Australian Football League From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the sporting league. For the sport itself, see Australian rules football. Australian Football League Current season, competition or edition: 2014 AFL season Australian Football League.svg Formerly Victorian Football League (18971989) Sport Australian rules football Founded 1897 Commissioner Gillon McLachlan Inaugural season 1897 No. of teams 18 Country Australia Most recent champion(s) Hawthorn (11th premiership) Most titles Carlton Essendon (16 premierships each) TV partner(s) Seven Network Fox Footy Foxtel Sponsor(s) Toyota Related competitions VFL, VFA Official website afl.com.au The Australian Football League (AFL) is the highest-level professional competiti on in the sport of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AF L 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 (V FL) as a breakaway from previous Victorian Football Association (VFA), with its inaugural season commencing in 1897. Originally comprising only teams based in t he Australian state of Victoria, the competition's name was changed to the Austr alian Football League for the 1990 season, after expanding to other states throu ghout the 1980s. The league currently consists of 18 teams spread over five states of Australia, although the majority (ten teams) are still based in Victoria. The AFL season cu rrently consists of a pre-season competition (currently branded as the "NAB Chal lenge"), 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 term ed the "premiers", and is awarded the premiership cup. The current premiers are Hawthorn. Contents 1 History 1.1 18961914: VFL begins 1.2 19141945: Between the world wars 1.3 1950s 1.4 1960s 1.5 1970s 1.6 1980s: National expansion 1.7 1990s: A new era 1.8 2000s 1.9 2010s: Further expansion 2 Clubs 2.1 Current clubs 2.2 Former clubs 3 Venues 4 Players 4.1 Salary cap 4.2 Demographics 4.2.1 Indigenous Australian players 4.2.2 International players 5 Season structure 5.1 Pre-season 5.2 Premiership season 5.2.1 Themed rounds and special matches 5.3 Finals Series 5.3.1 List of VFL/AFL Grand Finalists 6 Awards 6.1 Major annual awards 6.2 Team of the Century 7 Records 8 Representative football 8.1 State football 8.1.1 History of the VFL/AFL's involvement 8.2 International Rules Series 9 Administration 10 Audience 10.1 Attendance 10.2 Television 10.2.1 Australian television 10.2.2 Telecast History 10.2.3 International broadcast partners 10.3 Global 10.4 Radio 10.5 Internet 11 Corporate relations 11.1 Sponsorship 11.1.1 Publishing and print 11.2 Membership 11.3 Merchandising 11.3.1 AFL World 11.3.2 Video games 11.3.3 Gambling 12 See also 13 Notes 14 References 15 External links History 18961914: VFL begins Former VFL/AFL Logo (pre-1990) now the logo of the Victorian Football League. The Victorian Football League was established in 1896 when six of the strongest clubs in Victoria Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne and South M elbourne broke away from the established Victorian Football Association to estab lish the new league. The six clubs invited two more VFA clubs Carlton and St Kil da to join the league for its inaugural season in 1897. Among the notable initia tives established in the new league was an annual finals tournament, rather than awarding the premiership directly to the team with the best record through the season; and, the formal establishment of the modern scoring system, in which six points are scored for a goal, and one point is scored for a behind. Although the Victorian Football League and the Victorian Football Association co ntinued to compete for spectator interest for many years, the VFL quickly establ ished itself as the premier competition in Victoria. In the early years Fitzroy and Collingwood were the dominant teams. Following the arrival of Jack Worrall a s coach in 1903, Carlton began a dominating period, during which they won three successive flags from 1906 to 1908; although Worrall was the club secretary, he took on a player management and direction role which is today recognised as the first official coaching job in the league. Essendon won flags in 1911 and 1912, also under Jack Worrall's coaching. In 1908, the league expanded to ten teams, with Richmond crossing from the VFA a nd University from the Metropolitan Football Association. University, after thre e promising seasons, finished last each year from 1911 until 1914, including los ing 51 matches in a row; this was in part caused by its' players focus on their studies rather than football, particularly during examinations, and it was partl y because the club operated on an amateur basis at a time when player payments w ere becoming common and as a result, the club withdrew from the VFL at the end o f 1914. University teams now compete in the Victorian Amateur Football Associati on.[1][2] From 1907 until 1914, the VFL premier and the premier of the Adelaide-based Sout h Australian Football League met in a playoff match for the Championship of Aust ralia. 19141945: Between the world wars The VFL Grand Final in 1946 from the stands of the Melbourne Cricket Ground Main article: The VFL during the World Wars In 1919, the VFL established a seconds/reserves competition to run alongside the senior competition. In 1924 the VFL inaugurated the Brownlow Medal for the play er who received the most votes from the umpires for the Best and Fairest player. Richmond won its first Premierships in 1920 and 1921 but Essendon battlers sinc e their 1912 flag took over as the dominant team between 1922 and 1926. In 1925, the VFL expanded from nine teams to twelve, with Footscray, Hawthorn an d North Melbourne each crossing from the VFA. North Melbourne and Hawthorn remai ned very weak in the VFL for a very long period. North Melbourne did not win mor e than eight games in a season until 1944 and Hawthorn only once won more than s even until 1954. Between them, Hawthorn and North Melbourne finished in last pla ce fifteen of the twenty-nine years from their admittance until 1953. Footscray adapted to the VFL with the most ease of the three clubs, and by 1928 were well off the bottom of the ladder. Between the years of 1927 and 1930, Collingwood became the first and so far, the only, team to win four successive Premierships. The club also finished the 1929 home-and-away season without losing a game, a feat yet to be repeated. This tea m became known as "the Machine" because of the organised and consistent way it p layed. With Premiership victories in 1935 and 1936, the Collingwood Football Clu b had already won 11 Premierships, four more than the next most successful club, Fitzroy (7). In the 1930s, Richmond and South Melbourne rivaled Collingwood as the best team. Melbourne, which had won the Premiership in 1926 but fallen off sharply, develo ped a powerful attacking side that swept all before it between 1939 and 1941 to win three successive flags. Essendon, after a lean decade in the 1930s, enjoyed a dominant period with nine grand final appearances between 1941 and 1951. 1950s In 1946, the VFL established an Under 19s grade of competition, to run alongside the seniors and reserves. In 1951, the McClelland Trophy was established as a p rize for the best performing team across all three grades. In 1952, the VFL host ed 'National Day', when all six matches were played outside of Melbourne. Matche s were played at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Brisbane Exhibition Ground, North Ho bart Oval, Albury Sports Ground and Victorian country towns Yallourn and Euroa. In 1959, the VFL planned the first purpose built mega-stadium, VFL Park (later k nown as Waverley Park), to give it some independence from the Melbourne Cricket Club, which managed the Melbourne Cricket Ground. VFL Park was planned to hold 1 55,000 spectators, which would have made it one of the largest stadiums in the w orld although it would ultimately be built with a capacity of 78,000. Land for t he stadium was purchased at Mulgrave, in those days just farmland, but one day p redicted to be near the demographic centre of Melbourne's population. Geelong was the stand out team at the beginning of the 1950s, winning the Premie rship in 1951 then setting an enduring record of 23 consecutive wins starting in Round 12, 1952 and ending in Round 13, 1953. This streak included the 1952 Prem iership. Footscray became the first of the 1925 expansion teams to win the premi ership in 1954. Melbourne became a powerhouse during the 1950s and early 1960s under coach Norm Smith and star player Ron Barassi. The club contested seven consecutive Grand Fi nals from 1954 to 1960, winning five Premierships, including three in a row betw een 1955 and 1957. Television coverage began in 1957, with direct telecasts of the final quarter pe rmitted. At first, several channels competed through broadcasting different game s. However, when the VFL found that television was reducing crowds, it decided t hat no coverage was to be allowed for 1960.