Australian Football League facts for kids

The Australian Football League (AFL) is the Australian national league in the sport of Australian Rules Football. The league is the most popular sports competition in Australia. In 2012, nearly 6.8 million people watched a game in a stadium.

The league started in the city of Melbourne, and was known as the Victorian Football League from 1897 to 1989. In the 1980s, the league expanded outside the state of Victoria into New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia, and entered South Australia in 1991. With the league becoming more national, the VFL changed its name to the Australian Football League in 1990.

As of the latest season of 2012, the league's 18 teams play against each other in 22 games over 23 rounds between late March and early September. These matches are followed by a series of finals matches which end up in the two best teams playing off for the premiership in the AFL Grand Final, one of the largest domestic club championship events in the world.

The chief executive, titled "Commissioner", is Gillon Mclachlan.

The clubs

National Competition

In the most recent 2012 season, there were nine clubs from Melbourne, one from Victoria's second largest city, Geelong, two teams from South Australia's capital of Adelaide, two from the Perth area in Western Australia, two from Queensland and two from Sydney, New South Wales.

AFL is the dominant league in television, print and radio news in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Tasmania. Also Australian rules football has more people playing than any other football code in these states and territories.

The AFL is becoming more popular in the states of New South Wales and Queensland. This happened after the finals wins by the Brisbane Lions (2001, 2002 and 2003) and Sydney Swans (2005). With the success of these sides, interest in Australian rules football has grown rapidly in these states in recent years. This directly led to new clubs being added in both states in the 2010s—Gold Coast in 2011 and Greater Western Sydney in 2012.

Major annual awards

• Brownlow Medal
• Coleman Medal
• AFL Rising Star
• Leigh Matthews Trophy
• Norm Smith Medal
• Jock McHale Medal
• Michael Tuck Medal
• AFL Mark of the Year
• AFL Goal of the Year
• All Australian Team
• Club Best and Fairest Awards

Present teams

Legends of the Game

In 1996, twelve Hall of Fame members were declared Legends of the Game. Now, each year another member of the Hall of Fame is declared a legend. The following is a list of Legends of the Game.

• Ron Barassi Junior (added 1996)
• Haydn Bunton Senior(added 1996)
• Roy Cazaly (added 1996)
• John Coleman (added 1996)
• Jack Dyer (added 1996)
• Graham Farmer (added 1996)
• Leigh Matthews (added 1996)
• John Nicholls (added 1996)
• Bob Pratt (added 1996)
• Dick Reynolds (added 1996)
• Bob Skilton (added 1996)
• Ted Whitten Senior (added 1996)
• Ian Stewart (added 1997)
• Gordon Coventry (added 1998)
• Peter Hudson (added 1999)
• Kevin Bartlett (added 2000)
• Barrie Robran (added 2001)
• Bill Hutchison (added 2003)
• Jock McHale (added 2005)
• Darrell Baldock (added 2006)
• Darcy Coombs "(added 2009)"

VFL/AFL Records

• Highest score
  Geelong - 37.17 (239) vs. Brisbane Bears
  Carrara Oval, May 3, 1992.
• Highest winning margin
  Fitzroy - 190 points
  Waverley Park, July 28, 1979.
• Highest aggregate score
  52.33 (345) - Melbourne 21.15 (141) vs St Kilda 31.18 (204)
  MCG, May 6, 1978
• Highest score in one quarter
  South Melbourne - 17.4 (106) vs. St Kilda
  Lake Oval, July 26, 1919
• Largest crowd
  Carlton v Collingwood - 121,696
  MCG, September 26, 1970 (Grand Final)
• Largest Home & Away Season crowd
  Melbourne v Collingwood - 99,346
  MCG, 1958
• Largest crowd for a game between a Victorian and non-Victorian club
  Adelaide Crows v St Kilda Saints - 99,645
  MCG, September 27, 1997 (Grand Final)
• Largest crowd for a game between non-Victorian clubs
  West Coast Eagles v Sydney Swans - 97,431
  MCG, September 30, 2006 (Grand Final)
• Largest International crowd
  Melbourne v Sydney - 32,789
  B.C. Place, Vancouver, Canada, 1987
• Most premierships
  Carlton 16, most recent 1995, Essendon 16, most recent 2000
• Most wooden spoons (last position at the end of the Home and Away Season)
  St Kilda - 26, most recent 2000
• Most consecutive premierships
  Collingwood - 4
  1927-1930
• Most games won in a season
  Essendon - 24 (incl. finals)
  2000
• 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
  Brent Harvey (North Melbourne) - 431 games
• Most games as club captain
  Stephen Kernahan (Carlton) - 226 games
• Most goals in a career
  Tony Lockett (St Kilda) - 1359 goals
• Most goals in a game
  Michael Bezzeene (Western Bulldogs) - 27 Goals
• Most goals in a season
  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 (Ended Rd 13, 2006 due to unknown injury)
• Tallest player
  Aaron Sandilands (Fremantle), Peter Street (Western Bulldogs) - 211cm
• Shortest player
  Danny Craven (St Kilda/Brisbane) - 162cm
• Heaviest player
  Aaron Sandilands (Fremantle) - 124kg
• Longest kick
  Albert Thurgood (Essendon) - 98.48m (109 yards, 1 foot, 3.2 inches)

Venues

Below are the venues used during the 2018 AFL season.

Melbourne, Victoria	Perth, Western Australia	Melbourne, Victoria	Adelaide, South Australia
Melbourne Cricket Ground	Perth Stadium	Docklands Stadium	Adelaide Oval
Capacity: 100,025	Capacity: 60,000	Capacity: 56,347	Capacity: 53,583
Sydney, New South Wales			Brisbane, Queensland
Sydney Cricket Ground			The Gabba
Capacity: 48,000			Capacity: 42,000
Geelong, Victoria			Gold Coast, Queensland
Kardinia Park			Carrara Stadium
Capacity: 34,074			Capacity: 25,000
Sydney, New South Wales	Launceston, Tasmania	Hobart, Tasmania	Canberra, ACT
Sydney Showground Stadium	York Park	Bellerive Oval	Manuka Oval
Capacity: 24,000	Capacity: 21,000	Capacity: 19,500	Capacity: 13,550
Darwin, Northern Territory	Cairns, Queensland	Alice Springs, Northern Territory	Shanghai, China
Marrara Oval	Cazaly's Stadium	Traeger Park	Jiangwan Stadium
Capacity: 12,500	Capacity: 13,500	Capacity: 10,000	Capacity: 25,000

Images for kids

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  The final standing of the 1896 VFA ladder. Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, South Melbourne, Carlton and St Kilda would form the VFL the following year.

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  Essendon won the inaugural VFL premiership by finishing on top of the 1897 round robin finals ladder. A new finals system was implemented during the 1898 VFL season in order that a final match, or "grand final", determine the premiers.

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  In 1924, Footscray, the premiers of the VFA, defeated Essendon, the VFL premiers, in the Championship of Victoria. The result played a large part in Footscray, Hawthorn and North Melbourne gaining entry into the VFL the following year.

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  VFL Logo used from 1972 to 1975

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  VFL Logo used from 1976 to 1989

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  AFL Logo used from 1990 to 1999

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  In 1992 the West Coast Eagles became the first non-Victorian team to win an AFL premiership. Pictured is the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1992 where the grand final was held. The stadium is pictured as configured for a cricket match, note the visible pitch and absent goal posts.

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  Dustin Martin, the third pick in the 2009 AFL draft

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  Indigenous player Lance Franklin. Although comprising only 2.7% of the broader Australian population, Indigenous Australians make up 9% of AFL players.

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  The Anzac Day clash is one of the marquee fixtures in the AFL home and away season.

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  Statue of Footscray legend and leading State of Origin proponent Ted Whitten, after whom the E. J. Whitten Legends Game is named

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  Gillon McLachlan, CEO of the AFL