Australian Football League

|colspan="2" bgcolor="#b0c4de"|**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|
|**Premiers**|**Collingwood** defeated Brisbane|
|**Attendance**|100,024|
|**Norm Smith Medalist**|Bobby Hill|
|**Minor Premiers**|Collingwood|
|**Wooden spoon**|West Coast Eagles|
|**Brownlow Medallist**|Lachie Neale|
|**Coleman Medallist**|Charlie Curnow|
|**Average attendance**|37,741|
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.

### 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

|-
! 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_.

- 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)