The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal, is awarded to the best and fairest player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the four officiating field umpires after each game. It is the most prestigious award for individual players in the AFL. It is also widely acknowledged as the highest individual honour in the sport of Australian rules football.
In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspension for misconduct or breaching the rules during that season. It is similar to most valuable player (MVP) awards in other team sports.
The 2006 Brownlow Medal was the 79th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home and away season. Adam Goodes of the Sydney Swans won the medal by polling twenty-six votes during the 2006 AFL season. It was Goodes' second Brownlow Medal win, after his victory in 2003.
The 2007 Brownlow Medal was the 80th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home and away season. Jimmy Bartel of the Geelong Football Club won the medal by polling twenty-nine votes during the 2007 AFL season.
The 2008 Brownlow Medal was the 81st year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home and away season. Adam Cooney of the Western Bulldogs won the medal by polling twenty-four votes during the 2008 AFL season. Pre-vote favourite, Gary Ablett and sentimental favourite, Matthew Richardson finished equal third on twenty-two votes. Cooney polled twenty-four votes, one ahead of Brisbane's Simon Black, who won the award in 2002 and was equal second in 2007.
The 2010 Brownlow Medal was the 83rd year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home and away season. Chris Judd of the Carlton Football Club won the medal by polling thirty votes during the 2010 AFL season. It was broadcast on Channel Ten and, for the first time, simultaneously on One live and nationally.
The 2004 Brownlow Medal was the 77th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home-and-away season. Chris Judd of the West Coast Eagles won the medal by polling thirty votes during the 2004 AFL season.
The 2003 Brownlow Medal was the 76th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home-and-away season. Nathan Buckley of the Collingwood Football Club, Adam Goodes of the Sydney Swans, and Mark Ricciuto of the Adelaide Football Club all won the medal by polling twenty-two votes each during the 2003 AFL season.
The 2013 Brownlow Medal was the 86th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home and away season. Gary Ablett of the Gold Coast Football Club won the medal for the second time by polling twenty-eight votes during the 2013 AFL season.
The 2014 Brownlow Medal was the 87th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home and away season. Matt Priddis of the West Coast Eagles won the medal by polling twenty-six votes during the 2014 AFL season. Defending Brownlow Medallist Gary Ablett of the Gold Coast Football Club was the short-priced favourite for the medal until he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in round 16. Betting on the medal was suspended while the extent of the injury to Ablett was determined. Geelong captain Joel Selwood, Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury and Sydney's Josh Kennedy were considered to be among the new favourites in the wake of Ablett's injury, but at the end of the season Ablett was still second favourite to have polled enough votes before his injury to win the award. He ended up polling the equal-third most votes, tying with Sydney's Lance Franklin on 22 votes.
The 2015 Brownlow Medal was the 88th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home and away season. Nat Fyfe of the Fremantle Football Club won the medal by polling thirty-one votes during the 2015 AFL season. He became the first Fremantle player to win the Brownlow Medal.
The 2016 Brownlow Medal was the 89th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home and away season. Patrick Dangerfield of the Geelong Football Club won the medal by polling thirty-five votes during the 2016 AFL season, at the time the most by any player under the 3-2-1 voting system, beating the previous record of 34 votes set by Dane Swan in 2011.
The 2017 Brownlow Medal was the 90th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home and away season. Dustin Martin of the Richmond Football Club won the medal with a record-breaking 36 votes, which was tied by Ollie Wines in 2021, until it was broken by Patrick Cripps in 2024.
The 2017 AFL Women's best and fairest was the first year the award was presented to the player adjudged the best and fairest player during the AFL Women's (AFLW) home-and-away season. Erin Phillips of the Adelaide Football Club won the award with 14 votes.
The Lambert–Pearce Medal is awarded to the best and fairest player in the VFL Women's (VFLW) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game. It is the most prestigious award for individual players in the VFLW.
The 2020 Brownlow Medal was the 93rd year the award was presented to the player adjudged the best and fairest player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home-and-away season. Lachie Neale of the Brisbane Lions was the winner, with 31 votes.
The Dhara Kerr Medal is awarded to the best and fairest player in the WAFL Women's (WAFLW) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game. The award was part of the original West Australian Women's Football League competition and was carried over to the WAFLW when it commenced in 2019. Kerr was born in Warrnambool, Victoria in 1971 and died in Perth in 1995, three years after she had relocated to Western Australia and begun playing football for Innaloo.
The SANFL Women's League Best and Fairest Medal is awarded to the best and fairest player in the SANFL Women's League (SANFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game. Future Greater Western Sydney and Adelaide player Courtney Gum was the inaugural winner of the award in 2017, with Lauren Young the youngest winner of the award after her win in 2021, aged just 15 years in her winning season.
