VFL Women's
VFL Women's (VFLW) is the major state-level women's Australian rules football league in Victoria. The league initially comprised the six premier division clubs and the top four division 1 clubs from the now-defunct Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL), and has since evolved into what is also the second primary competition for AFL Women's (AFLW) clubs in Victoria. The competition has been held concurrently with the AFLW since 2021. Following the 2017 season, the VFL Women's was reconfigured to affiliate teams more closely with AFL clubs. Since 2021, twelve teams have  appeared in the competition; all ten Victorian AFL clubs either field their own women's team or have an affiliation of sorts with an existing club in the VFLW, with the other teams being VFL-affiliated and independent club . The reigning premiers are . The competition was not held in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; the grand final was also cancelled in 2021 due to the pandemic, with no premiership being awarded. History. AFL Victoria launched the VFL Women's competition on 21 March 2016, with its inaugural season featuring twelve doubleheaders with the Victorian Football League  (VFL). The league initially comprised the six Premier Division clubs (, , Eastern Devils, , St Kilda Sharks and ) and 2015's top four Division 1 clubs (, , and ) from the Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL). Melbourne University already had an existing partnership with Australian Football League (AFL) club . Following the 2016 season, the Geelong Magpies were replaced with the AFL-aligned , and Knox's license was purchased by (renamed in 2018 to align with the AFL club). Following the inaugural AFL Women's (AFLW) season in 2017, the league made further changes to the competition to affiliate clubs more directly with AFL  clubs and the AFL Women's competition. Five other foundation clubs departed, leaving Darebin, Melbourne University and Western Spurs (renamed the in 2018 to align with the AFL club) as the only remaining foundation clubs. The departing clubs were replaced by the AFL-aligned , , , and , the VFL-aligned and , and the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL)-aligned ; Northern Territory aligned with 's AFLW team, giving Crows players an opportunity to play in the Victorian competition. In 2019, 's AFLW team played five invitational matches in Victoria against teams having a bye. Following the 2019 season, AFL Northern Territory ended Northern  Territory's involvement in the NEAFL and VFLW competitions, and Williamstown aligned with Adelaide in Northern Territory's place. Melbourne University's license was also taken over by , ending the clubs' ten-year partnership and allowing North Melbourne to field its own standalone team. In 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, AFL Victoria decided to cancel the 2020 VFL Women's season and instead hold a four-team Super Series in September to give 120 footballers the chance to push their case to be selected in the 2020 AFL Women's draft; this was later cancelled as well due to the  increase of restrictions around COVID-19 in Victoria. In 2021, joined the league, replacing , which initially left the competition due to financial issues before entering into a formal alignment with the VFL club. The competition also shifted to a February commencement, running concurrently with the AFLW season and mirroring other second-tier leagues like the SANFL Women's and WAFL Women's.