The Brownlow Medal (formally the Charles Brownlow Trophy) is an individual award given to the player judged fairest and best in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the regular season. Determined by votes cast by the officiating umpires after each game, it is considered the highest honour for individual players in the AFL. [1] [2]
The medal has been awarded every year since 1924, with the exception of an intermission from 1942–1945 due to World War II. As of 2024, the Brownlow Medal has been awarded 111 times to 90 different players in 96 medal counts.
Voting systems:
Until 1980, a countback system was used to determine the winner in the event of a tie. In 1930, Judkins was awarded the medal as he had played in the fewest games; and from 1931 to 1980, the winner was the player with the most three-vote games. [2] In 1980, the countback system was removed, and in the event of a tie, players have been considered joint winners. [2] In 1989, the countback was retroactively removed from all previous counts, and all players who had previously lost on countback were considered joint winners. [3]
Notes:
As a mark of respect to soldiers fighting overseas in World War II, the medal was not awarded during 1942–1945.
A player guilty of an offence deemed worthy of a suspension by the AFL's disciplinary tribunal for serious on-field offences is ineligible to win the Brownlow Medal. Suspended players have tallied the highest number of votes for the award on three occasions. In the third of those cases, Jobe Watson, who won in 2012, was later found guilty of breaching WADA's anti-doping code in the 2012 season, and was retrospectively ruled ineligible by the AFL Commission in November 2016. [5]
Player | Team | Year | Votes | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|
Corey McKernan | North Melbourne | 1996 | 21 | Suspended; would have been joint winner with Hird and Voss. |
Chris Grant | Western Bulldogs | 1997 | 27 | Suspended; would have won outright, beating Harvey by one vote. |
Jobe Watson | Essendon | 2012 | 30 | Awarded the medal in 2012, beating Mitchell and Cotchin by four votes. In 2016 he was retrospectively ruled ineligible because of his involvement in the Essendon supplements saga. |
The following players have won the Brownlow Medal multiple times.
Medals | Player | Team | Seasons |
---|---|---|---|
3 | Haydn Bunton Sr. | Fitzroy | 1931, 1932, 1935 |
Dick Reynolds | Essendon | 1934, 1937, 1938 | |
Bob Skilton | South Melbourne | 1959, 1963, 1968 | |
Ian Stewart | St Kilda / Richmond | 1965, 1966, 1971 | |
2 | Ivor Warne-Smith | Melbourne | 1926, 1928 |
Bill Hutchison | Essendon | 1952, 1953 | |
Roy Wright | Richmond | 1952, 1954 | |
Keith Greig | North Melbourne | 1973, 1974 | |
Peter Moore | Collingwood / Melbourne | 1979, 1984 | |
Greg Williams | Sydney / Carlton | 1986, 1994 | |
Robert Harvey | St Kilda | 1997, 1998 | |
Adam Goodes | Sydney | 2003, 2006 | |
Chris Judd | West Coast / Carlton | 2004, 2010 | |
Gary Ablett Jr. | Geelong / Gold Coast | 2009, 2013 | |
Nat Fyfe | Fremantle | 2015, 2019 | |
Lachie Neale | Brisbane Lions | 2020, 2023 | |
Patrick Cripps | Carlton | 2022, 2024 |
Team | Wins | Years Won |
---|---|---|
South Melbourne/Sydney | 14 | 1940, 1949, 1955, 1959, 1963, 1968, |
Footscray/Western Bulldogs | 10 | 1930, 1941, 1956, 1960, 1975, 1980, |
St Kilda | 10 | 1925, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1965, 1966, |
Collingwood | 9 | 1927, 1929, 1930, 1939, 1940, 1972 |
Fitzroy | 8 | 1931, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1936, 1950 |
Essendon | 8 | 1934, 1937, 1938, 1952, 1953, 1976 |
Richmond | 7 | 1930, 1948, 1952, 1954, 1971, 2012, |
Melbourne | 7 | 1926, 1928, 1946, 1982, 1984, 1991, |
Geelong | 7 | 1924, 1951, 1962, 1989, 2007, 2009, |
Carlton | 7 | 1947, 1961, 1964, 1994, 2010, 2022, 2024 |
Hawthorn | 6 | 1949, 1986, 1987, 1999, 2012, 2018 |
North Melbourne | 5 | 1965, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1983 |
Brisbane Lions | 4 | 2001, 2002, 2020, 2023 |
West Coast | 3 | 2004, 2005, 2014 |
Fremantle | 2 | 2015, 2019 |
Gold Coast | 1 | 2013 |
Brisbane Bears | 1 | 1996 |
Adelaide | 1 | 2003 |
Port Adelaide | 1 | 2021 |
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.
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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 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 2011 Brownlow Medal was the 84th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home and away season. Dane Swan of the Collingwood Football Club won the medal by polling thirty-four votes during the 2011 AFL season.
The 2012 Brownlow Medal was the 85th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home-and-away season. The award was won jointly by Sam Mitchell of the Hawthorn Football Club and Trent Cotchin of the Richmond Football Club, each of whom polled 26 votes during the 2012 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.
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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.
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