The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Geelong Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition.
The Victorian Football League (VFL) is the major state-level Australian rules football league in Victoria and, starting from 2021, New South Wales and Queensland. The league evolved from the former Victorian Football Association (VFA), and has been known by its current name since 1996. For historical purposes, the present VFL is sometimes referred to as the VFA/VFL, to distinguish it from the present day Australian Football League, which was known until 1990 as the Victorian Football League and is sometimes referred to as the VFL/AFL.
The 2005 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Sydney Swans and West Coast Eagles at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 24 September 2005. It was the 109th annual grand final of the Australian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 2005 AFL season. The match, attended by 91,898 spectators, was won by Sydney by a margin of four points, marking the club's fourth Premiership and their first since 1933.
Tadhg Kennelly is an Irish-Australian sportsperson known for his top level careers in both Gaelic football and Australian rules football. He is the only holder of both an AFL Premiership medallion and a Senior All-Ireland Championship medal, the highest possible achievement in both sports. He has also represented Ireland in the International Rules Series.
Paul A. Johnson is an Australian rules footballer currently listed with the East Perth Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). He previously played senior matches with the West Coast Eagles, the Melbourne Football Club, and the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), the Swan Districts Football Club in the WAFL, and the Sandringham Football Club and the Box Hill Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Johnson was the winner of the 2005 J. J. Liston Trophy, as well as the 2012 Simpson Medal as the best player in an interstate match for Western Australia.
Jared Rivers is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club and Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Richard ‘Ricky’ Barham is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
John Phillip "Sean" Wight was an Irish-Australian Australian rules footballer in the VFL/AFL.
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent and only fully professional men's competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the game. Originally known as the Victorian Football League (VFL), it was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition from the Victorian Football Association (VFA), with its inaugural season commencing the following year. The VFL, aiming to become a national competition, began expanding beyond Victoria to other Australian states in the 1980s, and changed its name to the AFL in 1990.
The 1991 Australian Football League season was the 95th season of the elite Australian rules football competition and the 2nd under the name 'Australian Football League', having switched from 'Victorian Football League' after 1989.
The 2006 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Sydney Swans and West Coast Eagles, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 30 September 2006. It was the 110th annual grand final of the Australian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 2006 AFL season. The match, attended by 97,431 spectators, was won by West Coast by a margin of one point, marking the club's third premiership victory.
The Irish Experiment is the popular name for the interest, primarily from VFL/AFL clubs, in bringing Irish Gaelic footballers to Australia to play Australian rules football professionally. The AFL's focus on Gaelic footballers is due to the similarities between the sports.
Sam Lloyd is a former Australian rules footballer. He played for the Western Bulldogs and the Richmond Tigers in the Australian Football League (AFL). Lloyd played as a midfielder and small forward and was renowned for his goal-sense and ability to win forward line one-on-one contests. He was recruited from state-league football as a mature-age player in 2013. While senior listed at Richmond in 2017, he won the Norm Goss Memorial Medal as best on ground during the club's reserves grand final in the VFL.
Kieran Collins is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted by the Western Bulldogs with their second selection and twenty-sixth overall in the 2015 national draft. He made his debut in the twenty-five point loss against Greater Western Sydney in round 9, 2016 at the Spotless Stadium.
Mitchell Hannan is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL), having been initially drafted to the Melbourne Football Club. A forward, 1.90 metres tall and weighing 87 kilograms (192 lb), Hannan has the ability to play as a forward and in the midfield. After failing to play in the TAC Cup as a junior, he joined the St Bernard's Football Club in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) where he won a premiership and the best on ground in the 2015 VAFA Grand Final. The next year, he played with Footscray in the Victorian Football League (VFL) where he won his second premiership in as many years. His performances in the VAFA and VFL saw him recruited by the Melbourne Football Club in the 2016 AFL draft and he made his debut in the opening round of the 2017 season.
Bayley Fritsch is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A forward, 1.88 metres tall and weighing 81 kilograms (179 lb), Fritsch has the ability to play as both a high marking and small crumbing forward. Considered a late bloomer, he missed out on selection with the Eastern Ranges in the TAC Cup as a junior. After winning the league rising star in the Eastern Football League, he joined the Casey Scorpions in the Victorian Football League (VFL) where he spent three seasons. The 2017 VFL season saw him win the Fothergill–Round Medal, play for Victoria in the state representative match, be named in the VFL Team of the Year, and finish runner-up in the league leading goalkicker and Casey's best and fairest award. His season saw him drafted by the Melbourne Football Club in the second round of the 2017 AFL draft and he made his AFL debut in the opening round of the 2018 AFL season.
Paul Hood was the inaugural senior coach of the Geelong Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW).
The 2020 Victorian Football League season, which was to have been the 139th season of the Victorian Football Association/Victorian Football League Australian rules football competition, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2021 Victorian Football League season is the 139th season of the Victorian Football Association/Victorian Football League Australian rules football competition. The season commenced on 16 April and is scheduled to conclude on 18 September.