Australian Football League

Australian Football League

Most recent season or competition: 2013 AFL season
Formerly	Victorian Football League (1897–1989)
Sport	Australian rules football
Founded	1897
Commissioner	Andrew Demetriou
Inaugural season	1897
No. of teams	18
Country	Australia
Most recent champion(s)	Hawthorn (11th premiership)
Most titles	Carlton Essendon (16 premierships)
TV partner(s)	Seven Network Fox Footy Foxtel
Sponsor(s)	Toyota
Official website	afl.com.au

The Australian Football League (AFL) is the highest-level professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body, and is responsible for controlling the Laws of the Game. The league was founded as the Victorian Football League (VFL) as a breakaway from previous Victorian Football Association (VFA), with its inaugural season commencing in 1897. Originally comprising only teams based in the Australian state of Victoria, the competition's name was changed to the Australian Football League for the 1990 season, after the admission of teams from other states, namely Queensland and Western Australia, in 1987.

The league currently consists of 18 teams spread over five states of Australia, although the majority (ten teams) are still based in Victoria. The most recently admitted teams to the competition are the Gold Coast and the Greater Western Sydney Football Clubs, which respectively began play in 2011 and 2012. The AFL season currently consists of a pre-season competition (currently branded as the "NAB Cup"), followed by a 23-round regular (or "home-and-away") season, which runs during the Australian winter (March to September). The top eight teams then play off in a finals series culminating in the AFL Grand Final, which is held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground each year. The winning team in the Grand Final is termed the "premiers", and is awarded the premiership cup.

AFL players are drawn from a number of sources; however, most players enter the league through the AFL Draft, held at the end of each season. A small number of players have converted from other sports, or been recruited internationally. Prior to the nationalisation of the competition, a zoning system was in place. At the end of the season, the best 22 players and coach from across the competition are selected in the All-Australian team. Other awards include the Brownlow Medal, awarded to the player judged the "fairest and best" throughout the regular season; the Coleman Medal, awarded to the player kicking the most goals throughout the regular season; the Norm Smith Medal, awarded to the player judged best on ground in the Grand Final; and the Rising Star Award, given to the most outstanding young player in the competition.

The AFL is the best-attended sporting league in Australia,^[1] and averaged 33,461 people per game over the 2013 season, giving AFL the 4th highest average attendance figures of any professional sport in the world.^[2] According to market research, the AFL is the second-most-watched sporting event in Australia, behind cricket.^[3] Currently, broadcast rights for the AFL are shared between the Seven Network (free-to-air), Foxtel and Austar (pay TV), and Telstra (internet). At the end of the 2013 season, a record 756,717 people were members of an AFL club.^[4]

Clubs

The AFL operates on a single table system, with no divisions, conferences nor promotion and relegation from other leagues.

The league was founded as the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1897, consisting of eight breakaway teams from the Victorian Football Association (VFA). Originally comprising only teams based in the Australian state of Victoria, the competition's name was changed to the Australian Football League for the 1990 season, after the AFL took over and relocated the former team of the South Melbourne Football Club to New South Wales and renamed it the Sydney Swans in 1982, the planned 1991 addition of the Adelaide Crows and the admission of teams from Western Australia (the West Coast Eagles) and Queensland (the Brisbane Bears) in 1987.

Many of the current AFL teams date back to the beginnings of the sport of Australian rules football, including the very first club, Melbourne Football Club (1859), a foundation VFL/AFL club whose founders also first codified the sport in 1859. The Victorian Football League, commonly known as the VFL, started in 1897 with eight teams from the Victorian Football Association (VFA): Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, South Melbourne, and St Kilda. Richmond and University entered in 1908, but University disbanded in 1915. In 1925, Footscray (later known as the Western Bulldogs), Hawthorn and North Melbourne entered the competition. It remained in this 12-team single-state configuration until 1982 when South Melbourne relocated to Sydney, New South Wales to become the Sydney Swans.

The next phase of national expansion occurred in 1987, with the introduction of the West Coast Eagles from Western Australia and the Brisbane Bears from Queensland. The league was renamed the Australian Football League in 1990 to reflect the expanded nature of the competition. South Australia was first represented in 1991 when the Adelaide Football Club joined the league. The Fremantle Football Club joined as the second WA team in 1995. After the 1996 season the Brisbane Bears merged with Fitzroy, creating the Brisbane Lions in 1996 and the Port Adelaide Football Club joined to maintain the league at 16 teams. Port Adelaide is the only club since 1925 to have entered the AFL from another league. In this instance, Port Adelaide came from the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), although changed their moniker from Magpies to Power and added teal to their black and white colour scheme in order to reduce identity similarities with the Collingwood Football Club. In 2011, the Gold Coast Football Club joined the AFL, while Greater Western Sydney expanded the competition to 18 teams in 2012.^[5]

Current clubs

Club	Guernsey	Nickname	Location	Home ground(s) (capacity)	Training ground	Membership (2013)[6]	First season in league [7]	Premierships
Adelaide[8]		Crows	Adelaide, South Australia	Adelaide Oval (54,000)	Football Park	46,405	1991	2
Brisbane Lions[9]		Lions	Brisbane, Queensland	The Gabba (42,000)	The Gabba	24,130	1997	3** [10]
Carlton[11]		Blues	Melbourne, Victoria	Docklands Stadium (56,347)	Princes Park	50,564	1897	16
Collingwood[12]		Magpies	Melbourne, Victoria	Melbourne Cricket Ground (100,018)	Olympic Park Oval[13]	78,427	1897	15
Essendon[14]		Bombers	Melbourne, Victoria	Docklands Stadium (56,347)	Melbourne Airport Training Facility	56,173	1897	16
Fremantle[15]		Dockers	Fremantle, Western Australia	Subiaco Oval (43,500)	Fremantle Oval	43,880	1995	0
Geelong[16]		Cats	Geelong, Victoria	Kardinia Park (33,500)	Kardinia Park	42,884	1897	9
Gold Coast		Suns	Gold Coast, Queensland	Carrara Stadium (25,000)	Carrara Stadium	12,502	2011	0
Greater Western Sydney		Giants	Sydney, New South Wales	Sydney Showground Stadium (25,000) Manuka Oval (15,000)	Tom Wills Oval[17]	12,681	2012	0
Hawthorn[18]		Hawks	Melbourne, Victoria	Melbourne Cricket Ground (100,018) Aurora Stadium (20,000)	Waverley Park	63,353	1925	11
Melbourne[19]		Demons	Melbourne, Victoria	Melbourne Cricket Ground (100,018)	Gosch's Paddock[20]	33,177	1897	12
North Melbourne[21]		Kangaroos	Melbourne, Victoria	Docklands Stadium (56,347)	Arden Street Oval	34,607	1925	4
Port Adelaide[22]		Power	Adelaide, South Australia	Adelaide Oval (54,000)	Alberton Oval	41,010	1997	1
Richmond[23]		Tigers	Melbourne, Victoria	Melbourne Cricket Ground (100,018)	Punt Road Oval	60,321	1908	10
St Kilda[24]		Saints	Melbourne, Victoria	Docklands Stadium (56,347)	Linen House Centre[25]	32,707	1897	1
Sydney Swans[26]		Swans	Sydney, New South Wales	Sydney Cricket Ground (48,000) Stadium Australia (81,500)	Sydney Cricket Ground	36,358	1897***	5
West Coast Eagles[27]		Eagles	Perth, Western Australia	Subiaco Oval (43,500)	Subiaco Oval	58,501	1987	3
Western Bulldogs[28]		Bulldogs	Melbourne, Victoria	Docklands Stadium (56,347)	Whitten Oval	30,209	1925	1

• ** club formed as a result of the merging of the Fitzroy Lions and Brisbane Bears before the 1997 season.
• *** club was founded in Melbourne as the South Melbourne Football Club, but relocated to Sydney for the 1982 season.

Expansion

Early in 2008, a meeting held by the AFL discussed having two new teams enter the AFL competition.^[29] In March 2008, the AFL won the support of the league's 16 club presidents to establish a side on the Gold Coast. The new club, the Gold Coast Suns entered the league in 2011.^[30] In 2010, the second licence was granted to the Greater Western Sydney Giants, a second Sydney-based team which also plays some of its home games in Canberra, A.C.T.; the Giants entered the league in 2012.

The AFL has also considered a bid from the Tasmanian government for a licence for a Tasmanian team.^[31] A third team based in Sydney has been suggested.^[32] A third team based in Perth has been suggested.^[33] On 25 April 2013 the Westpac Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand hosted the first ever Australian Football League game played for premiership points outside of Australia. The night game between St Kilda and Sydney was played in front of a crowd of 22,183 on Anzac Day to honour the Anzac bond between the two countries.^[34][35] At the official pre-match function the Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key used the occasion to raise the prospect of a New Zealand based AFL team, saying "Let's get real. We've got to get a New Zealand side in the AFL."^[35]

Former clubs

Since the Australian Football League commenced in 1897 as the Victorian Football League, only one club has left the competition, Melbourne University Football Club. They last competed in 1914 and withdrew the following season due to the start of the First World War and did not reapply to join the league after the war ended. They still compete to this day in the Victorian Amateur Football Association. Two other clubs, the Fitzroy Football Club (Fitzroy Lions) and the Brisbane Bears, merged in 1996 to form the Brisbane Lions.

In 1982, the South Melbourne Football Club was deeply indebted, including to the AFL, its football team was taken over by the AFL and relocated to Sydney and became known as the Sydney Swans. This change is not considered by the AFL to have created a new team but only a change in name, location and ownership.

Guernsey	Club	Nickname(s)	Location	Home ground	Years in competition	Premierships	Reason for leaving
	Brisbane	Bears	Brisbane, Queensland	Carrara Stadium (1987–1992) The Gabba (1991–1996)	1987–1996	0	Brisbane Bears merged with Fitzroy to become the Brisbane Lions
	Fitzroy	Maroons (1883–1938) Gorillas (1938–1957) Lions (1957–1996)	Melbourne, Victoria	Brunswick Street Oval (1897–1966) Princes Park (1967–1969, 1987–1993) Junction Oval (1970–1984) Victoria Park (1985–1986) Whitten Oval (1994–1996)	1897–1996	8	Merged with the Brisbane Bears to become the Brisbane Lions
	University	Students	Melbourne, Victoria	East Melbourne Cricket Ground (1908–1910) Melbourne Cricket Ground (1911–1914)	1908–1914	0	Withdrew due to World War I

Venues

There have been a total of 42 different grounds used for AFL games, with 16 used during the 2012 season.^[36] The largest capacity ground in use is the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), which has a capacity of over 100,000 people, and hosts the Grand Final each year.^[37] The MCG is shared by five teams as a home ground, whilst the other grounds used as home venues by multiple teams are Docklands Stadium in Melbourne (five teams), Stadium Australia in Sydney (two teams), Football Park in Adelaide (two teams), and Subiaco Oval in Perth (two teams).

Prior to the expansion of the competition, most grounds were located in suburban Melbourne, with Princes Park, Victoria Park, the Junction Oval, Waverley Park, and the Lake Oval each having hosted over 700 games.^[36] However, since the introduction of a national competition, each state and territory of Australia has hosted AFL games.^[38]

On 25 April 2013 (Anzac Day), a match took place between St Kilda and Sydney at Westpac Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand, being the first AFL match played outside Australia for official premiership points.^[39] At the end of 2013 a new five-year deal was announced that will see St Kilda play a match on Anzac Day at the stadium every year until 2018.^[40]

Players

The AFL has tight controls over the player lists of each club. Currently, apart from the recently added expansion clubs who have some additional players, each team can have a senior list of 38 to 40 players plus 4 to 6 rookie players, to a total of 44 players^[41] (following a reduction by two of the number of rookies in 2012) and up to three development rookies (international, alternate talent or New South Wales scholarship players).^[42] Changes to playing lists are permitted only in the off-season: clubs can trade players during a "trade period" which follows each season and recruit new players through the three AFL Drafts, the National Draft, the Pre-season Draft and the Rookie Draft, which take place after the trade period. A Mid Year Draft was conducted between 1990 and 1993.^[43] The National Draft is the primary method of recruiting new players and has been used since 1986. The draft order is based on reverse-finishing position from the previous year, but selections can be traded. Free agency player movements have only been permitted since the 2012/13 offseason,^[44] having been rejected by the AFL commission previously.^[45]

Salary cap

A salary cap (known as the Total Player Payments or TPP) is also in place as part of the league's equalisation policy; this is A$9,130,000 for the 2013 season with a salary floor of $8,673,500 except for the Gold Coast, whose salary cap will be A$9,630,000 with a salary floor of $9,171,500, and Greater Western Sydney, whose salary cap is $9,987,000 with a floor of $9,530,500. The salary cap was set at A$1.25 million for 1987–1989 as per VFL agreement, with the salary floor set at 90% of the cap or $1.125 million; the salary floor was increased to 92.5% of the cap in 2001, and 95% of the cap for 2013 due to increased revenues. Both the salary cap and salary floor has increased substantially since the competition was rebranded as the AFL in 1990.

Salaries of draft selections are fixed for two years. Salaries for senior players are not normally released to the public, though the average AFL player salary at the conclusion of the 2012 season was $251,559^[46] and the top few players can expect to earn up to and above $1,000,000 a year.^[47] Upon successfully trading to the Sydney Swans in 2013, marquee player Lance Franklin signed a 9 year contract with the club, reportedly worth over $10 million and resulting in subsequent payments of $1.8 million annually in consecutive seasons.^[48] The Total Player Earnings (TPE) - or total amount of revenue spent on reimbursement of AFL listed players - at the conclusion of the 2012 season was $173.7 million, up by 13 per cent from $153.7 million in 2011.^[46]

The breaches of the salary cap and salary floor regulations outlined by the AFL are: exceeding the TPP; falling below the salary floor; not informing the AFL of payments; late or incorrect lodgement or loss of documents; or engaging in draft tampering. Penalties include fines of up to triple the amount involved ($10,000 for each document late or incorrect lodged or lost), forfeiture of draft picks and/or deduction of premiership points. The most significant breach of the salary cap was that of the Carlton Football Club in the early 2000s.

Demographics

There were 801 players on AFL club senior, veteran, rookie and international lists in 2011, including players from every state and mainland territory of Australia.^[49]

Indigenous Australian players

There were 79 players of Indigenous Australian descent on AFL club lists in 2013, comprising approximately 10% of the overall playing population.^[50][51]

International players

There were 12 players recruited from outside of Australia on AFL lists in 2011, including 10 from Ireland, all converts from Gaelic football drafted as part of the Irish Experiment. The other two players are Seamus McNamara (Collingwood) and Mike Pyke (Sydney), recruited from the United States and Canada respectively.

There were also another five overseas-born players who emigrated to Australia at an early age on AFL lists.^[52]

An International Rookie List and International Scholarship List were introduced in 2006. The International Rookie List comprises up to two players between the ages of 15–23 who are not Australian citizens. These players may remain on this list for up to three years before they must be transferred to the senior or rookie list. For the first year, payments made to international-rookie-listed players fall outside the salary cap. The International Scholarship List gives AFL clubs the option of recruiting up to eight players from outside Australia (other than Ireland). Irish players are required to either be placed on clubs' senior or rookie lists.^[53] At the beginning of 2011 there were 14 international scholarship players.^[54]

Season structure

Premiership season

The AFL home-and-away season at present lasts for 23 rounds, starting in late March and ending in early September. As of the 2013 AFL season, each team plays 22 matches, with one bye. Teams receive four premiership points for a win and two premiership points for a draw. Ladder finishing positions are based on the number of premiership points won, and "percentage" (calculated as the ratio of points scored to points conceded throughout the season) is used as a tie-breaker when teams finish with equal premiership points. At the end of the home-and-away season, the McClelland Trophy is awarded to the minor premiers.

The top eight teams then compete in a four-week finals series throughout September, culminating in a Grand Final to determine the premiers. The Grand Final is traditionally played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on the afternoon of the last Saturday in September.

The winning team receives a silver premiership cup and a navy blue premiership flag – a new one of each is manufactured each year. The flag has been presented since the league began, and is traditionally unfurled at the team's first home game of the following season. The trophy was first introduced in 1959, and is manufactured annually by Cash's International at their metalworks in Frankston, Victoria.^[55] Additionally, each player in the Grand Final-winning team receives a premiership medallion.

Themed rounds and special matches

Some rounds of the season are named as themed rounds, such as Rivalry Round (in which traditional rivals are matched up against each other), Women's Round and Heritage Round (where teams play in old style guernseys). Some matches are also themed for special events. For example, each year Collingwood play Essendon in the annual ANZAC Day match at the MCG and the game will typically sell out regardless of the positions of the two teams on the ladder due to their strong rivalry and huge followings. Another annual match is the Queen's Birthday game between Melbourne and Collingwood. As of 2006, Richmond and Essendon play in the Dreamtime at the 'G match. There are separate trophies for the matches between several clubs and former rivalries such as the Lake Trophy between St Kilda and the Sydney Swans.

NAB Cup

The NAB Cup is a national pre-season competition played and completed prior to the commencement of the premiership season. It has been contested each season since 1988. It has mostly been contested as a four-week knock out tournament, but the format has changed since the expansion beyond sixteen clubs in 2011, and presently features some lightning matches. The competition has frequently been used to trial rule changes. The final was played at Waverley Park most years until the ground was sold by the league in 1999; since then, the finals have been mostly played at Docklands Stadium, but interstate clubs can earn the right to host the final, and three of the finals have been played in Adelaide.

History

Competition timeline

• Due to World War I, Melbourne did not compete from 1916 to 1918, Essendon and St Kilda did not compete in 1916 and 1917, Geelong and South Melbourne did not compete in 1916.
• Due to World War II, Geelong did not compete in 1942 and 1943.

Before the VFL

Australian rules football dates back to 1859. Melbourne Football Club was formed on 14 May that year. At a couple of meetings over the next week or so, at the Parade Hotel in East Melbourne, a group of about seven men, including Tom Wills, W.J. Hammersley and J. B. Thompson, wrote the first rules for Australian football. By 1866, several other clubs had also adopted an updated version of Melbourne's rules. In 1877, the amateur Victorian Football Association was established.

VFL begins and after

The Victorian Football League was established in 1896 when several clubs broke away from the Victorian Football Association which was the first Australian rules competition in Victoria, second in the country after the South Australian Football Association. The first games were played in 1897 between the foundation clubs – Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne.

List of AFL premiers since 1990

Note: 1990 marked the first season in which the VFL competition rebranded itself the AFL; to reflect the increasing number of non-Victorian based clubs participating in the competition^{[n 1]}

• 1990 – Collingwood
• 1991 – Hawthorn^{[n 2]}
• 1992 – West Coast
• 1993 – Essendon
• 1994 – West Coast
• 1995 – Carlton^{[n 3]}
• 1996 – North Melbourne^{[n 4]}
• 1997 – Adelaide^{[n 5]}
• 1998 – Adelaide
• 1999 – North Melbourne
• 2000 – Essendon
• 2001 – Brisbane Lions
• 2002 – Brisbane Lions
• 2003 – Brisbane Lions
• 2004 – Port Adelaide
• 2005 – Sydney
• 2006 – West Coast
• 2007 – Geelong
• 2008 – Hawthorn
• 2009 – Geelong
• 2010 – Collingwood
• 2011 – Geelong^{[n 6]}
• 2012 – Sydney^{[n 7]}
• 2013 – Hawthorn

Hawthorn, West Coast, the Brisbane Lions and Geelong are the most successful clubs in the post-VFL era, each having won 3 premierships in that time. Collingwood, Essendon, North Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney have won premierships twice. Of the 18 clubs currently competing in the Australian Football League, 3 have not won a premiership; Fremantle (who participated in their first Grand Final in 2013), Gold Coast (who entered the competition in 2011) and Greater Western Sydney (who entered the competition in 2012).

Individual awards

Major annual awards

• Brownlow Medal
• Coleman Medal
• AFL Rising Star
• Leigh Matthews Trophy
• AFLPA Awards
• AFLCA Awards
• Norm Smith Medal
• Jock McHale Medal
• Michael Tuck Medal
• Mark of the Year
• Goal of the Year (Australia)
• AFL Army Award
• All Australian Team
• Club Best and Fairest Awards
• Herald Sun Player of the Year
• Lou Richards Medal (Sunday Footy Show player of the Year)

Team of the Century

To celebrate the 100th season of the AFL, the "AFL Team of the Century" was named in 1996.

AFL Team of the Century
B:	Bernie Smith (Geelong)	Stephen Silvagni (Carlton)	John Nicholls (Carlton)
HB:	Bruce Doull (Carlton)	Ted Whitten (Footscray) Captain	Kevin Murray (Fitzroy)
C:	Francis Bourke (Richmond)	Ian Stewart (St Kilda, Richmond)	Keith Greig (North Melbourne)
HF:	Alex Jesaulenko (Carlton, St Kilda)	Royce Hart (Richmond)	Dick Reynolds (Essendon)
F:	Leigh Matthews (Hawthorn)	John Coleman (Essendon)	Haydn Bunton, Sr. (Fitzroy)
Foll:	Graham Farmer (Geelong)	Ron Barassi (Melbourne, Carlton)	Bob Skilton (South Melbourne)
Int:	Gary Ablett, Sr. (Hawthorn, Geelong)	Jack Dyer (Richmond)	Greg Williams (Geelong, Sydney, Carlton)
Coach:	Norm Smith (Melbourne, Fitzroy, South Melbourne)

Jack Elder was declared the Umpire of the Century to coincide with the Team of the Century. Since the naming of this side, most AFL clubs have nominated their own teams of the century. An Indigenous Team of the Century was also selected in 2005, featuring the best Aboriginal players of the previous 100 years from both the VFL/AFL and other state leagues.

Records

• Most premierships
  Carlton - 16 (most recent 1995) and Essendon - 16 (most recent 2000)
• Most consecutive premierships
  Collingwood – 4
  1927–1930
• Highest score
  Geelong 37.17 (239) defeated Brisbane Bears 11.9 (75)
  Carrara Stadium, 3 May 1992
• Highest winning margin
  190 points – Fitzroy 36.22 (238) defeated Melbourne 6.12 (48)
  Waverley Park, 28 July 1979
• Highest aggregate score
  52.33 (345) – Melbourne 21.15 (141) lost to St Kilda 31.18 (204)
  MCG, 6 May 1978
• Highest score in one quarter
  South Melbourne – 17.4 (106) vs. St Kilda 0.0 (0) in 4th quarter
  Lake Oval, 26 July 1919
  Final score: South Melbourne 29.15 (189) vs. St Kilda 2.6 (18)
• Largest crowd
  Carlton v Collingwood – 121,696
  MCG, 26 September 1970 (Grand Final)
• Largest home and away season crowd
  Melbourne v Collingwood – 99,346
  MCG, 1958
• Largest international crowd
  Melbourne v Sydney – 32,789
  B.C. Place, Vancouver, Canada, 1987
• Most last placed finishes at the end of the home and away season
  St Kilda – 26
• Most games won
  Collingwood - 1921
  (to the end of the 2010 season)
• Most games won in a season
  Essendon – 2000
  24 (incl. finals)
• Undefeated in a home and away season
  Collingwood
  1929
• Most grand final appearances
  Collingwood - 43
• Most consecutive grand final appearances
  Melbourne - 7 (between 1954 and 1960) and Hawthorn - 7 (between 1983 and 1989)
• Most finals series appearances
  Collingwood - 78
• Most consecutive finals series appearances
  Hawthorn - 13 (between 1982 and 1994)
• 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
  Michael Tuck (Hawthorn) – 426 games
• Most finals played in a career
  Michael Tuck (Hawthorn) – 39 games
• Most grand finals played in a career
  Michael Tuck (Hawthorn) – 11
• Most premierships won in a career
  Michael Tuck (Hawthorn) – 7
• Most games as club captain
  Stephen Kernahan (Carlton) – 226 games
• Most goals in a career
  Tony Lockett (St Kilda/Sydney) – 1,360 goals
• Most goals in finals
  Gordon Coventry (Collingwood) – 112 goals
• Most goals in a game
  Fred Fanning (Melbourne) – 18 goals, 30 August 1947
• Most goals in a season (including finals)
  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
• Tallest player
  Aaron Sandilands (Fremantle) 211 cm
  Peter Street (Geelong/Western Bulldogs) 211 cm
• Shortest player
  James "Nipper" Bradford (North Melbourne/Collingwood) – 154 cm
• Heaviest player
  Aaron Sandilands (Fremantle) – 124 kg
• Longest kick
  Fred Fanning (Melbourne) – 76.15m (116 yards, 3¼ inches)
• Heaviest suspension
  Doug Fraser and Alex Lang (Carlton) – 99 matches (bribery) from 1910 to 1915
• Heaviest suspension for an on-field incident
  Fred Rutley (North Melbourne) – 89 matches (2 x kicking, 3 x striking and melee involvement) from 1925 to 1930
• Heaviest fine imposed on club
  A$2,000,000 imposed on Essendon 2013 (bringing the AFL into disrepute)
• Heaviest fine imposed on player
  A$50,000 imposed on Kurt Tippett of Adelaide in 2012 (involvement in violations of salary cap regulations and draft tampering, Tippett was also suspended for 11 matches)
• Heaviest fine imposed on coach

A$30,000 – imposed on Mark 'Bomber' Thompson (senior assistant coach) of Essendon in 2013 for his part (charged for bringing the game into disrepute alongside James Hird and Danny Corcoran) in the Essendon Football Club supplements controversy.
A$15,000 – imposed on Grant Thomas of St Kilda in 2005 (criticism of umpires), and imposed on Alastair Clarkson of Hawthorn in 2009 (confrontation with Essendon player Matthew Lloyd and abusing an interchange steward)

Representative football

State football

There is currently no official state representation for AFL players despite the concept being well supported among fans and calls to re-introduce a State of Origin series.^[56][57]

History of the VFL/AFL's involvement

VFL players first represented the Victoria representative team in 1897 regardless of their state of origin.

Being the dominant league drawing many of the country's best players, the Victoria Australian rules football team (nicknamed the "Big V" and composed mostly of VFL players) dominated interstate matches until the introduction of State of Origin selection criteria by the Australian Football Council (of which the VFL was a member) in 1977.

The AFL Commission assumed control of interstate football in 1993 and co-ordinated an annual State of Origin series typically held during a mid-season bye round. However after the 1999 series, the AFL declared the concept of interstate football "on hold" citing club's unwillingness to release star players and a lack of public interest and shifted its focus of representative football to the International Rules Series where it draws a greater television revenue.

The last time AFL players played formal interstate football was in the 1999 State of Origin Series when Victoria inflicted a massive defeat on South Australia in wet conditions in front of a crowd of 26,063. Just 10 years earlier, the same match with a plethora of star players attracted a crowd of 91,960.

A once-off representative match, known as the AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match was played in 2008 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the sport. The match was played between a team of players of Victorian origin and a team of players of interstate origin (the "Dream Team")

Some past AFL players participate and help promote the E. J. Whitten Legends Game, however this event is not affiliated with or promoted by the AFL.

International Rules Series

The International Rules Series is an annual competition played twice every three years between AFL listed players from Australia and Gaelic footballers from Ireland. The series is organised under the auspices of the AFL and the Gaelic Athletic Association. The game itself is a hybrid sport, consisting of rules from both Australian football and Gaelic football. As of yet, the series provides the only outlet for AFL players to represent their nation.

Administration

The AFL Commission is responsible for the administration of the AFL. It was established in December 1985 after club parochialism and self-interest threatened to undermine the competition.

The Commission's chairman is Mike Fitzpatrick, a former Subiaco and Carlton player, and the Chief Executive is Andrew Demetriou. After playing for North Melbourne and Hawthorn, Demetriou had a successful business career before returning to the football world as chief executive of the AFL Players Association. He then crossed to the AFL as Manager of Football Operations before succeeding Wayne Jackson.

The Commission's composition remains almost exclusively Victorian based with one exception, Bob Hammond from South Australia.

In addition to administering the national competition, the AFL is heavily involved in promoting and developing the sport in Australia. It provides funds for local leagues and in conjunction with local clubs, administers the Auskick program for young boys and girls.

The AFL also plays a leading role in developing the game outside Australia, with projects to develop the game at junior level in other countries (e.g. South Africa) and by supporting affiliated competitions around the world (See Australian football around the world).

The players of the AFL are represented by the AFL Players Association.

Audience

Attendance

The following are the most recent season attendances:

Year	Home and Away	Average	Finals1	Average1	Grand Final
2013	6,372,784	32,186	558,391	62,043	100,007
2012	6,238,876	31,509	538,934	59,882	99,683
2011	6,533,138	34,937	614,250	68,250	99,537
2010	6,494,564	36,901	651,764	65,176	100,0164 and 93,8535
2009	6,375,622	36,225	615,463	68,385	99,251
2008	6,512,999	37,0062	571,760	63,258	100,012
2007	6,475,521	36,793	575,424	63,936	97,302
2006	6,204,056	35,250	532,178	59,131	97,431
2005	6,283,788	35,703	480,112	53,346	91,8983
2004	5,909,836	33,579	458,326	50,925	77,6713
2003	5,876,515	33,389	478,425	53,158	79,4513
2002	5,648,021	32,091	449,445	49,938	91,817
2001	5,919,026	33,631	525,993	58,444	91,482
2000	5,731,091	32,563	566,562	62,951	96,249
1999	5,768,611	32,776	472,007	52,445	94,228
1998	6,119,861	34,772	572,733	63,637	94,431
1997	5,853,449	33,258	560,406	62,267	99,645
1996	5,222,266	29,672	478,773	53,197	93,102
1995	5,119,694	29,089	594,919	66,102	93,678

¹ Finals total and Finals average include Grand Final crowds.
² Record.
³ Capacity reduced due to MCG refurbishment.
⁴ Crowd for the drawn Grand Final.
⁵ Crowd for the Grand Final Replay, played one week after the drawn Grand Final.

Television

Australian television

AFL matches are currently broadcast in Australia by the free-to-air Seven Network, subscription television provider Foxtel, and digital content provider Telstra. The 5 year deal, announced in April 2011, covers the 2012-2016 (inclusive) seasons. Telstra won the rights to broadcast one live match per week via IP Television and on its Telstra Mobile service. The deal was confirmed when the Seven Network, Foxtel and Telstra agreed to pay A$1.253 billion to the Australian Football League to broadcast every match of every round and all of the Finals Series across their platforms.^[58] As part of the agreement, Austar broadcasts Foxtel`s AFL coverage in the regional areas of Australia that are not part of Foxtel`s service area. Regional free-to-air broadcasters associated with the Seven Network – Prime7, GWN7, Seven Queensland, Southern Cross Television and WIN Television – all show Seven's coverage in their respective areas.

The Seven Network broadcasts four games from every round of the regular premiership season, as well as the AFL Finals Series and the AFL Grand Final. Foxtel broadcasts every match from every round, including simulcasts of all Seven Network games except for the Grand Final (which Seven shows exclusively live). Coverage is also available via Foxtel`s IP television service (Foxtel on T-Box).

Telecast History

1957 was the first VFL season after the commencement of television in Australia (introduced in 1956 to coincide with the Melbourne Olympic Games). During the late 1950s and 60s, all Melbourne stations (ABV2, HSV7, GTV9 and, after it commenced in 1965, ATV0/ATV10) broadcast some games. However, in the late 1950s / early 60s, the VFL was afraid that direct telecasts may affect attendances and stations were only permitted to telecast a delayed replay of the last quarter of games. In the 1980s, the Seven Network was given exclusive rights to VFL/AFL games. The only year Seven didn't telecast games was 1987, when the rights were bought by Broadcom, which on-sold the rights to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). The exclusive rights were won back by Seven in 1988.

With the launch of subscription television in Australia, AFL match coverage commenced on cable television. Optus Vision bid for and won exclusive pay TV rights from 1996–2001, screening coverage on its own 24 hour AFL channel, branded Sports AFL in Brisbane Sydney and Melbourne (where available). The Sports AFL channel was later closed due to financial issues and relaunched in March 1999 as C7 Sport by the Seven Network with AFL match coverage also transferred to the new channel. C7 Sport became available in regional areas not in the Foxtel or Optus Vision licence area via Austar soon after the re-launch. The AFL coverage was not available through Foxtel at this time as the Seven Network and Foxtel disagreed on the cost of carrying the C7 channel. These issues regarding C7 and AFL broadcsting rights evolved into a court case between not just the Seven Network and News Limited, but Seven against the owners of the Nine Network and Network Ten in the years that followed.

In late 2000, the Seven Network's main rivals, the Kerry Packer led Nine Network, Network Ten and pay-TV's Foxtel set up a consortium which bid $500 million for the right to broadcast the 2002–2006 seasons inclusive. Seven had purchased a guaranteed right to make the last bid in 1995,^[59] but decided not to outbid their rivals.^[60] The games were split between the networks, with Nine screening Friday Night Football and two matches on Sunday, Ten screened a Saturday afternoon and a Saturday night match, with the remaining four matches shown on Foxtel. Foxtel set up its own version of a dedicated AFL-only channel, the Fox Footy Channel, which showed every game on replay during the week as well as many news, talkback and general interest shows related to Australian rules football.^[61]

When the rights were offered again in January 2006 for the 2007 to 2011 seasons, Seven formed an alliance with Ten and used its guaranteed last bid rights to match Nine's offer of $780 million to win back the broadcast rights in what was the biggest sport telecasting deal in Australian history at the time. After lengthy negotiations, Foxtel agreed to be a broadcast partner and now showed four live matches each week, although no longer on a dedicated AFL channel.^[59] Seven took back the Friday night match and only one game on Sunday, while Ten retained showing two matches on Saturdays. Foxtel showed two games on Saturday and two on Sunday, including a late afternoon or twilight game.^[62]

International broadcast partners

Historically AFL broadcasts in other countries have varied.

In the 1980s, VFL matches were shown in the United States on ESPN for some time. In the early 1990s, Prime Network, an American regional sports network unrelated to the Australian regional television network, aired Seven's weekly highlight show as well as the Grand Final. Some other English speaking countries have shown the game, however it has been since 2008 that channels in other countries began televising matches. Between 1998 and 2006 the games were broadcast in the United States by the Fox Sports World network.^[63]

In 2007, after the record domestic television rights deal, the AFL secured an additional bonus: greater international television rights and increase exposure to overseas markets, including a 5 year deal with Setanta Sports, and new deals with other overseas pay-TV networks. The deal ended early in 2009 when Setanta stopped broadcasting into Great Britain. ESPN again took up the contract.^[64]

The following countries are ranked by the approximate extent of their current television coverage (and whether it is free to air):

Station/Channel	Countries	Free/Subscription	Home & Away	Finals	Grand Final	Broadcasting since	Notes
ESPN Africa	Africa	Subscription	1 game per week (live/delay)	Live			See also Australian rules football in Africa
TSN2	Canada	Subscription			Live		See also Australian rules football in Canada, AFANA
DirecTV Sports	Caribbean South America	Subscription	4 games per week (live/highlights/replay)	Live	Live
TG4	Ireland	Free	One game per week (highlights)				See also Australian rules football in Ireland
UPC Ireland	Ireland	Subscription					See also Australian rules football in Ireland
EM TV	Papua New Guinea	Free	1–3 per week (highlights)	Live	Live		See also Australian rules football in Papua New Guinea
Fiji TV	Fiji	Free	1 (live/replay)	Live	Live		See also Australian rules football in Fiji
International Channel Shanghai	Peoples Republic of China	Free	1 (live)	Live	Live		See also Australian rules football in China
Australia Network	Asia-Pacific region, Indian Subcontinent, Middle East	Free (Subscription in some)	5 per week	Yes	Live
Eurosport 2	Europe	Free	One game per week (highlights/live/replay)		Live		See also Australian rules football in Europe
Fox Sports Israel	Israel	Subscription					See also Australian rules football in the Middle East
SKY Sports	México Central America	Subscription	Four games per week (highlights/live/replay)	Live	Live
ShowSports 2	Middle East, Asia	Subscription
Sommet Sports	New Zealand	Free	All matches live or delayed + Highlights	Live	Live	2013	See also Australian rules football in New Zealand
Sky Sport	New Zealand	Subscription	1–2 (live/delayed) + highlights				See also Australian rules football in New Zealand
Canal+ (Spain)	Spain	Free	highlights, delayed matches			2009	See also Australian rules football in Spain
Sky Digital	United Kingdom	Subscription					See also Australian rules football in the United Kingdom
Virgin Media	United Kingdom	Subscription					See also Australian rules football in the United Kingdom
ESPN UK	United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland	Subscription	3 games per week (highlights/live/replay)			2009	See also Australian rules football in the United Kingdom, See also Australian rules football in Ireland
ESPN3.com	United States	Subscription	3 games a week		Live		See also Australian rules football in the United States, AFANA
ESPN2	United States	Subscription	4 games during the season	Yes			See also Australian rules football in the United States, AFANA
ESPN Classic	United States	Subscription			Live		See also Australian rules football in the United States, AFANA
MHz Worldview	United States	Subscription	"Game of the Week" (one-week delay) (highlights)		Live		See also Australian rules football in the United States, AFANA

Global

The AFL has stated that it wishes to showcase the footballing code to other countries such as India, China and South Africa so as to create a global following thus creating more exposure for its sponsors in the increasing Asian and African markets.^[65] On 17 October 2010, AFL clubs Melbourne Demons and Brisbane Lions played an exhibition game in front of almost 10,000 people at the Riverside Sports Center in Shanghai.^{[citation needed]} This was the first professional AFL game to be played in China.

The AFL has garnered increased interest in Ireland due to the introduction of the International Rules series played between an AFL picked All Australian Team and Ireland.^{[citation needed]} This paved the way for young Irish footballers to be rostered to AFL teams mainly due to the fact that salaries in the AFL are much larger than that of Gaelic Football although most Irish players fail to make the grade into 1st team football.^[66] This also paved the way for extended news coverage and increased broadcasting in the UK and Ireland.^{[citation needed]}

Radio

The first broadcast of a VFL game was by 3AR in 1923, the year that broadcasting officially commenced in Australia. The first commentator was Wallace (Jumbo) Shallard, a former Geelong player who went on to have a long and respected career in print and broadcast media. The VFL/AFL has been broadcast every year since then by the ABC and (since 1927) by various commercial stations. The saturation period was the early 1960s when seven of the eight extant radio stations (3AR, 3UZ, 3DB, 3KZ, 3AW, 3XY and 3AK) broadcast VFL games each week, as well as broadcasts of Geelong games by local station 3GL. (At this time, the only alternative that radio listeners had to listening to the football on a Saturday afternoon were the classical music and fine arts programs that were broadcast by 3LO).

Currently, the official radio broadcast partners of the AFL are:

• Triple M Melbourne
• K-Rock Geelong
• 3AW Melbourne
• FIVEaa Adelaide
• 6PR Perth
• SEN 1116 Melbourne
• 98.9FM Brisbane
• Triple M Sydney (Broadcasts only Swans and Giants matches)
• Triple M Brisbane (Broadcasts only Lions matches)
• Triple M Adelaide
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation - (ABC Grandstand) broadcasts matches across Australia on the ABC Local Radio network and via the ABC News Radio network to selected major cities in NSW\QLD\ACT.

Internet

The official internet/mobile broadcast partner of the AFL is Bigpond, part of Telstra. The AFL also provides exclusive broadband content including streaming video for international fans via its website. Bigpond also hosts the official websites of all the 17 AFL clubs excluding Essendon.

The service is also provided to international subscribers. Delayed video is available 12 hours or more after the game.

However, the website is frequently derided by users for its convoluted information architecture and bloated presentation.^[67][68]

From 2012 Telstra will broadcast live matches over its NextG mobile network for a pay-per-view or season fee.^[69]

Corporate relations

Sponsorship

The following are the official naming sponsors of the VFL/AFL competition:

• Carlton & United Breweries (1980–81, 86, 89–94, 2001–03)
• Holden (1982–83)
• Nissan (1984–85)
• Sportsplay (1987)
• Elder's IXL (1988)
• Coca-Cola (1995–2001)
• Toyota (2004–present)

¹Note: In 2001 CUB and Coca-Cola were joint sponsors

Publishing and print

The official print broadcast partner of the AFL is News Limited. The AFL Record is a match-day magazine published by the AFL and is read by around 225,000 people each week.

Membership

The AFL sells memberships that entitle subscribers to reserve seats for matches at Docklands Stadium and Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne. AFL members also receive priority access to finals. Two levels of memberships are now offered, silver and full, with the main difference being that only full members have guaranteed access to Preliminary and Grand Final matches.^[70]

Merchandising

The AFL runs a chain of stores that sell merchandise from all clubs. Merchandise is also available from other retailers.

AFL World

A modern museum called the Hall of Fame and Sensation opened in Melbourne in 2003 to celebrate the culture of the AFL and to provide a venue for the Australian Football Hall of Fame. The museum, a licensed off-shoot of the AFL, was originally touted for the MCG, but the Hall of Fame failed to get support from the Melbourne Cricket Club. The new QV shopping centre on Swanston Street was then chosen as the location. However, controversy followed the appointment of an administrator as the museum began running at a loss. Many blamed high entry prices, which were subsequently reduced, and the museum remains open to the public. In early 2006 the name was changed to AFL World. It features various honour boards and memorabilia as well as a range of innovative interactive displays designed to immerse visitors in the experience of elite Aussie Rules. It was closed down in 2008.

Video games

The following is a list of all the video games from the AFL video game series:

• Aussie Rules Footy (1991) NES
• AFL Finals Fever (1996) Microsoft Windows
• AFL 98 (1998) PlayStation, Microsoft Windows
• AFL 99 (1999) PlayStation, Microsoft Windows
• Kevin Sheedy's: AFL Coach 2002 (2001) Microsoft Windows
• AFL Live 2003 (2002) Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox
• AFL Live 2004 (2003) Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox
• AFL Live Premiership Edition (2004) Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox
• AFL Premiership 2005 (2005) Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox
• AFL Premiership 2006 (2006) PlayStation 2
• AFL Premiership 2007 (2007) PlayStation 2
• AFL Mascot Manor (2009) Nintendo DS
• AFL Challenge (2009) PlayStation Portable
• AFL Live (2011, 2012) PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
• AFL (Wii) (2011, 2012) Wii
• AFL Live 2 (2013) PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Gambling

The AFL is the subject of footy tipping and betting competitions around Australia run by individuals, syndicates, workplaces and professional bookmakers. In recent years national website based tipping competitions have started to replace the traditional, but more labour-intensive, office or pub run competitions.

Fantasy football competitions based on actual player statistics (number of kicks, marks, goals etc.) are also very popular on websites and in newspapers.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Australian Football League.

• AFL Draft
• AFL footballers
• AFL salary cap
• Australian Football League Pre-Season Cup Premiers
• Australian rules football in Australia
• Goal of the Year
• History of Australian rules football in Victoria (1853-1900)
• Mark of the Year
• Sports attendances
• Victorian Football League

Lists:

• List of Australian Football League night premiers
• List of VFL/AFL presidents
• List of overseas-born AFL players
• List of VFL/AFL players by ethnicity
• List of Indigenous Australian rules footballers
• List of Australian Football League grounds
• List of Australian Football League coaches
• List of Australian Football League premiers
• List of sports venues in Australia

Notes

References

External links

• AFL official site

Statistics and Results

• AlltheStats
• AustralianFootball
• AFL Tables
• Final Siren with comprehensive AFL Statistics 1980–2008
• AFL Statistics by FootyWire
• Comprehensive & unique AFL Statistics by ProWess Sports
• Footystats Diary: AFL records/results/analysis plus news digest
• AFL on Austadiums

Major AFL news Sites

• Aussie Rules Latest News Headlines
• The Age Footy News
• Fox Sports Australia AFL news
• Herald Sun Footy News

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