
Australian sport.
The 16 teams play against each other in 22 rounds between late March and early September. These matches are followed by a series of finals matches which culminate in the two best teams playing off for the premiership in the
AFL Grand Final, the
largest domestic club championship event in the world.
The
2006 AFL Season is currently in progress.
National Competition
See also AFL team rivalries for details of the main rivalries between the clubsAs of 2006, there are nine clubs based in
Melbourne, one in Victoria's second largest city,
Geelong, two
South Australian teams, two
Western Australian teams and one each in
Sydney,
New South Wales and
Brisbane,
Queensland.
AFL is the dominant league in television, print and radio news in
Victoria,
South Australia,
Western Australia,
Northern Territory and
Tasmania. In addition,
Australian rules football is the most participated
football code in these states and territories.
The popularity of AFL is increasing in the states of
New South Wales and
Queensland. This has been greatly assisted by recent premierships being won by the
Brisbane Lions (2001, 2002 and 2003) and
Sydney Swans (2005). Combined, the non-Victorian teams have won 9 of the last 14 premierships.
Historic Clubs
The modern day Australian Football League (AFL) has many teams dating back to the beginnings of the sport of Australian rules football, including the very first club,
Melbourne Football Club, whose founders codified the game in 1859.
Other early clubs still in existence include:
Geelong (1859),
Carlton (1864), North Melbourne (aka Hotham, now
Kangaroos) (1869),
Port Adelaide (1870),
Essendon and
St Kilda (1873), South Melbourne (now
Sydney Swans) (1874) and Footscray (now the
Western Bulldogs) (1877).
Present teams
| Club | City! Home Ground* |
|---|
| Adelaide Crows | Adelaide, South Australia | AAMI Stadium |
| Brisbane Lions | Brisbane, Queensland (merger of Brisbane Bears and Fitzroy Football Club in 1996) | Brisbane Cricket Ground (The 'Gabba) |
| Carlton Blues | Carlton, Victoria | Telstra Dome/Melbourne Cricket Ground |
| Collingwood Magpies | Collingwood, Victoria | Melbourne Cricket Ground |
| Essendon Bombers | Essendon, Victoria | Telstra Dome |
| Fremantle Dockers | Fremantle, Western Australia | Subiaco Oval |
| Geelong Cats | Geelong, Victoria | Skilled Stadium |
| Hawthorn Hawks | Hawthorn, Victoria | Melbourne Cricket Ground |
| Kangaroos | North Melbourne, Victoria | Telstra Dome |
| Melbourne Demons | Melbourne, Victoria | Melbourne Cricket Ground |
| Port Adelaide Power | Port Adelaide, South Australia | AAMI Stadium |
| Richmond Tigers | Richmond, Victoria | Melbourne Cricket Ground |
| St Kilda Saints | St Kilda, Victoria | Telstra Dome |
| Sydney Swans | Sydney, New South Wales (relocated from South Melbourne, Victoria in 1982) | Sydney Cricket Ground
Telstra Stadium |
| West Coast Eagles | Perth, Western Australia | Subiaco Oval |
| Western Bulldogs | Footscray, Victoria | Telstra Dome |
To raise the profile of AFL as a national competition and to raise funds for the clubs involved, some Victorian clubs have been transferring home games to interstate locations in return for a guaranteed income of up to $250,000 per game. [
1]
Recently, this has included
St Kilda and
Hawthorn which have played home games at
Aurora Stadium in
Launceston, Tasmania, the
Kangaroos which has played games at
Manuka Oval in
Canberra,
ACT, the
Western Bulldogs which has played games at
Marrara Oval in
Darwin, Northern Territory and at the
Sydney Cricket Ground, and
Melbourne which has played games at
Carrara Oval and
The Gabba in
Queensland.
Former teams
Playing lists
The AFL has tight controls over the player lists of each club. Each club can have a senior list of 38 players plus up to six rookie or veteran players. Clubs can only trade players during a "trade week" at the end of each season and can only recruit new players through the
AFL Draft. The rules for the draft have changed every few years since it was introduced in 1986, but the basic philosophy remains in that players are selected by clubs in the reverse of the order of their positions on the ladder at the end of the preceding season ie the club that finished last has first draft selection, then the club that finished second last. However, this philosophy has been compromised by giving priority picks to clubs which win fewer than five matches during the season and by allowing clubs to select sons of former players under a "father - son rule" which itself has been varied over the years.
A salary cap (known as the Total Player Payments or TPP) is also in place as part of the league's equalisation policy. In 2006, this is $6,472,812 per club. Salaries of draft selections are fixed for two years, but salaries for senior players are not normally released to the public, although they are estimated to be up to $1,000,000 per year for the top few players.[
2]
Infringements by clubs in relation to exceeding the TPP, not informing the AFL of payments or draft tampering are severe and can include large fines and exclusion from the AFL draft. Unlike the
National Rugby League, the AFL does not penalise clubs premiership points for breach of the salary cap.
AFL Premiership season
The
Toyota AFL Premiership Season, contested between the 16 teams from around Australia, lasts for 22 rounds and begins in late March.
At the end of the 22 rounds, the top eight teams compete in the four-week
Toyota AFL Finals Series. In the first week, depending on the their ladder position, teams play in two Qualifying Finals and two Elimination Finals. The two lowest placed losing teams are eliminated, the two highest placed winning teams progress into a Preliminary Final (in the third week), and the other four teams play in two Semi Finals (in the second week). The losers of the Semi Finals are eliminated and the remaining four teams play in two Preliminary Finals, with the winning teams play in the Grand Final.
The
McClelland Trophy is awarded to the team that finishes the league in first position (sometimes called the minor premiership) but this is not afforded anywhere near the prestige as the major objective which is the Premiership.
The winners of the Grand Final become the premiers of that year.
The Grand Final is tradionally played at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, even if two non-
Victorian teams are playing, on the last Saturday in September. Recent exceptions to this practice were in 1991 when the MCG was being redeveloped and the Grand Final was played at
Waverley Park, and in 2000 when the Grand Final was played in early September as the Sydney Olympics started on 15 September.
See
2006 Australian Football League season.
Pre-season Cup
Before the premiership season commences, a pre-season knock-out competition is played. It has had several incarnations as the
Panasonic Cup, the
Fosters Cup, the
Ansett Australia Cup, the
Wizard Cup, and, as of the 2006 season, the
NAB Cup. Teams knocked out of the cup play a series of Regional Challenge practice matches.
Before the VFL
For the full history of Australian rules football, see Origins of the game.In 1857, Tom Wills advocated playing football during winter as a way of keeping cricketers fit during off-season. The new sport was devised by Wills, his cousin 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.
VFL Begins
The
Victorian Football League was established in 1896 when several clubs broke away from the
Victorian Football Association which was the first Australian rules competition. The first games were played in 1897 between the foundation clubs â€" Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne. Essendon won the first VFL premiership.
Although the
Victorian Football League and the
Victorian Football Association continued to compete for spectator interest for many years, the VFL quickly established itself as the premier competition in Victoria.
In 1908, Richmond and University joined the VFL. University's term was short lived and it left the VFL after the 1914 season. In 1925, Footscray (now the Western Bulldogs), Hawthorn and North Melbourne (now the Kangaroos) joined the VFL.
In 1924 the VFL inaugurated the
Brownlow Medal for the player who received the most votes from the umpires for the
Fairest and Best Fairest player.
Between the years of 1927 and 1930, Collingwood became the first and so far, the only, team to win four successive premerships. This team became known as "the machine" because of the organised and consistent way that they played. In 1932, the VFL became an incorporated company.
1950s
In 1959, the VFL planned the first purpose built mega-stadium,
Waverley Park, to give it some independence from the
Melbourne Cricket Club which managed the
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australian rules' spiritual home.
Waverley Park was planned to hold 120,000 spectators (thus making it one of the largest stadiums in the world) but its capacity was cut to around 80,000 to save money. The new stadium hosted its first match, between Geelong and Fitzroy, in 1970.
The VFL played some interstate and overseas
exhibition matches in the 1950s to lift the profile of the league.
Geelong was the stand out team at the beginning of the 1950s, winning the premiership in 1951 then setting a record of 23 consecutive wins starting in Round 12, 1952 and ending in Round 13, 1953. This streak included the 1952 premiership.
After Footscray won its first (and so far, only) premiership in 1954 by defeating Melbourne, Melbourne became a powerhouse, winning five premierships between 1955 and 1960, including three in a row between 1955 and 1957. In 1958 Collingwood famously defeated Melbourne in the Grand Final, thereby preventing Melbourne from equalling Collingwood's record of four successive premierships.
1960s
In the 1960s, television began to have a huge impact, which continues unabated to this day. Spectators hurried home from games to watch replays and many former players took up positions as commentators on pre-game preview programs and and post-game review programs. There were also several attempts at variety programs featuring VFL players, who generally succeeded in demonstrating that their skills were limited to the football ground!
Hawthorn won its first ever Grand Final in 1961, beating Footscray. Melbourne's period of success ended with its premiership win in 1964, after which Carlton famously recruited Melbourne's champion player Ron Barassi as its captain-coach. St Kilda won its first, and so far only, Grand Final by one point over Collingwood in 1966 and after many years in the doldrums, Richmond won the Grand Final in 1967, starting a revival which lasted to 1980. Under Barassi's leadership, Carlton won the premiership in 1968, its first since 1947.
1970s
The 1970 Grand Final between Carlton and Collingwood attracted a record crowd for a football game in Australia of 121,696. This game also saw the greatest comeback in Grand Final history when after trailing by 44 points at half time, Carlton managed to win by 10 points.
Alex Jesaulenko took one of the most memorable marks in the sport's history during this game.
Hawthorn defeated St. Kilda in the Grand Final in 1971, beginning a long period of success that lasted into the early 1990s.
North Melbourne won its first ever premiership in 1975, then won again in 1977 in the Grand Final replay, following the second ever drawn Grand Final, against Collingwood. 1977 also saw the commencement of
State of Origin representative matches, where players were only able to represent the state of their birth, as opposed to representing the state in which they were currently playing.
The 1979 Grand final is remembered for a controversial goal that sparked another memorable Grand Final comeback by Carlton. Collingwood was leading by 28 points late in the second quarter when Carlton's
Wayne Harmes miskicked, chased the ball towards the boundary line and knocked it to his team mate
Ken Sheldon who kicked a goal. Although Harmes won the inaugural
Norm Smith Medal for the best player in the Grand Final, he is best-remembered for this incident as Collingwood supporters still claim that the ball had crossed the boundary line before Harmes knocked it to Sheldon.
Many rule changes were made during the decade in efforts to increase the attractiveness of the game:
* A "final five" system was introduced in 1972. The Grand Final was the the highest scoring Grand Final in history, accumulating a total of 327 points with Carlton defeating Richmond by 27 points.
* The centre diamond and a limit of four players per team at the centre bounce were introduced in 1973. The diamond was changed to the square in 1975.
* The two-umpire system was introduced in 1976.
* In 1978 the interchange law was introduced, to allow players to be able to be interchanged at any time (like basketball), rather than a one-off replacement (as in soccer).
1980s - National Expansion
As there was no national league for Australian rules, the VFL became the most popular and dominant league around the country in terms of overall attendance and interest. In 1980, the match of the day was broadcasted on television. Interest around the country followed, and new sides from other capitals (many with their own local leagues) soon expressed interest in new licences.
In 1982, South Melbourne club relocated to Sydney to become the
Sydney Swans. The
West Australian Football League and
Queensland Australian Football League were awarded licences to join the VFL and the
West Coast Eagles and
Brisbane Bears were formed. The first
National Draft was introduced in 1986. The
West Coast Eagles and
Brisbane Bears joined the league in 1987. The
night premiership, the
Panasonic Cup moved to the pre-season intstead of mid-year.
In 1984, a revival of the
International Rules representative series against Ireland occurred. In 1988, a
salary cap was introduced, and the law changed to make players awarded free kicks be obliged to kick the ball, rather than handpass. This rule change was reversed in 1990.
In 1989, the league began encouraging other Victorian clubs to merge or relocate interstate.
Footscray and
Fitzroy nearly merged, but a fundrasing event from Footscray supporters stops the proposed merger.
Collingwood played in its third successive Grand Final in 1981, yet didn't win any of them. Following its loss to Carlton in the Grand Final, the term "the Colliwobbles" was coined to describe Collingwood's inability to win a Grand Final.
A bitter rivalry between Essendon and Hawthorn emerged after competing in three consecutive Grand Finals between 1983 and 1985. Essendon's win in the 1984 marked the first time since 1966 that a team other than Richmond, Carlton, Hawthorn or North Melbourne had won the premiership. The dominance of these few clubs and mounting financial problems for several clubs resulted in the VFL adopting an equalisation policy, centred around the player draft and salary cap measures.
In 1988, Melbourne made its first appearance in a Grand Final since 1964, but it wasn't a memorable return to the big stage. Hawthorn crushed an underdog Melbourne side by 96 points, the biggest Grand Final win in history.
In what many believe to be the finest Grand Final of the modern era, Hawthorn overcame a strong challenge from Geelong in 1989. It was a physical game right from the start when Geelong's
Mark Yeates ran through
Dermott Brereton at the opening bounce, bruising Brereton's kidney and causing internal bleeding. In a courageous display, Brereton refused to leave the ground and marked and goaled several minutes later to stem Geelong's attempt to establish superiority. Later heavy clashes would see
John Platten knocked out and
Robert DiPierdomenico suffer broken ribs and a punctured lung. Despite a Grand Final record nine goals from Geelong's
Gary Ablett, Hawthorn still went on to win by six points.
1990s - Australian Football League
|
Former AFL Logo (1990-99) |
The VFL was renamed as the
Australian Football League in 1990. The VFL name disappeared until it was adopted by the AFL's state feeder competition which was the most recent incarnation of the former VFA.
In 1990, the
Port Adelaide Magpies made a bid for an AFL licence. In response, the
Adelaide Crows were formed by the
SANFL and joined the league in 1991, when the Grand Final was played at Waverley Park for first and only time as the MCG was being redeveloped. This game was also the first time that a non-Victorian team -
West Coast Eagles - made the Grand Final.
The final six was introduced in 1991. In 1992, Waverley Park was renamed "AFL Park" and the West Coast Eagles became the first non-Victorian team to win a premiership, beating Geelong.
In 1994, the
Fremantle Football Club was formed to represent the strong history of
Fremantle clubs from the WAFL, and played its first game in the AFL in 1995. That year, the first Western Derby was played between the two Perth-based teams. Carlton made the record books by winning its 16th premiership after 16 consectuve wins and only two losses for the entire season.
Some of the rule changes of the decade included:
* In 1993, a third field umpire was introduced.
* In 1994, the
McIntyre Final Eight System system was introduced.
* A fourth interchange player was added for the 1998 season, increasing match day squads to 22 players.
In 1996, the AFL celebrated its centenary. One round of games featured a repeat of the games in Round 1, 1897, with players wearing replicas of the guernseys worn 100 years earlier. Late in the season, after it looked like the
Fitzroy Lions would succumb to financial problems and merge with North Melbourne, the AFL dramatically announced that Fitzroy would merge with the
Brisbane Bears and play as the
Brisbane Lions in 1997. North Melbourne recoverd from being jilted, and became the only team to win a gold premiership cup by defeating Sydney, which had not played in a Grand Final since 1945.
Later in 1996, an attempt to merge Melbourne and Hawthorn to form the
Melbourne Hawks made headlines, but failed to eventuate. Ross Oakley stepped down as the AFL's Chief Executive and was replaced by
Wayne Jackson. And the AFL rejected bids from Queensland club
Southport Sharks and the
Tasmanian government to enter teams.
In 1997,
Port Adelaide Magpies was finally awarded a licence to join the AFL as the
Port Adelaide Power. The inaugural
Showdown occurred in that year, with Port Adelaide causing an upset victory over Adelaide. The Footscray Bulldogs was renamed the
Western Bulldogs. Adelaide won the first of two consectuive premierships and became the first side in history to win four finals in one series and win the premiership. St. Kilda, their opponent, were playing in their first Grand Final since 1971.
The International Rules series against the
GAA was made a regular annual event from 1998. Adelaide repeated its feats of a year before by winning four finals in one series to win the premiership, beating favourites North Melbourne. North had major goalscoring problems in the match and had a dimsal second half.
Andrew McLeod won his second
Norm Smith Medal in two years.
In 1999, the league sold its
Waverley Park stadium and used the funds in a joint venture to begin construction of the
Docklands Stadium. The league announced the last AFL
State of Origin match, and its intentions to instead to focus on the new national league. Carlton socred a huge one-point upset victory in the preliminary final to face North Melbourne. A competitive game up to half time, North ran away with the game and the premiership by 35 points.
2000s
The logo was again changed in 2000. The first indoor Australian rules football match was held at
Docklands Stadium in the same year. In the first game at the venue, Essendon crushed Port Adelaide by 94 points. It was a sign of things to come as Essendon only lost one game for the entire season and had a percentage of 159.1%, one of the highest in history and drawed equal with the fewest losses in an entire season, tieing with the Collingwood machine team of 1929. They faced Melbourne in the Grand Final and won by 60 points with some poor goalscoring blunders.
In 2001, the Brisbane Lions won the first of a historic three successive premierships, becoming the first Queensland based and non-Victorian team to do so. In
2002, a thrilling game from start to finish saw Brisbane beat Collingwood by nine points on a wet and sloppy day. The final margin was the largest all day, making it one of the closest Grand Finals in history.
In 2003,
Andrew Demetriou was appointed as CEO. Brisbane won their third consecutive premiership by destroying Collingwood by 50 points highlighted by 39 disposals to
Simon Black and five incredible goals from
Jason Akermanis. Brisbane became the first team since Melbourne in the 1950s to win three consecutive premierships.
In 2004, Port Adelaide won its first premiership and thwarting Brisbane's attempt at equalling the AFL record set by Collingwood from 1927-30. It was the first Grand final to be held between two non-Victorian sides.
2005 saw history made by the Sydney Swans, becoming the first New South Wales-based AFL team to win a premiership and breaking a 72 year premiership drought for the club. A close game from start to finish, Sydney defeated the West Coast Eagles by four points in one of the lowest scoring Grand Finals in history and the closest final scores in over a decade, made possible by a memorable mark from the Swan's
Leo Barry.
A series of new rule changes were introduced for the 2006 season intended to speed up the game, including allowing the ball to be brought back into play immediately after a point is scored and limiting the time allowed for players to kick for goal to 30 seconds.
Future
Several areas have been discussed as expansion possibilities, most often
Tasmania, western
Sydney, North
Queensland, the
Gold Coast,
Canberra,
Darwin and even
New Zealand or
South Africa, but the AFL have an aim to keep the competition to 16 teams. It is generally thought that if the AFL expands into a new area, one of the less financially well-off Victorian clubs will re-locate, rather than an entirely new club being formed. The Western Bulldogs and Kangaroos are most often considered candidates for re-location, and some theorise that their respective name changes in the 1990s were in anticipation of such a move.
Having experimented with home games in Western
Sydney, the Kangaroos play regular premiership season games at
Manuka Oval in Canberra, and the Bulldogs have played in
Cairns and
Darwin. Melbourne have played home games in South East Queensland (both
Brisbane and the
Gold Coast) while Hawthorn and St Kilda have played in
Launceston, leading to more speculation that they are attempting to build a supporter base in those areas for future re-location.
Mergers have also been an option for the AFL, as was seen with the Brisbane Bears and the defunct Fitzroy Lions in 1996. If two Victorian teams merge, then it makes room for a 16th team to come from an interstate city - the likely candidates for this are the
Southport Sharks (on the Gold Coast) or a Tasmanian team (based in
Hobart or
Launceston). However, since several failed club merger attempts, the AFL has been less willing to actively pursue the amalgamation of two Victorian-based clubs as an option.
See :Category:Australian Football League awards.Major annual awards
*
Brownlow Medal*
Coleman Medal*
AFL Rising Star*
Leigh Matthews Trophy*
Norm Smith Medal*
Jock McHale Medal*
Michael Tuck Medal*
AFL Mark of the Year*
AFL Goal of the Year*
All Australian Team * Club
Best and Fairest Awards
Hall of Fame
For the centenary of the VFL/AFL in 1996, the
Australian Football Hall of Fame was formed. Its members not only consist of those who have contributed to the VFL/AFL, but from Australian football in general (in such leagues as the
SANFL and
WAFL). That year 136 Australian Rules identities were inducted, including 100 players, 10 coaches, 10 umpires, 10 administrators and 6 media representatives.
Legends of the Game
In 1996, twelve Hall of Fame members were declared
Legends of the Game. Now, each year another member of the Hall of Fame is declared a legend. The following is a list of
Legends of the Game.
*
Ron Barassi Junior (added 1996)*
Haydn Bunton Senior(added 1996)*
Roy Cazaly (added 1996)*
John Coleman (added 1996)*
Jack Dyer (added 1996)*
Graham Farmer (added 1996)*
Leigh Matthews (added 1996)*
John Nicholls (added 1996)*
Bob Pratt (added 1996)*
Dick Reynolds (added 1996)*
Bob Skilton (added 1996)*
Ted Whitten Senior (added 1996)*
Ian Stewart (added 1997)*
Gordon Coventry (added 1998)*
Peter Hudson (added 1999)*
Kevin Bartlett (added 2000)*
Barrie Robran (added 2001)*
Bill Hutchison (added 2003)*
Jock McHale (added 2005)*
Darrell Baldock (added 2006)Team of the Century
To celebrate the 100th season of the AFL, the "AFL Team of the Century" was named in 1996.
