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.
| 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
- 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
Present teams
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.
- 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)
- Norm Smith (added 2007)
- Alex Jesaulenko (added 2008)
- Kevin Murray (added 2010)
- Barry Cable (added 2012)
- Royce Hart (added 2013)
- Tony Lockett (added 2015)
- Malcolm Blight (added 2017)
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)