Short history of AFL
Australian Rules Football commenced around 1858 in the city of Melbourne. The origin of the game is still under debate as, in this period there were also a few games with similar rules, throughout Europe and Ireland. The game was also influenced by the Koorie game Marngrook and Aboriginal people continue to play a huge role in the game. The first Australian Rules game was between Melbourne Grammar School Football Club and Scotch College in 1858, with the oldest surviving set of rules of Australian Rules having been drawn up in 1859.
The oldest surviving Australian Rules Football Clubs are Melbourne established in 1859 and Geelong whose first official game was in 1860 (Victorian Football Association VFA).
The Victorian Football Association (VFA), the South Australian Football League (SAFL) were created in 1877 and along with Tasmanian Australian Football League (TFL), created in 1879 and the Western Australian Football Association (WAFA), created in 1885, these were instrumental in establishing the game as the main winter sport of Australia within their states.
In 1896, VFA clubs Geelong, Essendon, Collingwood, Fitzroy, Melbourne, South Melbourne, Carlton and St Kilda met to form the VFL as a break-away competition. In 1897 Richmond and University joined in.
At the time of Federation, in 1901, without joining the VFL, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia (with 6 teams) and Tasmania had continued the growth of the game of Australian Rules and established strong state-wide competitions.
University left the League in 1915, but in 1925 the VFA clubs of Footscray, Hawthorn and North Melbourne expanded the member teams in the VFL to 12.
The State of Origin was held between the years of 1977 in Perth WA, to 1979.The first National game was held in South Australia in 1979. In 1982 the game expanded when the South Melbourne Football Club relocated to Sydney and became the Sydney Swans. The AFL itself was formally created in 1989 and VFL changed its name to the AFL in 1990. Australian-wide games of AFL commenced in 1991 with the inter-state teams. In 1991, two non-Victorian clubs: the West Coast Eagles and the Adelaide Crows were established and joined the games.
Fremantle Dockers joined AFL in 1995, Fitzroy and Brisbane Bears merged to become the Brisbane Lions and Footscray was renamed as Western Bulldogs in 1996, then Port Adelaide joined 1997. This gave the competition two teams in each of WA and SA, and one team apiece in Qld and NSW. WAFA became WAFL in 2001.
A second wave of expansion in the second decade of this century, with the addition of the Gold Coast Suns in 2010 and the Greater Western Sydney Giants in 2012, now sees the AFL with two teams in each mainland state.
AFL expanded further with the introduction of the Women’s league in 2017. The inaugural teams were announced on 8 June 2016. As the only teams to bid in their respective states, Adelaide, Brisbane, and Greater Western Sydney were granted licences to compete in 2017. Both Western Australian clubs made bids, with Fremantle's bid chosen ahead of West Coast's. Eight Victorian clubs made bids: Melbourne, Western Bulldogs, Carlton and Collingwood were successful, with Geelong, North Melbourne, Richmond and St Kilda unsuccessful. All five unsuccessful bidders were granted provisional licences.
The Bishop Collection owns an overall and concise chronological collection of AFL-related cards and artifacts. Discover our Sport Archives' AFL section here.
