AFL makes call on name change for the expanded VFL

And the league has announced the season will start on Saturday, April 17 and finish on the weekend of September 18-19.

Williamstown’s Jake Greiser marks as Essendon’s Heath Hocking arrives later in the 2019 VFL finals.

The VFL it was. And the VFL it will stay in 2021.

The AFL has decided to retain the name Victorian Football League despite the competition expanding to take in clubs from Queensland and NSW this year.

In correspondence with the clubs the league had been referring to the “VFL/East Coast second tier competition’’.

AFL affiliates Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney and Greater Western Sydney, as well as Aspley and Southport, were absorbed into the VFL last year when the NEAFL was canned.

At the time officials involved in the NEAFL said the name of the league needed to be discussed.

They said it made no sense for it to remain the Victorian Football League if it was taking in clubs from Queensland and NSW.

“It can’t be called the VFL, can it? Not if it’s got the Brisbane Lions or the Sydney Swans playing in it,’’ one club official told Leader.

“We all know tradition is so critical, but there’s also the practicalities of it. If you want to have the VFL don’t have teams from outside Victoria.’’

He said the original VFL changed its name to the AFL to reflect that it had become a national competition.

Swans chief executive Tom Harley also raised the issue.

“The VFL is an iconic and storied competition,” Harley told Fairfax Media.

“I think it is important that the heritage of that competition is retained, however with the inevitable inclusion of teams outside Victoria playing in a newly formatted competition, the name should rightly reflect that – very similar to what occurred when the AFL was formed.”

But the AFL has told the clubs there will be no change to the name of the competition.

Gary Ayres will coach Port Melbourne in 2021, along the way bringing up his 250th match in charge of the Borough.

The league make no reference to it when it announced today that the season would begin on Saturday, April 17.

It will consist of a 16-game season across 19 rounds and a top-eight finals series.

Finals will start on Saturday, August 28 and the grands final is set down for September 18/19.

The 2021 fixture will be released at the end of February “given the connection to the 2021 Toyota AFL Premiership Season’’, the AFL said.

“The involvement of AFL-listed players from 14 AFL clubs in the VFL competition is central to the fixturing of the season. All clubs and fans have shown resilience and patience ahead of the fixture release,’’ the league said.

VFL in 2021

Standalone clubs: Aspley, Coburg, Frankston, Northern Bullants, Port Melbourne, Southport, Werribee, Williamstown

Standalone AFL clubs: Brisbane Lions, Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Footscray, Geelong Cats, Gold Coast Suns, GWS Giants, North Melbourne, Richmond, Sydney Swans

Aligned clubs: Sandringham, Box Hill Hawks, Casey Demons