Victorian Football League
Encyclopedia
The Victorian Football League (VFL) which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association (VFA), taking its new name as from the 1996 season, is the premier Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

 league in Victoria (not counting the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

. For historical purposes, the present VFL is sometimes referred to as the VFA/VFL. The VFA was formed in 1877, immediately after the foundation of a similar body in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

 and is the second-oldest Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

 league, replacing the loose affiliation of clubs that had been the hallmark of the early years of a game which was first played as early as 1850s.

Today, the VFL is one of many regional Australian semi-professional competitions. It comprises 13 teams from throughout Victoria, nine of which have a continuous VFA heritage.

The VFL should not be confused with the previously-mentioned national Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

, which evolved from the former Victorian Football League in the early 1990s. The AFL is now a national competition but still has 10 of its 17 clubs based in Victoria. The VFL broke away from the VFA prior to the 1897 season. Because of its history, it is sometimes referred to as the VFL/AFL. Many Victorian AFL clubs affiliate with VFL clubs, and as a result, the league partly serves as a reserves competition for the AFL.

Formative years

The Victorian Football Association (VFA) was founded in 1877 on 17 May. The new governing body replaced an earlier system where club delegates met informally to decide on the rules, the selection of the winner of the Challenge Cup, the division of clubs into Senior and Junior status, and other matters of mutual interest. The VFA continued to list its teams as being of either Senior or Junior status.

Foundation Senior clubs of the VFA were Albert Park
Albert Park Football Club
Albert Park Football Club is an Australian rules football club located 3 km south of Melbourne in the suburb of Albert Park.Originally affiliated with the VFA during the 19th century.The club colours are red and white....

, Carlton
Carlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...

, East Melbourne, Essendon
Essendon Football Club
The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

, Hotham
North Melbourne Football Club
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...

, Melbourne
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....

, St. Kilda & Geelong
Geelong Football Club
The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...

. The Junior section of the VFA originally included such clubs as Ballarat
Ballarat Football Club
The Ballarat Football Club competes in the Ballarat Football League in the Ballarat region of Victoria, Australia. The club, nicknamed the Swans, has a history dating back to 1860. Ballarat once competed in the Victorian Football Association....

, Hawthorn
Hawthorn Football Club
The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...

, Northcote
Northcote Football Club
Northcote Football Club, nicknamed The Dragons, was an Australian rules football club which played in the VFA from 1908 until 1987. The club's colours were green and yellow and it was based in the Melbourne suburb of Northcote...

, South Melbourne
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...

, Standard, Victoria United, Victorian Railways and Williamstown
Williamstown Football Club
The Williamstown Football Club, nicknamed The Seagulls, is an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne and are currently playing in the Victorian Football League...

. During its early years, many clubs dropped in and out and there were erratic promotions between the Senior and Junior sections. Hawthorn, Northcote, Standard, Victoria United, Victorian Railways and Williamstown dropped out within a year or so but Hawthorn, Northcote and Williamstown were all to return at various times.

Interestingly, in the early years, the compilation of fixtures was not done by the VFA but was the responsibility of each club secretary (a system that had evolved before the formation of the Association). Therefore, in a typical season, a club would play against other VFA teams (both Senior and Junior), non-VFA Victorian clubs, and even interstate teams.

At the end of each season, the VFA announced the Premier team. This was usually the club with the most wins, but that may not have been the case if the VFA felt that the leading team had had too many wins against junior clubs. Therefore, there are examples of the Premiership being given to the club with the second-highest number of wins.

From 1878 the Association recorded the number of behinds, but with only goals counting towards a win, thus the number of draws was extremely high. The number of players on the field was usually 20 but when a Senior and Junior team met, the Junior club was usually allowed to field extra players; there were no reserves and if a player was injured the team was a man short.

After 1889, the often-changeable collection of clubs in the VFA became settled at twelve consistent clubs: , , Fitzroy
Fitzroy Football Club
The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...

, Footscray, , , , Port Melbourne
Port Melbourne Football Club
The Port Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Borough, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Port Melbourne and is currently playing in the Victorian Football League ....

, , , South Melbourne
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...

 and Williamstown
Williamstown Football Club
The Williamstown Football Club, nicknamed The Seagulls, is an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne and are currently playing in the Victorian Football League...

; they were joined by a thirteenth club, , in 1892.

Split and re-establishment

After the 1896 season, eight of the thirteen clubs broke away to form the Victorian Football League (VFL): Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne. All twenty VFA premierships to that stage had been shared by six of those eight clubs. The VFA continued to be an independent body, with only five of its original clubs – Footscray, North Melbourne, Port Melbourne, Richmond and Williamstown – but within five years it had expanded to ten clubs, a size it maintained until the 1920s. Although its size was constant, its membership was not, with many new clubs lasting only a few years before leaving, and four clubs switching to the VFL: Richmond in 1908, and North Melbourne, Footscray and (who joined the VFA in 1914) in 1925.

In the late 1920s, the VFA expanded to twelve teams, including six new clubs, and those twelve teams remained unchanged for several decades thereafter. Those clubs were: Port Melbourne; Williamstown; Brunswick
Brunswick Football Club
Brunswick Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the VFA from 1897 until 1990. They were originally nicknamed the Pottery Workers before being renamed the Magpies and were based in Brunswick, Victoria. The club wore black and white guernseys...

 (joined 1897); Prahran
Prahran Football Club
Prahran Football Club, nicknamed The Two Blues, is an Australian rules football club based at Toorak Park in Orrong Road between High Street and Malvern Road, Armadale, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Since 2007, the club has competed in D1 Section of the Victorian Amateur Football Association...

 (1898); Brighton
Brighton Football Club
Brighton Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the VFA. The club was based in the Melbourne suburb of Brighton and were nicknamed the Penguins...

 (1908); Northcote
Northcote Football Club
Northcote Football Club, nicknamed The Dragons, was an Australian rules football club which played in the VFA from 1908 until 1987. The club's colours were green and yellow and it was based in the Melbourne suburb of Northcote...

 (1908); Coburg (1925); Camberwell
Camberwell Football Club
Camberwell Football Club was an Australian rules football club who were formed in 1896 and competed in the Victorian Football Association between 1926 and 1990. Nicknamed the Cobras, Camberwell wore dark blue, white and red club colours...

 (1926); Preston
Northern Bullants
Northern Blues Football Club is a long-established Australian rules football club based in Preston and currently playing in the Victorian Football League representing the central and outer areas of Melbourne...

 (1926, after a temporary period between 1903-1911); Yarraville
Yarraville Football Club
Yarraville Football Club was an Australian rules football club founded in 1903 and played in the VJFA until 1927. In 1928, the club joined the VFA where it played until 1984 when the club went into recess. In 1996, the Kingsville Football Club in the FDFL who by this time had taken over the...

 (1928); Oakleigh
Oakleigh Football Club
Oakleigh Football Club, nicknamed the Devils, was an Australian rules football club from Oakleigh which played in the VFA from 1929 until 1994...

 (1929); Sandringham (1929).

A number of rule changes were adopted during the last years of the 19th Century and the first years of the 20th:
  • From 1897 behinds (1 point) were counted towards the score. (The VFL also changed its scoring system in the same year.)

  • The 'little mark' was abolished in 1897. A 'little mark' was taken when a player passed the ball by foot at least two yards (1.83 m) generally from a pack of players. It was difficult for umpires to pick out 'little marks' in scrimmages. It was abolished to open up play. (The VFL also abolished it in the same year.)

  • Also in 1897 the number of players was reduced from 20 to 18. This worked well as it gave players more freedom around the packs. Since then there have been a few modifications to the VFA's on-field numbers: 1908 – to 17; 1912 – to 16; 1918 – reverted to 18; 1959 – to 16; 1992 – reverted to 18. (The VFL changed from 20 to 18 two years after the VFA [1899] and has had 18 players on the ground ever since.)

  • An order-off rule was also introduced in 1898 but only lasted for two seasons as it was not popular with either players or umpires. Umpires were never sure how rough things had to get before they could order a player off, rather than awarding a free kick to an opponent. (The VFL has never had an order-off rule.)

  • In 1903 the VFA introduced its first finals. Prior to this, the four teams at the top of the ladder at the end of what are now called home-and-away games made up the 'final four'. (The VFL had introduced finals in 1897.)


Between at least 1900 and 1902, there was a short-lived VFA 2nd Division consisting of junior clubs such as Heidelberg
Heidelberg Football Club
Heidelberg Football Club is an Australian rules football club in Heidelberg, Victoria, currently competing in the Northern Football League.-History:...

.

The first regular radio broadcasts of VFA games were made by 3XY, a little after the station commenced operations in 1935. The commentator was Wallace ("Jumbo") Sharland who had earlier been the first to describe VFL matches, that being on 3AR in 1923. (Jumbo Sharland was a former Geelong player and, at one time, a newspaper football reporter.) In 1954 3AK
3AK
3AK is the call sign of SEN 1116 and earlier the on-air name of a former Melbourne talk-back radio and music station, which, in 2003, leased its licence to sports network SEN 1116...

 began broadcasting VFA games, albeit only for a season or two. In 1966 Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...

 began to televise Sunday games. The 1970s also saw broadcasts on 3UZ
3UZ
3UZ is the official callsign of a medium-wave radio station in Melbourne, Australia which broadcasts under the name Radio Sport National.-History:...

, while local Geelong station, 3GL, broadcast all Geelong West matches. In 1982, the then-dominant Melbourne sports radio station, 3AW
3AW
3AW is a talkback radio station in Melbourne, Australia on 693 kHz AM. It began transmission on 22 February 1932 as Melbourne's fifth commercial radio station.-History:...

, broadcast the Grand Final
Grand Final
Grand Final is a predominantly Australian sport term used to describe a match that decides a league champion.It originated in Victoria and South Australia and has become specifically significant Australian culture...

. In 2003 3AK evolved into sports radio station SEN
SEN 1116
SEN 1116 , the acronym standing for Sports Entertainment Network, is a commercial AM radio station based in Melbourne, Australia, operating on 1116 kHz...

 1116, and provided a coverage of VFL matches, but this was discontinued after they won the rights to broadcast the AFL (Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

), as from the 2007 season. In the 2007 and 2008 seasons, Radio 1611 Double X began broadcasting VFL matches. The station was the first to podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...

 replays.
(Details of current broadcasts are found below – "Radio".)
During the 1940s, there were talks between the VFA and VFL
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 towards an amalgamation of the two bodies with the VFA initially forming a second division of the VFL. The negotiations broke down over the issue of promotion and relegation. The VFA wanted an automatic promotion of each Division Two premier, while the bottom Division One team at the end of each season, would have been automatically relegated. On the other hand, the VFL wanted these two teams to play off for promotion and relegation.

Expansion

During the 1950s and 1960s, as Melbourne expanded geographically, the VFA embarked on a deliberate plan to establish its presence in new areas by expanding the number of teams, most of these coming from the newer, outer suburbs. By 1960, the league had expanded to seventeen teams; when the eighteenth club joined in 1961, the VFA was split into First and Second Divisions, the First Division originally having 10 teams, and Second Division eight. There was a promotion and relegation system between the two Divisions, with one team promoted and one relegated each season. Although the league was fairly constant at twenty teams during the 1970s, it expanded again (into the outer eastern suburbs) in the 1980s. At its peak in 1983, there were 24 teams competing in the VFA.

The VFA also pioneered night and Sunday games. After years of losing ground to the VFL, the VFA's launch of Sunday games in 1960 was a turning point for the better. Eventually, most games were played on a Sunday, while the VFL played its games on Saturdays. This was similar to the College/Pro football day divide still present in the US. The Victorian Government
Government of Victoria
The Government of Victoria, under the Constitution of Australia, ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence in all other areas...

 supported the VFA's new-found vigour, and banned the VFL from holding games on Sundays. In 1982, the then-dominant sports radio station 3AW
3AW
3AW is a talkback radio station in Melbourne, Australia on 693 kHz AM. It began transmission on 22 February 1932 as Melbourne's fifth commercial radio station.-History:...

 broadcast the Grand Final.

Decline

The decline of the VFA may be said to have commenced in 1982 when the VFL moved the struggling South Melbourne Swans to Sydney. All Sydney Swans
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...

 home games were played on Sunday and televised. This move basically destroyed the VFA's television ratings, and in 1986 Network Ten stopped broadcasting matches. This role was later taken on by the ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...

, but on a much lower-profile basis. VFA support declined. Increasing player payments and declining financial support and sponsorship forced clubs to leave the association, many unable to finish seasons. With fifteen teams remaining at the start of 1989, the VFA reverted to a single division.

In 1989, after the Seven Network
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...

 was given exclusive rights to broadcast VFL/AFL, the ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...

 increased its television commitment to the VFA in lieu of telecasting the VFL/AFL games. It attracted good ratings. Despite this, the early 1990s was a difficult period for the association, with many sides, including stalwart sides such as Oakleigh, Prahran and Dandenong leaving the competition or becoming defunct, and others, such as Williamstown, on the verge of folding.

At its nadir in 1995, only nine teams remained. The teams were a mixture of vintages, with two (Port Melbourne and Williamstown) still in the league from before 1897, three (Preston, Coburg and Sandringham) surviving from the 1920s expansion, and four (Box Hill, Frankston
Frankston Football Club
Frankston Football Club, nicknamed The Dolphins, is an Australian rules football club based in Frankston, Victoria and currently playing in the Victorian Football League. The club was formed in 1887. The Dolphins have no alignments to any AFL clubs.-Peninsula Football Association:Frankston was a...

, Springvale and Werribee
Werribee Football Club
The Werribee Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club, based in Werribee, was formed in 1965 and currently plays in the Victorian Football League. Werribee was defeated by the Sandringham Football Club in the 2005 VFL Grand Final.-History:The Werribee Football Club...

) surviving from the more recent expansion. In 1996, the VFL began a brief period of expansion into regional areas, with existing powerhouse country clubs North Ballarat
North Ballarat Football Club
North Ballarat Football Club, nicknamed The Roosters, is an Australian rules football club based at Northern Oval in Ballarat. The club is locally known as the Roosters and plays in the Victorian Football League are current competition premiers and one of only four clubs based outside of Melbourne...

 and Traralgon joining the nine existing teams. Traralgon's tenure was short-lived but they were replaced by another regional club, Bendigo.

In 1990, the VFL renamed itself the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

. The VFA evolved into the Victorian Football League in 1995, a change which caused much debate at the time. The new VFL adopted the original League logo, but featured a gold "V" and football, to reflect the colours of the former VFA logo. The logo reverted to the original VFL's blue and white, a few years later.

Since 2000: affiliation with the AFL

After the 1999 season, the VFL merged with the VSFL, the latter of which was a reserves competition for the AFL's Victorian clubs (and Sydney). The resulting competition contained a mixture of existing VFL clubs, reserves teams of AFL clubs, and affiliation arrangements between VFL and AFL clubs (whereby reserves players for the AFL would join the senior team of the VFL when not playing in the AFL). The affiliation deals greatly improved the financial viability of the clubs in question, but they diluted their ability to represent their suburb. There have been many changes to the affiliation arrangements in the decade since the VFL and VSFL merged. For a full list of the league's affiliation arrangements since 2000, see Reserves affiliations of Australian Football League clubs.

This new configuration received much media attention at the season launch. The main point of interest was that there were matchups that had not occurred since the 1897 VFA/VFL schism.

Also notable, but short-lived was the playing of feature matches on Monday nights, a time when no AFL matches were played. However, these matches were not shown on free-to-air television, but on Channel 7's C7 Sport
C7 Sport
C7 Sport was a pay-TV service in Australia, owned and run by Kerry Stokes' Seven Network. The service was carried on the Austar and Optus Vision pay-TV networks between 1995 and 2002, when it was removed in controversial circumstances...

 subscription channel. This was at a time when pay TV penetration was very poor; there was no access to this channel in most of Melbourne, and in the parts of Melbourne that could receive it there was a much more popular competing subscription platform, Foxtel
Foxtel
Foxtel is an Australian pay television company, operating cable, direct broadcast satellite television and IPTV services. It was formed in 1995 through a joint venture established between Telstra and News Corporation....

.

There was also a small continuation of the expansion of the league into regional areas, with the Murray Kangaroos Football Club
Murray Kangaroos Football Club
Murray Kangaroos Football Club, officially nicknamed The Kangaroos, was an Australian rules football club which competed in the Victorian Football League between 2000 and 2002...

 representing the Ovens & Murray Football League
Ovens & Murray Football League
The Ovens and Murray Football League, often referred to locally as the O&M, is a semi-professional Australian rules football league based around ten clubs in north-eastern Victoria and the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, and affiliated with the Victorian Country Football League...

 and an expansion into Tasmania
Tasmanian Devils Football Club
Tasmania Football Club, nicknamed The Devils, was an Australian rules football club which competed in the Victorian Football League in Australia. Formed in 2001, it was the youngest and the only non-Victorian club in the league. The club was based in the state of Tasmania at Bellerive Oval and was...

, although both of these teams have since folded.

These days the VFL is moderately popular in Victoria, although not nearly as well-supported as the dominant Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

. Matches now attract both traditional fans of the VFA/VFL clubs, and fans of affiliated AFL clubs keen to watch their reserves players in action.

Recorder Cup

Awarded to the best and fairest player in each VFA season, 1923-41. It was first awarded one year before the VFL's Brownlow Medal
Brownlow Medal
The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...

 but well after the inauguration of the SANFL's Magarey Medal
Magarey Medal
For the biography award of the same name, see Magarey Medal for biography. For a list of winners, see List of Magarey Medallists.The Magarey Medal is an Australian rules football honour awarded annually since 1898 to the fairest and most brilliant player in the South Australian National Football...

, first awarded in 1898.

VFA Medal

Awarded to the best and fairest player in each VFA season, 1933-1940, concurrent with the Recorder Cup.

J. J. Liston Trophy

Awarded to the best and fairest player in each VFA/VFL season, since 1942.

Frosty Miller Medal

Awarded annually to the leading goal-kicker in the VFL season.

Norm Goss Memorial Medal

Awarded annually to the player voted best afield in the VFL grand final.

Fothergill-Round Medal

Awarded annually to the most promising young talent in the VFL competition.

Frank Johnson Medal

Awarded to the player voted best afield for the VFL in interstate football games.

Salary cap

The VFL is classed as a semi-professional
Semi-professional
A semi-professional athlete is one who is paid to play and thus is not an amateur, but for whom sport is not a full-time occupation, generally because the level of pay is too low to make a reasonable living based solely upon that source, thus making the athlete not a full professional...

 competition.

In 2007 the league had a salary cap
Salary cap
In professional sports, a salary cap is a cartel agreement between teams that places a limit on the amount of money that can be spent on player salaries. The limit exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both...

 of $185,000 excluding service payments. There are a significantly higher number of AFL reserves due to affiliations with Victorian clubs, but player payments for these appearances is apparently not included in the VFL's salary cap.

Attendance

Attendances are small by AFL standards, and generally less than the SANFL and WAFL
West Australian Football League
The West Australian Football League is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The WAFL is the second-most popular in the state, behind the nation-wide Australian Football League...

, with an average of between 1,000–2,000 in attendance.

The VFL does not publish home and away attendance figures as some games are played as AFL curtain raisers, however various sources quote attendances for some games of the stronger clubs that maintain home records of their own.

Recent finals series

Year Grand Final Clubs Venue Crowd Total Finals Series Attendance
2011 Port Melbourne def Williamstown Etihad Stadium  11,879
2010 North Ballarat def Northern Bullants Etihad Stadium  11,000
2009 North Ballarat def Northern Bullants Etihad Stadium  14,026
2008 North Ballarat def Port Melbourne Telstra Dome
Telstra Dome
Docklands Stadium is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the Docklands precinct of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...

 
11,641
2007 Geelong def Coburg Princes Park  13,842 ?
2006 Sandringham def Geelong Princes Park  6,000 ?
2005 Sandringham def Werribee Princes Park  9,000 45,118
2004 Sandringham def Port Melbourne Princes Park  8,196 38,656
2003 Williamstown def Box Hill Princes Park  10,500 43,573
2002 Geelong def Port Melbourne Princes Park  11,500 ?
2001 Box Hill Hawks def Werribee Princes Park  11,500

Television

ABC Victoria
ABV (TV station)
ABV is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television station in Melbourne, Victoria. The station began broadcasting on 19 November 1956 and is transmitted throughout the state via a network of relay transmitters and also ABV is the second television station in Victoria with HSV-7 which...

 broadcasts one match a week live on Saturday afternoons during the home and away season, as well as broadcasting most finals matches.
In 2006 and 2007 ABC2
ABC2
ABC2 is a national public television channel in Australia. Launched on 7 March 2005, it is the responsibility of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television division, and is available nationally to digital television viewers in Australia...

 showed replays of VFL matches late on Wednesday nights to a national audience.

C31 Melbourne currently covers VFL football on The Local Footy Show and telecasts live league games as well as the TAC Cup
TAC Cup
The TAC Cup is an under 18 Australian rules football representative competition held in Victoria, Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne with each team representing 12 Victorian regions....

, Victorian Country Football League
Victorian Country Football League
The Victorian Country Football League is the governing body for Australian rules football in Victoria outside of metropolitan Melbourne on behalf of AFL Victoria...

, Victorian Women's Football League
Victorian Women's Football League
The Victorian Women's Football League is the oldest and largest Australian rules football league for women in the world, consisting of 22 clubs and 30 teams from Victoria, Australia across four divisions and a total of over 1,000 players....

 and the AFL Victoria Youth Girls Competition.

Radio

Commencing in 1993, 3SER-fm
3SER
CASEY RADIO on 97.7 FM is a non-commercial community radio station which caters to the south-east of Melbourne, Australia, an area which includes the City of Casey and the City of Greater Dandenong.-Overview:...

 (Casey FM) has broadcast at least one VFL match per weekend. It was the only radio station to cover both the VFL reserves and seniors Grand Finals. Their coverage can be picked up on radio on 97.7 FM or via the web on www.3ser.org.au http://www.3ser.org.au.

In 2008, 3WBC
3WBC
3WBC FM is a local radio station in Melbourne, Australia with a frequency of 94.1 MHz. The station is operated under licence byWhitehorse-Boroondara Community FM Radio Incorporated. It often involves local school students in its programs and is developing a larger audience...

 94.1 FM began broadcasting Box Hill Hawks home games. This began with the Round 2 game between Box Hill Hawks and Tasmania. This coverage can also be heard on the web at www.3wbc.org.au http://www.3wbc.org.au.

Although no longer broadcasting on a regular basis (see history section) SEN
SEN 1116
SEN 1116 , the acronym standing for Sports Entertainment Network, is a commercial AM radio station based in Melbourne, Australia, operating on 1116 kHz...

 (1116 AM) has reserved the right to broadcast VFL finals and certain other games. They also have a weekly VFL panel show.

In 2009 the VFL announced that, as from the 2010 season, 774 ABC Melbourne
774 ABC Melbourne
774 ABC Melbourne is an ABC Local Radio station in Melbourne, Australia. Originally known by its callsign 3LO, it began transmission on 13 October 1924 – Melbourne's second radio station after 3AR.-History:...

 will simulcast the ABC TV
ABC Television
ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....

 VFL coverage.

Internet radio station Live VFL (at www.livevfl.com.au http://www.livevfl.com.au) currently broadcasts one VFL game per round.

Details of earlier broadcasts are listed in the History section (above).

Current clubs

Club Location Home Ground AFL Affiliate
Bendigo Bombers
Bendigo Bombers
The Bendigo Bombers Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia playing in the Victorian Football League .-Brief history:...

Bendigo, Victoria
Bendigo, Victoria
Bendigo is a major regional city in the state of Victoria, Australia, located very close to the geographical centre of the state and approximately north west of the state capital Melbourne. It is the second largest inland city and fourth most populous city in the state. The estimated urban...

Queen Elizabeth Oval
Queen Elizabeth Oval
Queen Elizabeth Oval is an Australian rules football stadium located in Bendigo, Australia. The capacity of the venue is 18,000. In previous times more than 18,000 have flocked into the ground....

Essendon
Essendon Football Club
The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

Box Hill Hawks
Box Hill Hawks
Box Hill Hawks Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing in the Victorian Football League. It has an alliance with the Hawthorn Football Club which plays in the Australian Football League....

Box Hill, Victoria
Box Hill, Victoria
Box Hill is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 14 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Whitehorse. At the 2006 Census, Box Hill had a population of 8,616....

Box Hill City Oval
Box Hill City Oval
Box Hill City Oval is an Australian rules football and cricket stadium located in Box Hill, Victoria, Australia. It is the home ground of the Box Hill Hawks Football Club which plays in the VFL and the Box Hill Cricket Club....

Hawthorn
Hawthorn Football Club
The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...

Casey Scorpions
Casey Scorpions
The Casey Scorpions Football Club is an Australian rules football club in the Victorian Football League . The club was founded in 1903 as the Springvale Football Club and played under the name Springvale. In its history it has won 21 premierships...

Cranbourne, Victoria
Cranbourne, Victoria
Cranbourne is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 43 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Casey. At the 2006 Census, Cranbourne had a population of 14,750....

Casey Fields
Casey Fields
Casey Fields is a $30 million 70 hectare multi-sports complex in the City of Casey at Cranbourne East a southeastern suburb of Melbourne.The complex is home to Australian rules football, cricket, netball, tennis, cycling and golf....

Melbourne
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....

Coburg Coburg, Victoria
Coburg, Victoria
Coburg is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland, although a handful of properties on Coburg's Eastern boundary are located in the City of Darebin...

Coburg City Oval
Coburg City Oval
Coburg City Oval is an Australian rules football/cricket stadium located in Coburg, Australia. It is home to the Coburg Tigers Football Club and the Coburg Cricket Club and served as the home ground for the North Melbourne Football Club in the 1965 VFL season only.The oval is fenced off to the...

Richmond
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...

Collingwood Collingwood, Victoria
Collingwood, Victoria
Collingwood is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...

Victoria Park
Victoria Park, Melbourne
Victoria Park is a sports venue in Abbotsford a suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. Built for the purpose of both Australian rules football and cricket, the stadium is oval shaped....

Collingwood
Collingwood Football Club
The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

Frankston
Frankston Football Club
Frankston Football Club, nicknamed The Dolphins, is an Australian rules football club based in Frankston, Victoria and currently playing in the Victorian Football League. The club was formed in 1887. The Dolphins have no alignments to any AFL clubs.-Peninsula Football Association:Frankston was a...

Frankston, Victoria
Frankston, Victoria
Frankston is a suburb within the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area in Victoria, Australia. It is located 40 km southeast of the state capital Melbourne at the southernmost edge of Greater Melbourne, near the beginnings of the Mornington Peninsula...

Frankston Park
Frankston Park
Frankston Park is a regional Australian rules football ground located in Frankston, Victoria in Australia. It is home to the VFL team, the Frankston Dolphins, and is a planned secondary ground of the AFL team, the St Kilda Saints, when they relocate their training base to Frankston's Belverdere...

none
Geelong
Geelong VFL Football Club
Geelong VFL Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is an Australian rules football team that plays in the Victorian Football League. Their sister team, Geelong Football Club, plays in the Australian Football League...

Geelong, Victoria Kardinia Park Geelong
Geelong Football Club
The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...

North Ballarat
North Ballarat Football Club
North Ballarat Football Club, nicknamed The Roosters, is an Australian rules football club based at Northern Oval in Ballarat. The club is locally known as the Roosters and plays in the Victorian Football League are current competition premiers and one of only four clubs based outside of Melbourne...

Ballarat, Victoria
Ballarat, Victoria
Ballarat is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia, approximately west-north-west of the state capital Melbourne situated on the lower plains of the Great Dividing Range and the Yarrowee River catchment. It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth...

Northern Oval North Melbourne
North Melbourne Football Club
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...

 (partial)
Northern Blues
Northern Blues
Northern Blues was released by Kristofer Åström together with Hidden Truck in 2001 on Startracks.-Overview:* All songs by Kristofer Åström* Engineered, mixed and produced by Paul Bothén* Strings and brass arrangements by Paul Bothén...

Preston, Victoria
Preston, Victoria
Preston is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 9 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Darebin. At the 2006 Census, Preston had a population of 27,892.-Settlement:...

Preston City Oval
Preston City Oval
- The Ground :The Preston City Oval is an Australian rules football stadium in Cramer Street in Preston, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne. It has a main grandstand and the ground is capable of holding around 5,000 spectators....

Carlton
Carlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...

Port Melbourne
Port Melbourne Football Club
The Port Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Borough, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Port Melbourne and is currently playing in the Victorian Football League ....

Port Melbourne, Victoria
Port Melbourne, Victoria
Port Melbourne is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km southwest of Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government areas are the cities of Port Phillip and Melbourne. At the 2006 Census, Port Melbourne had a population of 13,293....

North Port Oval none
Sandringham Sandringham, Victoria
Sandringham, Victoria
Sandringham is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 16 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Bayside. At the 2006 Census, Sandringham had a population of 8693.-History:...

Trevor Barker Beach Oval
Trevor Barker Beach Oval
The Trevor Barker Oval is an Australian rules football ground in Beach Road, Sandringham, Victoria Australia.It was named after the St Kilda Football Club champion Trevor Barker, who died of cancer in 1996 at the age of 39...

St Kilda
Werribee
Werribee Football Club
The Werribee Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club, based in Werribee, was formed in 1965 and currently plays in the Victorian Football League. Werribee was defeated by the Sandringham Football Club in the 2005 VFL Grand Final.-History:The Werribee Football Club...

Werribee, Victoria
Werribee, Victoria
Werribee is a city in Melbourne, Australia, 32 km south-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Wyndham. At the 2006 Census, Werribee had a population of 36,641. Statistically, Werribee is considered part of Greater Melbourne.Werribee is...

Chirnside Park
Chirnside Park (stadium)
Chirnside Park, also known as Avalon Airport Oval due to naming rights sponsorship, is an Australian rules football ground in Werribee, Victoria, Australia....

North Melbourne
North Melbourne Football Club
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...

 (partial)
Williamstown
Williamstown Football Club
The Williamstown Football Club, nicknamed The Seagulls, is an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne and are currently playing in the Victorian Football League...

Williamstown, Victoria
Williamstown, Victoria
Williamstown is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hobsons Bay. At the 2006 Census, Williamstown had a population of 12,733....

Burbank Oval
Burbank Oval
Burbank Oval, formerly known as the Morris St. Oval, is located at Morris Street, Williamstown, Victoria. It backs onto Port Phillip Bay, and is next to the Esplanade....

Western Bulldogs
Western Bulldogs
The Western Bulldogs are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based at the Whitten Oval in West Footscray, an inner-western suburb of Melbourne...


Home guernseys

*Note: the Northern Blues will switch to a navy blue and white design for 2012, which is yet to be revealed. The guernsey displayed is the 2011 guernsey, when the club participated as the Northern Bullants.

Former clubs

The VFL has undergone significant format changes since its induction which means several clubs have either left the league or changed identity for different reasons.
  • Albert Park Football Club
    Albert Park Football Club
    Albert Park Football Club is an Australian rules football club located 3 km south of Melbourne in the suburb of Albert Park.Originally affiliated with the VFA during the 19th century.The club colours are red and white....

  • Ballarat Football Club
    Ballarat Football Club
    The Ballarat Football Club competes in the Ballarat Football League in the Ballarat region of Victoria, Australia. The club, nicknamed the Swans, has a history dating back to 1860. Ballarat once competed in the Victorian Football Association....

  • Ballarat Imperial Football Club
  • Barwon Football Club
  • Beechworth Football Club
    Beechworth Football Club
    Beechworth Football Club, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Tallangatta & District Football League...

  • Bendigo Diggers (changed name to Bendigo Bombers
    Bendigo Bombers
    The Bendigo Bombers Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia playing in the Victorian Football League .-Brief history:...

    )
  • Berwick Football Club (the Trojans 1983–85 and Gippslanders 1986–87)
  • Brighton Football Club
    Brighton Football Club
    Brighton Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the VFA. The club was based in the Melbourne suburb of Brighton and were nicknamed the Penguins...

     (later Brighton-Caulfield Football Club)
  • Brunswick Football Club
    Brunswick Football Club
    Brunswick Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the VFA from 1897 until 1990. They were originally nicknamed the Pottery Workers before being renamed the Magpies and were based in Brunswick, Victoria. The club wore black and white guernseys...

     (later Brunswick-Broadmeadows Football Club) (the Pottery Workers 1897–1908 and Magpies 1909–1990)
  • Camberwell Football Club
    Camberwell Football Club
    Camberwell Football Club was an Australian rules football club who were formed in 1896 and competed in the Victorian Football Association between 1926 and 1990. Nicknamed the Cobras, Camberwell wore dark blue, white and red club colours...

     (the Tricolors 1926–78 and the Cobras 1979–1991)
  • Carlton Football Club
    Carlton Football Club
    The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...

     (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL
    Australian Football League
    The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

    )
  • Castlemaine Football Club
    Castlemaine Football Club
    Castlemaine Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia and is currently a member of the Bendigo Football League.The club is notable for several reasons...

  • Caulfield Football Club
    Caulfield Football Club
    Caulfield Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the VFA from 1965 until 1987. Nicknamed The Bears, they were based in the Melbourne suburb of Caulfield and wore a blue and white guernsey.-History:...

     (Brighton-Caulfield Penguins 1962–1964, Caulfield Bears 1965–1988)
  • Collingwood Football Club
    Collingwood Football Club
    The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

     (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL
    Australian Football League
    The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

     but the reserves side now plays in the VFL as of 2008)
  • Dandenong Football Club
    Dandenong Football Club
    Dandenong Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the Victorian Football Association . Based in the Melbourne suburb of Dandenong, the Redlegs wore navy blue and red as their club colours.-History:...

     (Redlegs 1958–1993)
  • East Melbourne Football Club
  • Essendon Football Club
    Essendon Football Club
    The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

     (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL
    Australian Football League
    The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

    )
  • Essendon Town Football Club (later Essendon Association Football Club
    Essendon Association Football Club
    Essendon Association Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the Victorian Football Association from 1900 until 1921. The 'Dreadnoughts', who wore black and red, played their home games at the Essendon Recreation Reserve...

    ) (the Dreadnaughts 1901–1922. Club then merged with North Melbourne Football Club
    Kangaroos Football Club
    The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...

    )
  • Fitzroy Football Club
    Fitzroy Football Club
    The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...

     (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL
    Australian Football League
    The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

    )
  • Footscray Football Club (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL
    Australian Football League
    The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

    )
  • Geelong Football Club
    Geelong Football Club
    The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...

     (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL
    Australian Football League
    The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

     but the reserves side now plays in the VFL)
  • Geelong Association Football Club
  • Geelong West Football Club
    Geelong West Football Club
    The Geelong West Football Club are an Australian rules football club which played in the Victorian Football Association from 1963 until 1988. Geelong West, nicknamed the 'Roosters', wore white and red during their time in the association.-History:...

     (the Roosters 1963–1988)
  • Gold Coast Football Club (elevated to the VFL/AFL
    Australian Football League
    The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

     after the 2010 season)
  • Hawthorn Football Club
    Hawthorn Football Club
    The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...

     (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL
    Australian Football League
    The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

    )
  • Heidelberg Football Club
    Heidelberg Football Club
    Heidelberg Football Club is an Australian rules football club in Heidelberg, Victoria, currently competing in the Northern Football League.-History:...

      (competed 1900–1902 in the short-lived VFA 2nd Division)
  • Hotham Football Club (changed name to North Melbourne Football Club concurrent with the change of name of the municipality in 1888)
  • Inglewood Football Club
    Inglewood Football Club
    Inglewood Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Inglewood, Victoria. The club is currently affiliated with the Loddon Valley Football League.- History :...

  • Kilsyth Football Club (the cougars VFA 1982/83/84 now playing in the EFL
    Eastern Football League (Australia)
    The Eastern Football League is an Australian rules football League, based in the eastern suburbs of metropolitan Melbourne....

    )
  • Melbourne Football Club
    Melbourne Football Club
    The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....

     (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL
    Australian Football League
    The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

    )
  • Melbourne City Football Club (Disbanded after two seasons without a win.)
  • Moorabbin Football Club
    Moorabbin Football Club
    Moorabbin Football Club, nicknamed the The Kangaroos, was an Australian rules football club which played in the Victorian Football Association from 1951 to 1963 and then from 1983 to 1987...

     (the Kangaroos 1951–1964, 1983–1988)
  • Mordialloc Football Club
    Mordialloc Football Club
    Mordialloc Football Club, nicknamed The Bloodhounds, is an Australian rules football club which played in the Victorian Football Association from 1958 until 1988...

     (the Bloodhounds 1957–1988)
  • Murray Kangaroos
    Murray Kangaroos Football Club
    Murray Kangaroos Football Club, officially nicknamed The Kangaroos, was an Australian rules football club which competed in the Victorian Football League between 2000 and 2002...

  • North Melbourne Football Club
    North Melbourne Football Club
    The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...

     (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL
    Australian Football League
    The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

     – later fielded the Murray Kangaroos
    Murray Kangaroos Football Club
    Murray Kangaroos Football Club, officially nicknamed The Kangaroos, was an Australian rules football club which competed in the Victorian Football League between 2000 and 2002...

     as a reserves side)
  • Northcote Football Club
    Northcote Football Club
    Northcote Football Club, nicknamed The Dragons, was an Australian rules football club which played in the VFA from 1908 until 1987. The club's colours were green and yellow and it was based in the Melbourne suburb of Northcote...

     (originally the Brickfielders and later the Dragons)
  • Oakleigh Football Club
    Oakleigh Football Club
    Oakleigh Football Club, nicknamed the Devils, was an Australian rules football club from Oakleigh which played in the VFA from 1929 until 1994...

     (originally the Purple and Golds, and later the Devils)
  • Prahran Football Club
    Prahran Football Club
    Prahran Football Club, nicknamed The Two Blues, is an Australian rules football club based at Toorak Park in Orrong Road between High Street and Malvern Road, Armadale, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Since 2007, the club has competed in D1 Section of the Victorian Amateur Football Association...

     (the Two Blues 1886–1888, 1899–1959, 1960–1995)
  • Richmond Football Club
    Richmond Football Club
    The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...

     (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL
    Australian Football League
    The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

    )
  • Rochester Football Club
    Rochester Football Club
    The Rochester Football Club was formed at a meeting held on 8 June 1874 at Tidy's Restdown Hotel. The club was formed with the purpose of soon "playing and beating Echuca"...

  • St Kilda Football Club (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL
    Australian Football League
    The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

    )
  • South Ballarat Football Club
  • Standard Football Club (an original Junior Club, albeit short-lived)
  • South Melbourne Football Club
    Sydney Swans
    The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...

     (breakaway club to the VFL/AFL
    Australian Football League
    The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

    )
  • South Williamstown Football Club (forced by the VFA to amalgamate with Williamstown Football Club
    Williamstown Football Club
    The Williamstown Football Club, nicknamed The Seagulls, is an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne and are currently playing in the Victorian Football League...

     in 1888)
  • Sunshine Football Club
    Sunshine Football Club
    Sunshine Football Club, nicknamed The Crows, was an Australian rules football club which played in the Victorian Football Association from 1959 until 1989. The club colours were navy blue and white.-History:...

     (the Crows 1959–1989)
  • Tasmanian Devils Football Club
    Tasmanian Devils Football Club
    Tasmania Football Club, nicknamed The Devils, was an Australian rules football club which competed in the Victorian Football League in Australia. Formed in 2001, it was the youngest and the only non-Victorian club in the league. The club was based in the state of Tasmania at Bellerive Oval and was...

  • Traralgon Football Club (the Maroons 1996–1997)
  • University Football Club
  • Victoria United Football Club (an original Junior Club, albeit short-lived)
  • Victorian Railways Football Club (an original Junior Club, albeit short-lived)
  • Waverley Football Club
    Waverley Football Club
    Waverley Football Club, nicknamed The Panthers, was an Australian rules football club which played in the Victorian Football Association from 1961 until 1987...

     (the Panthers 1961–1988)
  • West Melbourne Football Club
    West Melbourne Football Club
    West Melbourne Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the Victorian Football Association . They were based at the North Melbourne Cricket Ground and had a red and white striped guernsey.-History:...

  • Yarraville Football Club
    Yarraville Football Club
    Yarraville Football Club was an Australian rules football club founded in 1903 and played in the VJFA until 1927. In 1928, the club joined the VFA where it played until 1984 when the club went into recess. In 1996, the Kingsville Football Club in the FDFL who by this time had taken over the...

     (the Villains 1927–1948, the Eagles 1949–1984)

VFA 1877–1994

From 1888, the VFA published a list of the final four clubs at the end of what are now called home-and-away matches. The listings (below) for 1877 to 1887 are based on various newspaper reports as researched by Graeme Atkinson and published in his book Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Australian Rules Football ... (1982, The Five Mile Press, Melbourne).

Finals series (initially the Argus system, and from 1933 the Page-McIntyre system) were introduced in 1903 and, therefore from that date, the listing (below) reflects that situation after the finals.

In 1989 the VFA changed from a final four to a final five.
Year PREMIER RUNNER-UP THIRD FOURTH
1877 Carlton Melbourne Hotham Albert Park
1878 Geelong Melbourne Carlton Hotham
1879 Geelong Carlton South Melbourne Melbourne
1880 Geelong South Melbourne Carlton Melbourne
1881 South Melbourne Geelong Carlton Melbourne
1882 Geelong Essendon South Melbourne Carlton
1883 Geelong South Melbourne Carlton Melbourne
1884 Geelong Essendon Hotham South Melbourne
1885 South Melbourne Essendon Geelong Carlton
1886 Geelong South Melbourne Carlton Port Melbourne
1887 Carlton Geelong South Melbourne Fitzroy
1888 South Melbourne Geelong Williamstown Carlton
1889 South Melbourne Carlton Port Melbourne Essendon
1890 South Melbourne Carlton Essendon Fitzroy
1891 Essendon Carlton Fitzroy South Melbourne
1892 Essendon Fitzroy Geelong Melbourne
1893 Essendon Melbourne Geelong South Melbourne
1894 Essendon Melbourne South Melbourne Fitzroy
1895 Fitzroy Geelong Melbourne Collingwood
1896 Collingwood South Melbourne Essendon Melbourne
1897 Port Melbourne North Melbourne Footscray Williamstown
1898 Footscray North Melbourne Port Melbourne Richmond
1899 Footscray North Melbourne Port Melbourne Williamstown
1900 Footscray Williamstown Richmond Prahran
1901 Port Melbourne Richmond North Melbourne Williamstown
1902 Richmond Port Melbourne North Melbourne Williamstown
1903 North Melbourne Richmond Footscray West Melbourne
1904 North Melbourne Richmond Footscray Port Melbourne
1905 Richmond North Melbourne Williamstown Port Melbourne
1906 West Melbourne Footscray Richmond North Melbourne
1907 Williamstown West Melbourne Richmond Footscray
1908 Footscray Brunswick Essendon Association Williamstown
1909 Brunswick Prahran Essendon Association Footscray
1910 North Melbourne Brunswick Essendon Association Prahran
1911 Essendon Association Brunswick North Melbourne Prahran
1912 Essendon Association Footscray North Melbourne Brunswick
1913 Footscray North Melbourne Essendon Association Brunswick
1914 North Melbourne Footscray Essendon Association Williamstown
1915 North Melbourne Brunswick Williamstown Port Melbourne
1916 In recess – WW1
1917 In recess – WW1
1918 North Melbourne Prahran Brunswick Port Melbourne
1919 Footscray North Melbourne Brunswick Northcote
1920 Footscray Brunswick North Melbourne Port Melbourne
1921 Williamstown Footscray Port Melbourne Brunswick
1922 Port Melbourne Footscray North Melbourne Williamstown
1923 Footscray Port Melbourne Williamstown Hawthorn
1924 Footscray Williamstown Northcote Brunswick
1925 Brunswick Port Melbourne Northcote Coburg
1926 Coburg Brighton Northcote Port Melbourne
1927 Coburg Brighton Port Melbourne Preston
1928 Coburg Port Melbourne Brighton Preston
1929 Northcote Port Melbourne Preston Brunswick
1930 Oakleigh Northcote Williamstown Yarraville
1931 Oakleigh Northcote Preston Port Melbourne
1932 Northcote Coburg Camberwell Preston
1933 Northcote Coburg Port Melbourne Yarraville
1934 Northcote Coburg Preston Prahran
1935 Yarraville Camberwell Northcote Coburg
1936 Northcote Prahran Brunswick Camberwell
1937 Prahran Brunswick Brighton Yarraville
1938 Brunswick Brighton Northcote Prahran
1939 Williamstown Brunswick Prahran Northcote
1940 Port Melbourne Prahran Williamstown Preston
1941 Port Melbourne Coburg Prahran Preston
1942 In recess – WWII
1943 In recess – WWII
1944 In recess – WWII
1945 Williamstown Port Melbourne Coburg Camberwell
1946 Sandringham Camberwell Williamstown Port Melbourne
1947 Port Melbourne Sandringham Williamstown Prahran
1948 Brighton Williamstown Brunswick Northcote
1949 Williamstown Oakleigh Brighton Northcote
1950 Oakleigh Port Melbourne Brighton Williamstown
1951 Prahran Port Melbourne Oakleigh Sandringham
1952 Oakleigh Port Melbourne Coburg Yarraville
1953 Port Melbourne Yarraville Williamstown Prahran
1954 Williamstown Port Melbourne Northcote Moorabbin
1955 Williamstown Port Melbourne Preston Moorabbin
1956 Williamstown Port Melbourne Box Hill Brunswick
1957 Moorabbin Port Melbourne Williamstown Preston
1958 Williamstown Moorabbin Port Melbourne Box Hill
1959 Williamstown Coburg Sandringham Oakleigh
1960 Oakleigh Sandringham Williamstown Yarraville
Year Division PREMIER RUNNER-UP THIRD FOURTH
1961 1st
2nd
YARRAVILLE
Northcote
WILLIAMSTOWN
Dandenong
MOORABBIN
Camberwell
SANDRINGHAM
Preston
1962 1st
2nd
SANDRINGHAM
Dandenong
MOORABBIN
Prahran
COBURG
Preston
WILLIAMSTOWN
Box Hill
1963 1st
2nd
MOORABBIN
Preston
SANDRINGHAM
Waverley
YARRAVILLE
Prahran
COBURG
Sunshine
1964 1st
2nd
PORT MELBOURNE
Geelong West
WILLIAMSTOWN
Sunshine
COBURG
Mordialloc
SANDRINGHAM
Brighton-Caulfield
1965 1st
2nd
WAVERLEY
Preston
PORT MELBOURNE
Mordialloc
DANDENONG
Northcote
SANDRINGHAM
Sunshine
1966 1st
2nd
PORT MELBOURNE
Prahran
WAVERLEY
Geelong West
PRESTON
Northcote
YARRAVILLE
Sunshine
1967 1st
2nd
DANDENONG
Oakleigh
PORT MELBOURNE
Geelong West
SANDRINGHAM
Frankston
PRESTON
Sunshine
1968 1st
2nd
PRESTON
Geelong West
PRAHRAN
Williamstown
SANDRINGHAM
Sunshine
DANDENONG
Werribee
1969 1st
2nd
PRESTON
Williamstown
DANDENONG
Sunshine
PORT MELBOURNE
Coburg
SANDRINGHAM
Box Hill
1970 1st
2nd
PRAHRAN
Coburg
WILLIAMSTOWN
Box Hill
WAVERLEY
Sunshine
PORT MELBOURNE
Brunswick
1971
1971 VFA Division 1 Grand Final
The 1971 VFA Division 1 Grand Final was an Australian rules football match played between the Dandenong Redlegs and the Preston Bullants. The match was held on Sunday 26 September 1971 at the Junction Oval in St Kilda, Victoria, to decide Division 1 Premiership for the 1971 Victorian Football...

1st
2nd
DANDENONG
Sunshine
PRESTON
Brunswick
SANDRINGHAM
Caulfield
OAKLEIGH
Yarraville
1972 1st
2nd
OAKLEIGH
Geelong West
DANDENONG
Caulfield
WILLIAMSTOWN
Yarraville
PRESTON
Brunswick
1973 1st
2nd
PRAHRAN
Caulfield
OAKLEIGH
Brunswick
DANDENONG
Waverley
PORT MELBOURNE
Camberwell
1974 1st
2nd
PORT MELBOURNE
Coburg
OAKLEIGH
Brunswick
GEELONG WEST
Waverley
DANDENONG
Camberwell
1975 1st
2nd
GEELONG WEST
Brunswick
DANDENONG
Camberwell
PORT MELBOURNE
Sunshine
COBURG
Frankston
1976 1st
2nd
PORT MELBOURNE
Williamstown
DANDENONG
Mordialloc
PRESTON
Frankston
CAULFIELD
Northcote
1977 1st
2nd
PORT MELBOURNE
Mordialloc
SANDRINGHAM
Yarraville
C0BURG
Camberwell
BRUNSWICK
Oakleigh
1978 1st
2nd
PRAHRAN
Frankston
PRESTON
Camberwell
PORT MELBOURNE
Oakleigh
DANDENONG
Yarraville
1979 1st
2nd
COBURG
Camberwell
GEELONG WEST
Oakleigh
PORT MELBOURNE
Mordialloc
PRAHRAN
Williamstown
1980 1st
2nd
PORT MELBOURNE
Brunswick
COBURG
Yarraville
GEELONG WEST
Waverley
SANDRINGHAM
Williamstown
1981 1st
2nd
PORT MELBOURNE
Camberwell
PRESTON
Waverley
SANDRINGHAM
Mordialloc
FRANKSTON
Werribee
1982 1st
2nd
PORT MELBOURNE
Northcote
PRESTON
Caulfield
COBURG
Oakleigh
GEELONG WEST
Brunswick
1983 1st
2nd
PRESTON
Springvale
GEELONG WEST
Brunswick
PORT MELBOURNE
Mordialloc
SANDRINGHAM
Oakleigh
1984 1st
2nd
PRESTON
Box Hill
FRANKSTON
Oakleigh
GEELONG WEST
Brunswick
CAMBERWELL
Caulfield
1985 1st
2nd
SANDRINGHAM
Brunswick
WILLIAMSTOWN
Oakleigh
COBURG
Sunshine
PRESTON
Caulfield
1986 1st
2nd
WILLIAMSTOWN
Box Hill
COBURG
Sunshine
FRANKSTON
Prahran
PRESTON
Oakleigh
1987 1st
2nd
SPRINGVALE
Prahran
PORT MELBOURNE
Waverley
WILLIAMSTOWN
Werribee
FRANKSTON
Sunshine
1988 1st
2nd
COBURG
Oakleigh
WILLIAMSTOWN
Sunshine
PRESTON
Werribee
PORT MELBOURNE
Dandenong
Year PREMIER RUNNER-UP THIRD FOURTH FIFTH
1989 Coburg Williamstown Box Hill Springvale Frankston
1990 Williamstown Springvale Preston Coburg Werribee
1991 Dandenong Werribee Box Hill Springvale Port Melbourne
1992 Sandringham Williamstown Prahran Box Hill Werribee
1993 Werribee Port Melbourne Springvale Prahran Frankston
1994 Sandringham Box Hill Springvale Dandenong Redlegs Frankston

VFL 1995–present

Year PREMIER RUNNER-UP THIRD FOURTH FIFTH (SIXTH) (SEVENTH) (EIGHTH)
1995 Springvale Sandringham Port Melbourne Frankston Werribee
1996 Springvale Frankston
1997 Sandringham Frankston
1998 Springvale Werribee
1999 Springvale North Ballarat
2000 Sandringham North Ballarat Carlton St Kilda Geelong Williamstown Box Hill Hawks Sandringham
2001 Box Hill Hawks Werribee Springvale Murray Kangaroos Carlton Frankston Coburg Tigers Essendon
2002 Geelong Port Melbourne Werribee Coburg Tigers Box Hill Hawks Williamstown Murray Kangaroos Sandringham
2003 Williamstown Box Hill Hawks Port Melbourne Sandringham Tasmania Springvale Werribee Geelong
2004 Sandringham Port Melbourne Werribee North Ballarat Tasmania Coburg Tigers Box Hill Hawks Bendigo Bombers
2005 Sandringham Werribee Northern Bullants Bendigo Bombers Port Melbourne Tasmania Frankston Box Hill Hawks
2006 Sandringham Geelong Northern Bullants Williamstown Frankston North Ballarat Werribee Coburg Tigers
2007 Geelong Coburg Tigers Williamstown North Ballarat Sandringham Port Melbourne Casey Scorpions Bendigo Bombers
2008 North Ballarat Port Melbourne Williamstown Werribee Casey Scorpions Frankston Coburg Tigers Northern Bullants
2009 North Ballarat Northern Bullants Port Melbourne Collingwood Williamstown Box Hill Hawks Casey Scorpions Geelong
2010 North Ballarat Northern Bullants Williamstown Box Hill Hawks Casey Scorpions Port Melbourne Collingwood Bendigo Bombers
2011 Port Melbourne Williamstown Werribee Northern Bullants North Ballarat Casey Scorpions Bendigo Bombers Box Hill Hawks

See also

  • Early VFL Final systems
    Early VFL Final systems
    Throughout its history, the Victorian Football League has used a system of finals after playing a regular season to determine the winner of the premiership....

  • History of Australian rules football in Victoria (1859-1900)

External links

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