Looking back at the last 123 years of VFL/AFL football
As we await the restart of the AFL competition, take a look back at how it all began and how much things have changed - even in the past five years.
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As we await the restart of the AFL competition, it’s a good time to look back on how it all began.
It’s hard to believe there have been so many changes in the 123 years this great game has existed (professionally).
Our game, AFL, is the oldest code of football in the world and was invented way back in the 1850s.
It was first played among Melbourne’s private schools as a way of keeping cricket players fit during winter.
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Melbourne Football Club was the first club formed in Australia in 1858 and others quickly followed.
In it’s inaugural year, 1897, the VFL consisted of Melbourne, Geelong, Carlton, Essendon, St Kilda, South Melbourne, Fitzroy and Collingwood.
Essendon won the very first premiership — 120 years ago.
Two more teams, Richmond and University joined the league in 1908, but because of waning interest during World War One, University withdrew in 1915.
10 years later Hawthorn, North Melbourne and Footscray made the shift to the professional league — making it 12 teams in the VFL.
The next major change was the unprecedented move to Sydney by the South Melbourne Football Club.
Unable to survive in Melbourne, South Melbourne became the Sydney Football Club, creating the first professional team outside of Victoria.
Two other interstate teams were added to the fold in 1987 — the West Coast Eagles and the Brisbane Bears and the VFL became the Australian Football League.
The game expanded further, with Adelaide in 1991, Fremantle in 1995 and Port Adelaide in 1997.
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Fitzroy and Brisbane merged at the end of the 1996 season to become the Brisbane Lions.
There was another long break before expansion teams the Gold Coast Suns and Greater Western Sydney Giants joined the league in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
It was a controversial move to add two new teams to states in NRL heartland that already had teams, especially given Tasmania — a well-known breeding ground for AFL talent — didn’t and still doesn’t have a team despite rallying support from the Apple Isle.
Another controversy was a decision by NRL player Karmichael Hunt to switch codes and play four seasons for the Suns in 2011.
It was a move mirrored by the Giants who lured Rugby League superstar Israel Folau to switch codes in 2014.
In another huge change for the game, the AFL Women’s league was launched in 2017.
Adelaide, Brisbane, Carlton, Collingwood, GSW, Melbourne, Fremantle and the Western Bulldogs were the first eight teams to compete in the competition.
Nobody could have forecast the success and popularity of the AFLW. The inaugural match between Carlton and Collingwood at Princess Park was such a rousing success that the gates were shut at half-time after reaching maximum capacity.
At grassroots level the competition has inspired girls across the country to take up Aussie Rules with a clear pathway now in place.
The AFLW has risen from eight teams to 2014 since its founding year.
North Melbourne and Geelong entered the league in 2019, while another four teams - Gold Coast, West Coast, Richmond and St Kilda - played their first AFLW season in 2020.