The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in eastern states of Australia: Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, including reserves teams for the eastern state AFL clubs. It succeeded and continues the competition of the former Victorian Football Association (VFA) which began in 1877. The name of the competition was changed to the Victorian Football League in 1996. Under its VFL brand, the AFL also operates a women's football competition known as VFL Women's, which was established in 2016.
In Victoria Australian rules football is the most popular sport overall, being the most watched and second most participated code of football. Australian rules football originated in Melbourne in the late 1850s and quickly came to dominate in the sport, which it continues to. Victoria has more than double the number of players of any other state in Australia accounting for approximately 42% of all Australian players in 2023 and continues to grow strongly. In 2023 there were 76 competitions and 1,242 clubs. According to Ausplay there are 227,213 adult of which about one in three are female and 96,068 children playing, similar numbers to soccer. The sport is governed by AFL Victoria based in Melbourne. The national governing body, the AFL Commission is also based in Melbourne.
The 1878 Victorian Football Association season was the second season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Geelong Football Club, after it defeated Melbourne in a playoff match on 5 October. It was the club's first VFA premiership, and the first in a sequence of three consecutive premierships won from 1878 to 1880. Geelong was unbeaten during the year.
The 1882 Victorian Football Association season was the sixth season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Geelong Football Club. It was the club's fourth VFA premiership in just five seasons, and was the first in a sequence of three consecutive premierships won from 1882 to 1884.
The 1888 Victorian Football Association season was the 12th season of the Australian rules football competition.
The 1892Victorian Football Association season was the 243rd season of the Australian rules football competition.
The 1897 Victorian Football Association season was the 21st season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Port Melbourne Football Club, the first premiership in its history.
The 1899 VFA season was the 23rd season of the Victorian Football Association (VFA), an Australian rules football competition played in the state of Victoria.
South Barwon Football & Netball Club, nicknamed the Swans, is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the southern suburb of Belmont, Victoria. The South Barwon teams currently compete in the Geelong Football Netball League, the major regional league in the region.
The Geelong Football Netball League is an Australian rules football and netball league in Victoria, Australia. It is widely regarded as the highest standard Australian rules football league in regional Victoria, with several former AFL players now playing for a variety of clubs.
The Waverley Football Club, nicknamed the Panthers, was an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Glen Waverley.
Newtown & Chilwell Sporting Club, nicknamed the Eagles, is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the inner western suburb of Newtown, Victoria.
The 1903 Victorian Football Association season was the 27th season of the Australian rules football competition. For the first time in its history, the VFA introduced an annual finals series to determine the premiership. The premiership was won by the North Melbourne Football Club, after defeating Richmond in the challenge final; it was the first premiership in the club's history, after having competed in the Association since its inaugural season in 1877.
The 1906 Victorian Football Association season was the 30th season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the West Melbourne Football Club, after defeating Footscray in the close final by eleven points. It was the first and only premiership won by West Melbourne during its nine-season stint in the VFA.
Basil Flynn is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Darren Troy is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the Victorian/Australian Football League (VFL/AFL).
The Kilsyth Football Club, nicknamed the Cougars, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Kilsyth. The club is most notable for its three-year stint in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) in the 1980s.
Quirinus Jan "Ron" Tenabel is a former Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Barwon Football Club was a 19th-century Australian rules football club based in South Geelong, Victoria, and for a brief period during the mid-1870s, was provincial Victoria's strongest football club.
Tanner Bruhn is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited by Greater Western Sydney with the 12th draft pick in the 2020 AFL draft.
