Australian Football League

The Australian Football League (AFL) is the Australian national league in the sport of Australian Rules Football. The league is the most popular sports competition in Australia. In 2017, more than 7.2 million people watched a game in a stadium.

Australian Football League
General Information
Founded 1897, Melbourne
Previous names Victorian Football League or VFL (1897-1989)
Current clubs Adelaide
Brisbane Lions
Carlton
Collingwood
Essendon
Fremantle
Geelong
Gold Coast
Greater Western Sydney
Hawthorn
North Melbourne
Melbourne
Port Adelaide
Richmond
St Kilda
Sydney Swans
West Coast Eagles
Western Bulldogs
Stadiums Melbourne Cricket Ground
ANZ Stadium
Marvel Stadium
Adelaide Oval
Sydney Cricket Ground
Optus Stadium
The Gabba
Skilled Stadium
Aurora Stadium
Manuka Oval
Marrara Oval
Carrara Stadium
Sydney Showground Stadium
2017 Season
Premiers Richmond defeated Adelaide
Attendance 100,021
Norm Smith Medalist Dustin Martin
Minor Premiers Adelaide
Wooden spoon Brisbane Lions
Brownlow Medallist Dustin Martin
Coleman Medallist Lance Franklin
Average attendance 35,207

This sport is the best sport in the entire world.

The clubs

National Competition

Since the 2012 season, there are nine clubs from Melbourne, one from Victoria's second largest city, Geelong, two teams from South Australia's capital of Adelaide, two from the Perth area in Western Australia, two from Queensland and two from Sydney, New South Wales.

AFL is the dominant league in television, print and radio news in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Tasmania. Also Australian rules football has more people playing than any other football code in these states and territories.

The AFL is becoming more popular in the states of New South Wales and Queensland. This happened after the finals wins by the Brisbane Lions (2001, 2002 and 2003) and Sydney Swans (2005). With the success of these sides, interest in Australian rules football has grown rapidly in these states in recent years. This directly led to new clubs being added in both states in the 2010s—Gold Coast in 2011 and Greater Western Sydney in 2012.

Major annual awards

Present teams

Club Nickname City Home Ground Entered Competition No. of Premierships Notes
Adelaide Football Club Crows Adelaide, South Australia Adelaide Oval 1991 2
Brisbane Lions Football Club Lions Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane Cricket Ground (The 'Gabba) 1997 3 Club formed after merger of Brisbane Bears and Fitzroy Football Club in 1996.
Carlton Football Club Blues Carlton, Victoria Etihad Stadium/Melbourne Cricket Ground 1897 16
Collingwood Football Club Magpies Collingwood, Victoria Melbourne Cricket Ground 1897 15
Essendon Football Club Bombers Essendon, Victoria Etihad Stadium 1897 16
Fremantle Football Club Dockers Fremantle, Western Australia Domain Stadium 1995 Nil
Geelong Football Club Cats Geelong, Victoria Simonds stadium 1897 8
Gold Coast Football Club Suns Gold Coast, Queensland Carrara Stadium 2011 Nil
Greater Western Sydney Football Club Giants Sydney, New South Wales Sydney Showground Stadium
ANZ Stadium
2012 Nil
Hawthorn Football Club Hawks' Hawthorn, Victoria Melbourne Cricket Ground 1925 10
North Melbourne Football Club Kangaroos North Melbourne, Victoria Etihad Stadium 1925 4
Melbourne Football Club Demons Melbourne, Victoria Melbourne Cricket Ground 1897 12
Port Adelaide Football Club Power Alberton, South Australia Adelaide Oval 1997 1
Richmond Football Club Tigers Richmond, Victoria Melbourne Cricket Ground 1908 11
St Kilda Football Club Saints St Kilda, Victoria Etihad Stadium 1897 1
Sydney Swans Football Club Swans Sydney, New South Wales Sydney Cricket Ground
ANZ Stadium
1897 5 Relocated from South Melbourne, Victoria in 1982.
West Coast Eagles Football Club Eagles Perth, Western Australia Domain Stadium 1987 3
Western Bulldogs Football Club Bulldogs Footscray, Victoria Etihad Stadium 1925 2 Formerly the Footscray Football Club, renamed in 1998.

Legends of the Game

In 1996, twelve Hall of Fame members were declared Legends of the Game. Another member of the Hall of Fame is declared a legend every few years. The following is a list of Legends of the Game.


VFL/AFL Records

  • Highest score
    Geelong - 37.17 (239) vs. Brisbane Bears
    Carrara Oval, May 3, 1992.
  • Highest winning margin
    Fitzroy - 190 points
    Waverley Park, July 28, 1979.
  • Highest aggregate score
    52.33 (345) - Melbourne 21.15 (141) vs St Kilda 31.18 (204)
    MCG, May 6, 1978
  • Highest score in one quarter
    South Melbourne - 17.4 (106) vs. St Kilda
    Lake Oval, July 26, 1919
  • Largest crowd
    Carlton v Collingwood - 121,696
    MCG, September 26, 1970 (Grand Final)
  • Largest Home & Away Season crowd
    Melbourne v Collingwood - 99,346
    MCG, 1958
  • Largest crowd for a game between a Victorian and non-Victorian club
    Adelaide Crows v St Kilda Saints - 99,645
    MCG, September 27, 1997 (Grand Final)
  • Largest crowd for a game between non-Victorian clubs
    West Coast Eagles v Sydney Swans - 97,431
    MCG, September 30, 2006 (Grand Final)
  • Largest International crowd
    Melbourne v Sydney - 32,789
    B.C. Place, Vancouver, Canada, 1987
  • Most premierships
    Carlton 16, most recent 1995, Essendon 16, most recent 2000
  • Most wooden spoons (last position at the end of the Home and Away Season)
    St Kilda - 26, most recent 2000
  • Most consecutive premierships
    Collingwood - 4
    1927-1930
  • Most games won in a season
    Essendon - 24 (incl. finals)
    2000
  • Most consecutive wins
    Geelong - 23
    1952-1953
  • Most consecutive games unbeaten
    Geelong - 26
    1952-1953
  • Most consecutive losses
    University - 51 (1911-1914)
  • Most games played in a career
    Brent Harvey (North Melbourne) - 432 games
  • Most games as club captain
    Stephen Kernahan (Carlton) - 226 games
  • Most goals in a career
    Tony Lockett (St Kilda/Sydney) - 1359 goals
  • Most goals in a game
    Fred Fanning (Melbourne) - 18 Goals
  • Most goals in a season
    Bob Pratt (South Melbourne, 1934) and Peter Hudson (Hawthorn, 1971) - 150 goals
  • Most consecutive matches
    Jim Stynes (Melbourne) - 244
  • Most consecutive matches from debut
    Jared Crouch (Sydney) - 194 (Ended Rd 13, 2006 due to unknown injury)
  • Tallest player
    Aaron Sandilands (Fremantle), Peter Street (Western Bulldogs) - 211cm
  • Shortest player
    Danny Craven (St Kilda/Brisbane) - 162cm
  • Heaviest player
    Aaron Sandilands (Fremantle) - 124kg
  • Longest kick
    Albert Thurgood (Essendon) - 98.48m (109 yards, 1 foot, 3.2 inches)