The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coaches and administrators. It was initially established with 136 inductees. As of 2024, this figure has grown to more than 300, including 32 "Legends". Jason Dunstall became the most recent inductee to achieve Legend status in 2024.[1][2][3] There had previously been 32 official Legends prior to Dunstall's elevation, but disgraced player Barry Cable had his football honours rescinded after being found guilty of historical child sex abuse.[4][5]
Since 2015, anyone involved in the game from its inception in 1858 until at least five years after their retirement are theoretically eligible; however, as of 2024, very few outside the elite leagues—the Victorian/Australian Football League (VFL/AFL), the West Australian Football League (WAFL), the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), the Challenge Cup of 1870–1876, the South Australian Interclub competition of 1870–1876, and the Victorian Football Association (VFA) of 1877–1896) have been inducted.
Selection
Selection criteria
A committee considers candidates on the basis of their ability, integrity, sportsmanship and character. While the number of games played, coached or umpired, or years of service in the case of administrators and media representatives, is a consideration, it alone does not determine eligibility.
Players must be retired from the game for at least five years before they become eligible for induction (extended from three years in 2015),[6] while coaches, umpires, administrators and media representatives are eligible immediately upon retirement.
The committee considers candidates from all states and territories of Australia and from all Australian football competitions within Australia.
The following excerpt from the official Hall of Fame website highlights the main criteria used by the committee in selecting inductees to the Hall of Fame:
The Committee shall consider a candidate's outstanding service and overall contribution to the game of Australian Football in determining a candidate's eligibility for induction into the Hall of Fame.
Without limiting clause 5.1, the Committee may consider a candidate's individual record, ability, integrity, sportsmanship and character.
The number of football games played, coached or umpired or the years of service provided shall only be a consideration and shall not be determinative in assessing a candidate's eligibility.
A player, coach, umpire, administrator or media representative involved at any level of Australian Football may be eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame.
Candidates shall be adjudged on the basis of their overall contribution to Australian Football, as opposed to one specific aspect.
In 2010, several amendments were made to the selection criteria, with key changes including:[7]
The maximum number of inductees in any single year reduced from eight to six, to increase the emphasis and honour for those inducted. This change was reversed in 2018.[8]
The requirement to induct a minimum of three recently retired players (retired within 10 years of each induction ceremony) reduced to a minimum of two, to ensure older players deserving of induction are represented in proportion. This requirement was removed completely in 2018.[8]
The requirement to have one inductee from the grouping of categories umpire/administrator/media every year changed to a minimum of one from this category every two years. In 2018, the requirement for people in the media or administration categories to have retired was removed.[8]
The Hall of Fame selection committee to be independent from the AFL Commission. The wording in the charter has been changed so that the selection committee recommends to the commission for "endorsement" rather than for "approval".
Selectors would be appointed for an initial term of three years, with two further opportunities to be appointed for subsequent three year terms (total of nine years).
At least 25 per cent of the selection committee to reside outside of Victoria.
Mike Fitzpatrick, Brian Atkinson, Kevin Bartlett, Brendon Gale, Tim Lane, Jim Main, David Parkin, Tom Reynolds, Mike Sheahan, Patrick Smith, Leigh Whicker, Caroline Wilson.
Western Australia: Richard Goyder, Tania Armstrong, Ross Glendinning.
Legends
The Legends category is reserved for those who are deemed to have had a significant impact on the game of Australian rules football. Most "Legends" enshrined to date represent former players who played the majority or the whole of their career in the VFL/AFL, with three players in Barrie Robran, Jack Oatey (SANFL) and Merv McIntosh (WAFL) being selected for careers in other state leagues. Being named as a "Legend" of the Australian Football Hall of Fame is the highest honour which can be bestowed onto an individual Australian footballer. As of 2024, there are 32 Legends, less than one in 400 (<0.25%) of all VFL/AFL players, and the feat is considerably rarer when considering other leagues outside of the AFL.[14]
In 2010, several amendments to the Legends category were made to ensure the exclusivity and prestige of the Hall of Fame. Among them were:[15]
The Legends category remains exclusively for recognition of the most significant playing and coaching records
The number of Legends that can be part of the Hall of Fame remains at a maximum of 10 percent of the total inductees
Criteria for elevating an inductee to Legend status requires that only ‘playing and coaching’ records be taken into account and not a candidate's overall contribution to the game outside of playing and coaching
Legends
Inductee
Year elevated
Games
Goals
Premierships
Highlights
Player
Coach
Darrel BaldockDarrel Baldock representing Tasmanian underage side in Brisbane
Every year there is a special Hall of Fame dinner to announce and welcome the new inductees to the Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame inductions started in Melbourne in 1996 to celebrate the VFL-AFL centenary season. Ceremonies have only been held outside of Victoria twice, once at Canberra in 2013 and once at Adelaide in 2017.[17]
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the usual annual induction event was not held, and instead the new inductees and legend elevation were announced over four nights in a series of television shows.[18]
Until 2021, Barrie Robran was the only Legend inductee in the Australian Football Hall of Fame who did not play club football in Victoria during his career, a point often used to criticise the institution.
The Hall of Fame has been criticised by football writers and historians for being heavily biased towards figures from Victoria.[19]
The initial selection committee was made up of 11 Victorians, one South Australian and one Western Australian, with the current selection committee being made up of six Victorians, two Western Australians and one South Australian. Of the 136 inaugural inductees into the Hall of Fame, 116 played substantial parts of their careers in Victoria, with eleven of the thirteen "Legends" from Victoria.[20]
Criticism has also been slated at the under-representation of pioneers and other early stars of the game, as Adam Cardosi wrote in 2014:[21]
If we take the HOF at face value, footy legends only started to appear in number from the 1930s, and reached a high point in the 1960s and 1970s. ... Thus, according to the HOF's reckoning, the first sixty five years of the game is worth one legend, while the next sixty five years is worth 24 legends.
In 2018, the same criticism was levelled by ABC sport reporter James Coventry, who mentioned that over 60% of Legends inducted were either playing or coaching in 1969.[22]
I would never suggest Kevin Sheedy is not a worthy Legend, he absolutely is, but you have to think something's gone seriously wrong with past selection for the #HallofFame to now be in a position where 17 of its 28 Legends were active in 1969.
Declined inductions
In 2021, Garry McIntosh and Adam Goodes both declined their nominations to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Goodes declined due to the lack of support and remedial action taken by the AFL in response to the racial abuse he had endured in his final years playing in the AFL,[23][24] while McIntosh stated that "he did not play the game for personal honours".[25]
Removed inductees
Barry Cable was removed from the Hall of Fame in 2023 and his Legend Status was revoked after he was found civilly liable in a sexual abuse lawsuit.[26]
Australian rules football, also called Australian football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by kicking the oval ball between the central goal posts, or between a central and outer post.
Gary Robert Ablett is a former professional Australian rules footballer who represented Hawthorn and Geelong in the Australian Football League (AFL). Nicknamed "God", Ablett is widely regarded as one of Australian football's greatest players, and was especially renowned for his high-flying spectacular marks and his prolific goalkicking.
Kevin Charles BartlettAM is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Jason Hadfield Dunstall is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Brent Harvey, often known by his nickname "Boomer", is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He holds the record for most matches played by an individual in VFL/AFL history, breaking Michael Tuck's previous VFL/AFL record in 2016 with a total of 432 games played.
Barrie Charles RobranMBE is a former Australian rules footballer who represented North Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) from 1967 to 1980. He won South Australian football's highest individual honour, the Magarey Medal, on three occasions – 1968, 1970 and 1973.
Gregory Anderson is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and the Essendon Football Club and Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Darren Robert Jarman is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club and Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), and for the North Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Jarman is recognised, along with older brother Andrew, as one of the most skillful South Australian footballers of the late 1980s and 1990s. While Andrew was renowned for his constructive handball skills, Darren was regarded as one of the finest kicks on either foot, whether passing to a leading forward or shooting for goal.
Andrew Ian McKay is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and Glenelg Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).
Bruce Abernethy is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Football Club Collingwood Football Club and Adelaide Football Club in the Victorian/Australian Football League (VFL/AFL), and the Port Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and is a media personality.
Douglas Graeme Wade is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club and North Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Harry Collier was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League.
The West Australian Football Hall of Fame was created in 2002 to recognise and enshrine those who have made a significant contribution to Australian rules football in Western Australia. People eligible for inclusion are players, coaches, umpires, administrators and media representatives.
Malcolm Gregory "Mal" Brown is a former Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League and West Australian National Football League. He is described as "one of the most colourful and controversial characters" of the game.
The Australian National Football Council (ANFC) was the national governing body for Australian rules football in Australia from 1906 until 1995. The council was a body of delegates representing each of the principal leagues which controlled the sport in their respective regions. The council was the owner of the laws of the game and managed interstate administrative and football matters. Its function was superseded by the AFL Commission.
Victor George Belcher was an Australian rules footballer, coach and umpire in the (then) Victorian Football League.
Francis Charles "Frank" Johnson was an Australian rules footballer who played for the South Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and Port Melbourne in the Victorian Football Association (VFA).
The Australian Football League stages the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in the country.
The Australian rules football schism (1938–1949) was a period of division in the rules and governance of Australian rules football, primarily in the sport's traditional heartland of Melbourne, and to lesser extents in North West Tasmania and parts of regional Victoria. The schism existed primarily between Melbourne's pre-eminent league, the Victorian Football League (VFL), and its secondary league, the Victorian Football Association (VFA). In the context of VFA history, this period is often referred to as the throw-pass era.
Victorian bias in the Australian Football League is an assertion by critics of the Australian Football League (AFL) that there is an intrinsic bias towards its Victorian based clubs and Victorian developed players. Causes of the alleged bias range from it being attributed to the fact that the AFL evolved from the Victorian Football League (VFL) resulting in a majority of the AFL's teams being located in the state of Victoria, to it being the result of intentional favouritism by the competitions administration towards Victorian clubs and players.
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