Australian FL

The Australian Football League was a name change for the expanded Victorian Football League to recognise the admission of West Coast and Brisbane three years earlier as well as South Melbourne's move to Sydney back in 1982.
==History==
The Australian Football League was a name change for the expanded Victorian Football League to recognise the admission of West Coast and Brisbane three years earlier as well as South Melbourne's move to Sydney back in 1982.
In subsequent years, Adelaide joined the competition in 1991, followed by Fremantle in 1995. Fitzroy was taken over by Brisbane and left the competition after the 1996 season, and were replaced by Port Adelaide in 1997. In 1998 Footscray changed their name to the Western Bulldogs. In 2011 Gold Coast joined the competition followed by West Sydney in 2012.
After a draw in the qualifying final in 1990, the AFL decided to introduce extra time for all finals to make sure the grand final took place as scheduled. In 1991 they introduced a version of the final six to replace the final five which had never been seen before. This was replaced by a final eight in 1994. The drawn grand final in 2010 did not result in extra time being used for future grand finals, but it would be used if the replay also ends in a draw. This changed from 2018 preventing any further grand final replays. The 2020 season was played in a slightly different format due to the COVID-19 pandemic with shorter quarters, a later season finish due to the early season suspension and the grand final being played outside Victoria for the first time at The Gabba in Brisbane. Season 2021 reverted to the previous format but many games were played without crowds later in the season. Rising case numbers in Victoria and New South Wales caused the grand final to be moved outside Victoria again, this time to Perth Stadium.
The AFL is ostensibly the leader and father figure of football, but it behaves in a contrary manner - not taking any interest in issues that don't affect them directly. All their direct efforts concentrate on the league itself, and what is called their "production line" - meaning the line between Auskick and the draft where young footballers are developed. They push all other issues to the state bodies who struggle to maintain matters due to a lack of funding from the AFL and end up having to engage in their own funding efforts to get by - badly affecting the grass roots in the process. From 1990 to 2004 the game contracted in it's home state of Victoria quite markedly.
==Ladders==
1990	COLL	ESSE	WCOA	MELB	HAWT	NMEL	FOOT	CARL	STKI	GEEL	RICH	FITZ	SYDN	BRIS	 	 	 	
1991	HAWT	WCOA	GEEL	MELB	STKI	ESSE	COLL	NMEL	ADEL	FOOT	CARL	SYDN	RICH	FITZ	BRIS	 	 	
1992	WCOA	GEEL	FOOT	STKI	COLL	HAWT	CARL	ESSE	ADEL	FITZ	MELB	NMEL	RICH	BRIS	SYDN	 	 	
1993	ESSE	CARL	ADEL	WCOA	NMEL	HAWT	GEEL	COLL	FOOT	MELB	FITZ	STKI	BRIS	RICH	SYDN	 	 	
1994	WCOA	GEEL	NMEL	MELB	CARL	FOOT	HAWT	COLL	RICH	ESSE	ADEL	BRIS	STKI	FITZ	SYDN	 	 	
1995	CARL	GEEL	RICH	ESSE	WCOA	NMEL	FOOT	BRIS	MELB	COLL	ADEL	SYDN	FREM	STKI	HAWT	FITZ	 	
1996	NMEL	SYDN	BRIS	ESSE	WCOA	CARL	GEEL	HAWT	RICH	STKI	COLL	ADEL	FREM	MELB	FOOT	FITZ	 	
1997	ADEL	STKI	FOOT	NMEL	GEEL	WCOA	SYDN	BRIS	PTAD	COLL	CARL	FREM	RICH	ESSE	HAWT	MELB	 	
1998	ADEL	NMEL	WBUL	MELB	SYDN	STKI	WCOA	ESSE	RICH	PTAD	CARL	GEEL	HAWT	COLL	FREM	BRIS	 	
1999	NMEL	CARL	ESSE	BRIS	WBUL	WCOA	PTAD	SYDN	HAWT	STKI	GEEL	RICH	ADEL	MELB	FREM	COLL	 	
2000	ESSE	MELB	CARL	NMEL	BRIS	HAWT	GEEL	WBUL	RICH	SYDN	ADEL	FREM	WCOA	PTAD	COLL	STKI	 	
2001	BRIS	ESSE	RICH	HAWT	PTAD	CARL	SYDN	ADEL	COLL	WBUL	MELB	GEEL	NMEL	WCOA	STKI	FREM	 	
2002	BRIS	COLL	PTAD	ADEL	ESSE	MELB	NMEL	WCOA	GEEL	HAWT	SYDN	WBUL	FREM	RICH	STKI	CARL	 	
2003	BRIS	COLL	PTAD	SYDN	ADEL	ESSE	FREM	WCOA	HAWT	NMEL	STKI	GEEL	RICH	MELB	CARL	WBUL	 	
2004	PTAD	BRIS	STKI	GEEL	SYDN	ESSE	MELB	WCOA	FREM	NMEL	CARL	ADEL	COLL	WBUL	HAWT	RICH	 	
2005	SYDN	WCOA	ADEL	STKI	GEEL	PTAD	NMEL	MELB	WBUL	FREM	BRIS	RICH	ESSE	HAWT	COLL	CARL	 	
2006	WCOA	SYDN	ADEL	FREM	MELB	WBUL	STKI	COLL	RICH	GEEL	HAWT	PTAD	BRIS	NMEL	ESSE	CARL	 	
2007	GEEL	PTAD	NMEL	COLL	WCOA	HAWT	SYDN	ADEL	STKI	BRIS	FREM	ESSE	WBUL	MELB	CARL	RICH	 	
2008	HAWT	GEEL	WBUL	STKI	SYDN	COLL	ADEL	NMEL	RICH	BRIS	CARL	ESSE	PTAD	FREM	WCOA	MELB	 	
2009	GEEL	STKI	WBUL	COLL	ADEL	BRIS	CARL	ESSE	HAWT	PTAD	WCOA	SYDN	NMEL	FREM	RICH	MELB	 	
2010	COLL	STKI	GEEL	WBUL	SYDN	FREM	HAWT	CARL	NMEL	PTAD	ADEL	MELB	BRIS	ESSE	RICH	WCOA	 	
2011	GEEL	COLL	HAWT	WCOA	CARL	SYDN	STKI	ESSE	NMEL	WBUL	FREM	RICH	MELB	ADEL	BRIS	PTAD	GCOA	
2012	SYDN	HAWT	ADEL	COLL	WCOA	FREM	GEEL	NMEL	STKI	CARL	ESSE	RICH	BRIS	PTAD	WBUL	MELB	GCOA	WSYD
2013	HAWT	FREM	GEEL	SYDN	PTAD	CARL	RICH	COLL	ESSE	NMEL	ADEL	BRIS	WCOA	GCOA	WBUL	STKI	MELB	WSYD
2014	HAWT	SYDN	PTAD	NMEL	GEEL	FREM	ESSE	RICH	WCOA	ADEL	COLL	GCOA	CARL	WBUL	BRIS	WSYD	MELB	STKI
2015	HAWT	WCOA	FREM	NMEL	SYDN	ADEL	RICH	WBUL	PTAD	GEEL	WSYD	COLL	MELB	STKI	ESSE	GCOA	BRIS	CARL
2016	WBUL	SYDN	GEEL	WSYD	HAWT	ADEL	WCOA	NMEL	STKI	PTAD	MELB	COLL	RICH	CARL	GCOA	FREM	BRIS	ESSE
2017	RICH	ADEL	GEEL	WSYD	SYDN	WCOA	PTAD	ESSE	MELB	WBUL	STKI	HAWT	COLL	FREM	NMEL	CARL	GCOA	BRIS
2018	WCOA	COLL	RICH	MELB	HAWT	WSYD	SYDN	GEEL	NMEL	PTAD	ESSE	ADEL	WBUL	FREM	BRIS	STKI	GCOA	CARL
2019	RICH	WSYD	GEEL	COLL	BRIS	WCOA	WBUL	ESSE	HAWT	PTAD	ADEL	NMEL	FREM	STKI	SYDN	CARL	MELB	GCOA
2020	RICH	GEEL	PTAD	BRIS	STKI	COLL	WCOA	WBUL	MELB	WSYD	CARL	FREM	ESSE	GCOA	HAWT	SYDN	NMEL	ADEL
2021	MELB	WBUL	PTAD	GEEL	BRIS	WSYD	SYDN	ESSE	WCOA	STKI	FREM	RICH	CARL	HAWT	ADEL	GCOA	COLL	NMEL
2022	GEEL	SYDN	COLL	BRIS	MELB	FREM	RICH	WBUL	CARL	STKI	PTAD	GCOA	HAWT	ADEL	ESSE	WSYD	WCOA	NMEL
2023	COLL	BRIS	CARL	WSYD	PTAD	MELB	STKI	SYDN	WBUL	ADEL	ESSE	GEEL	RICH	FREM	GCOA	HAWT	NMEL	WCOA
Note - The 2006 ladder incorporates the fact that this site does not recognise the decision of the AFL re St.Kilda v Fremantle in Launceston
==Abbreviations==
ADEL - Adelaide; CARL - Carlton; COLL - Collingwood; BRIS - Brisbane; ESSE - Essendon; FITZ - Fitzroy; FOOT - Footscray; FREM - Fremantle; GEEL - Geelong; GCOA - Gold Coast; HAWT - Hawthorn; MELB - Melbourne; NMEL - North Melbourne; PTAD - Port Adelaide; RICH - Richmond; STKI - St.Kilda; SYDN - Sydney; WCOA - West Coast; WSYD - West Sydney; WBUL - Western Bulldogs
==Colour Coding==
GREY SHADING - Teams that made the finals, YELLOW SHADING - Grand Final drawn and was replayed
Category:National & State Leagues