The AFL evolved from the Victorian domestic competition, and over the past 25 years it has grown into a national competition with teams based in five of the six Australian states although ten of the sixteen clubs are still based in Victoria. Since the move toward a national competition, the AFL has become a very powerful, wealthy and influential organisation in Australian sport.
The 16 teams play against each other in 22 rounds between late March and early September. These matches are followed by a series of finals matches which culminate in the two best teams playing off for the premiership in the AFL Grand Final, one of the best attended domestic club championship events in the world.
NATIONAL COMPETITION
As of 2006, there are nine clubs based in Melbourne, one in Victoria's second largest city, Geelong, two South Australian teams, two Western Australian teams and one each in Sydney, New South Wales and Brisbane, Queensland.
AFL is the dominant league in television, print and radio news in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania. In addition, Australian rules football is the most participated football code in these states and territories.
The popularity of AFL is increasing in the states of New South Wales and Queensland. This has been greatly assisted by recent premierships being won by the Brisbane Lions (2001, 2002 and 2003) and Sydney Swans (2005). With the success of these sides, participation in Australian rules football has grown rapidly in these states in recent years.
Combined, the non-Victorian teams have won 10 of the last 15 premierships. The last 3 AFL grand finals have been contested solely by non-Victorian sides.
HISTORIC CLUBS
The modern day Australian Football League (AFL) has many teams dating back to the beginnings of the sport of Australian rules football, including the very first club, Melbourne Football Club (1858), whose founders codified the game in 1859.
Other early clubs still in existence include: Geelong (1859), Carlton (1864), North Melbourne (aka Hotham, now Kangaroos) (1869), Port Adelaide (1870), Essendon and St Kilda (1873), South Melbourne (now Sydney Swans) (1874), Footscray (now the Western Bulldogs) (1877), Richmond (1885) and Collingwood (1892).
The Toyota AFL Premiership Season, contested between the 16 teams from around Australia, lasts for 22 rounds and begins in late March.
At the end of the 22 rounds, the top eight teams compete in the four-week Toyota AFL Finals Series. In the first week, depending on the their ladder position, teams play in two Qualifying Finals and two Elimination Finals. The two lowest placed losing teams are eliminated, the two highest placed winning teams progress into a Preliminary Final (in the third week), and the other four teams play in two Semi Finals (in the second week). The losers of the Semi Finals are eliminated and the remaining four teams play in two Preliminary Finals, with the winning teams play in the Grand Final.
The McClelland Trophy is awarded to the team that finishes the league in first position (sometimes called the minor premiership) but this is not afforded anywhere near the prestige as the Premiership. The Premiership is awarded to the winning team in the Grand Final.
The Grand Final is traditionally played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, even if two non-Victorian teams are playing, on the last Saturday in September. Recent exceptions to this practice were in 1991 when the MCG was being redeveloped and the Grand Final was played at Waverley Park, and in 2000 when the Grand Final was played in early September as the Sydney Olympics started on 15 September. A silver cup, known as the Premiership Cup, and a pennant are awarded to the winner of the AFL Grand Final.
(source: Wikipedia | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Football_League )
What is the AFL?
The AFL evolved from the Victorian domestic competition, and over the past 25 years it has grown into a national competition with teams based in five of the six Australian states although ten of the sixteen clubs are still based in Victoria. Since the move toward a national competition, the AFL has become a very powerful, wealthy and influential organisation in Australian sport.