Current season, competition or edition:![]() | |
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Sport | Australian rules football |
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Founded | 21 March 2016 Melbourne, Victoria |
First season | 2016 |
Administrator | AFL Victoria |
No. of teams | 12 |
Country | Australia |
Most recent champion(s) | North Melbourne (1st premiership) |
Most titles | Darebin (2 premierships) |
TV partner(s) | Seven Network (grand final only) |
Sponsor(s) | Rebel |
Related competitions | AFL Women's Victorian Football League SANFL Women's WAFL Women's |
Official website | afl.com.au/vfl |
VFL Women's (VFLW) is the major state-level women's Australian rules football league in Victoria. The league initially comprised the six premier division clubs and the top four division 1 clubs from the now-defunct Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL), and has since evolved into what is also the second primary competition for AFL Women's (AFLW) clubs in Victoria.
Following the 2017 season, the VFL Women's was reconfigured to affiliate teams more closely with AFL clubs. Since 2021, twelve teams have appeared in the competition; all ten Victorian AFL clubs either field their own women's team or have an affiliation of sorts with an existing club in the VFLW, with the other teams being VFL-affiliated Williamstown and independent club Darebin. The reigning premiers are Port Melbourne.
The competition was not held in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; the grand final was also cancelled in 2021 due to the pandemic, with no premiership being awarded.
AFL Victoria launched the VFL Women's competition on 21 March 2016, with its inaugural season featuring twelve doubleheaders with the Victorian Football League (VFL). [1] The league initially comprised the six Premier Division clubs (Darebin, Diamond Creek, Eastern Devils, Melbourne University, St Kilda Sharks and Western Spurs) and 2015's top four Division 1 clubs (Cranbourne, Geelong Magpies, Knox and Seaford) from the Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL). Melbourne University already had an existing partnership with Australian Football League (AFL) club North Melbourne. [2] Following the 2016 season, the Geelong Magpies were replaced with the AFL-aligned Geelong Cats, and Knox's license was purchased by Box Hill (then subsequently re-licensed to Hawthorn in 2018 [3] ).
Following the inaugural AFL Women's (AFLW) season in 2017, the league made further changes to the competition to affiliate clubs more directly with AFL clubs and the AFL Women's competition. Five other foundation clubs departed, leaving Darebin, Melbourne University and Western Spurs as the only remaining foundation clubs. The departing clubs were replaced by the AFL-aligned Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Richmond and Southern Saints, the VFL-aligned Casey and Williamstown, and the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL)-aligned Northern Territory; [4] Northern Territory aligned with Adelaide's AFLW team, giving Crows players an opportunity to play in the Victorian competition. [5] The Western Bulldogs joined in 2018 under a shared license with the Western Spurs, with the senior Spurs team competing as the Western Bulldogs and wearing red, white and blue. [6] The Western Spurs' license was handed over entirely to the Bulldogs ahead of the 2019 season, with the Spurs fielding teams solely in the Northern Football Netball League. [7]
In 2019, Greater Western Sydney's AFLW team played five invitational matches in Victoria against teams having a bye. [8] Following the 2019 season, AFL Northern Territory ended Northern Territory's involvement in the NEAFL and VFLW competitions, [9] and Williamstown aligned with Adelaide in Northern Territory's place. [10] Melbourne University's license was also taken over by North Melbourne, ending the clubs' ten-year partnership and allowing North Melbourne to field its own standalone team. [11] In 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, AFL Victoria decided to cancel the 2020 VFL Women's season and instead hold a four-team Super Series in September to give 120 footballers the chance to push their case to be selected in the 2020 AFL Women's draft; [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] this was later cancelled as well due to the increase of restrictions around COVID-19 in Victoria. [17]
The Coburg Football Club, already competing in the VFL, formed a women's team in 2020 with a plan to join the VFLW in 2021. However, the plan did not eventuate. [18]
In 2021, Port Melbourne joined the league, replacing Richmond, which initially left the competition due to financial issues before entering into a formal alignment with the VFL club. [19] [20] The competition also shifted to a February commencement, running concurrently with the AFLW season and mirroring other second-tier leagues like the SANFL Women's and WAFL Women's. [19] In 2023, the competition commenced in March, and Hawthorn transferred its license back to Box Hill. [21]
Starting in 2024, the home-and-away season included matches against New South Wales AFL Women's teams Greater Western Sydney and Sydney; the New South Wales teams are not premiership eligible, but there will be premiership points available for the Victorian clubs in the matches. [22]
Club | Colours | Moniker | Home Ground | Former League | Est. | Years in VFLW | Premierships | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | Most recent | |||||||
Box Hill | ![]() | Hawks | Box Hill City Oval, Box Hill | – | 1936 | 2017- | 0 | — |
Carlton | ![]() | Blues | Princes Park, Carlton North | – | 1864 | 2018- | 0 | — |
Casey | ![]() | Demons | Casey Fields, Cranbourne East | – | 1902 | 2018- | 0 | — |
Collingwood | ![]() | Magpies | Victoria Park, Abbotsford | – | 1892 | 2018- | 1 | 2019 |
Darebin | ![]() | Falcons | Bill Lawry Oval, Northcote | VWFL | 1990 | 2016- | 2 | 2017 |
Essendon | ![]() | Bombers | The Hangar, Melbourne Airport | – | 1871 | 2018- | 1 | 2022 |
Geelong | ![]() | Cats | Deakin University Elite Sports Precinct, Waurn Ponds | – | 1859 | 2017- | 0 | — |
North Melbourne | ![]() | Kangaroos | Arden Street Oval, North Melbourne | – | 1869 | 2021- | 0 | — |
Port Melbourne | ![]() | Borough | North Port Oval, Port Melbourne | – | 1874 | 2021- | 1 | 2023 |
Southern Saints | ![]() | Saints | Trevor Barker Beach Oval, Sandringham | – | 2017 | 2018- | 0 | — |
Western Bulldogs | ![]() | Bulldogs | Whitten Oval, Footscray | – | 1877 | 2018- | 0 | — |
Williamstown | ![]() | Seagulls | Williamstown Cricket Ground, Williamstown | – | 1864 | 2018- | 0 | — |
Club | Colours | Moniker | Home Ground | Former League | Est. | Years in VFLW | Premierships | Current league | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | Most recent | ||||||||
Cranbourne | ![]() | Eagles | Frenken Homes Oval, Clyde North | VWFL | 1889 | 2016-2017 | 0 | - | SFNL |
Diamond Creek | ![]() | Demons, Creekers | C.T. Barling Reserve, Reservoir | VWFL | 2002 | 2016-2017 | 0 | - | NFNL |
Eastern Devils | ![]() | Devils | Mulgrave Reserve, Mulgrave | VWFL | 1999 | 2016-2017 | 0 | - | EFNL |
Geelong Magpies | ![]() | Magpies | Osborne Park, North Geelong | VWFL | 1876 | 2016 | 0 | - | GDFNL |
Hawthorn | ![]() | Hawks | Box Hill City Oval, Box Hill | – | 1902 | 2018-2022 | 1 | 2018 | AFLW |
Knox | ![]() | Falcons | Knox Gardens Reserve, Wantirna South | VWFL | 1980 | 2016 | 0 | - | EFNL |
Melbourne University | ![]() | Mugars | Main Oval, University of Melbourne, Parkville | VWFL | 1996 | 2016-2019 | 0 | - | VAFAW |
Northern Territory | ![]() | Thunder | Marrara Oval, Marrara | – | 2008 | 2018-2019 | 0 | - | Folded 2019 |
Richmond | ![]() | Tigers | Punt Road Oval, East Melbourne | – | 1885 | 2018-2019 | 0 | - | AFLW |
Seaford | ![]() | Tigerettes | RF Miles Recreation Reserve, Seaford | VWFL | 1921 | 2016-2017 | 0 | - | MPFNL |
St Kilda Sharks | ![]() | Sharks | Peanut Farm Reserve, St Kilda | VWFL | 1992 | 2016-2017 | 0 | - | In recess |
Western Spurs | ![]() | Spurs | Henry Turner Memorial Reserve, Footscray | VWFL | 1993 | 2016-2017 | 0 | - | WFNL |
The Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL) was the oldest and largest Australian rules football league for women in the world, consisting of 47 clubs from Victoria, Australia across seven divisions with a total of over 1,000 players.
Australian rules football is the most watched and second most participated code of football in Victoria. Australian rules football originated in Melbourne in the late 1850s and grew quickly to dominate 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. Soccer is the only football code that is more popular than Australian rules in Victoria, though it has made up much ground lost to soccer over previous decades. Today, they have a similar number of players. The sport is governed by AFL Victoria based in Melbourne. The national governing body, the AFL Commission is also based in Melbourne.
The Darebin Women's Sports Club, nicknamed the Falcons, is a sports club based in the northern suburbs of Melbourne that is primarily notable for its Australian rules football team which competes in the highest-level Victorian state league – the VFL Women's (VFLW). It is the only VFLW club that is not affiliated with a side from the national AFL Women's (AFLW) competition or the Australian Football League (AFL).
Parkside Spurs is a women's Australian rules football club that competes in the Western Region Football League and AFL Masters Victoria competition. Based in Footscray, they play home games at Henry Turner Oval. They were formerly known as the St Albans Spurs and then Western Spurs, and competed for multiple decades in the Victorian Women's Football League.
The Australian Football League stages the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in the country.
Georgia Nanscawen is an Australian rules footballer and former field hockey player
Melissa Hickey is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club and the Geelong Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She served as Geelong captain in the club's first two AFL Women's seasons. She also played in the Victorian Women's Football League/VFL Women's for eleven seasons, representing the St Albans Spurs, Darebin and Geelong. In the VWFL/VFLW, Hickey won seven premierships, represented Victoria on three occasions and featured in the VFL Women's team of the year.
Aasta O'Connor is a retired Australian rules footballer who played as a ruck for Western Bulldogs and for Geelong in the AFL Women's competition. She is also a member of the Darebin Falcons' VFL Women's team.
Libby Birch is an Australian rules footballer who plays for North Melbourne in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She previously played for the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne. She previously played netball and captained Victoria at the National Netball Championships. Birch is currently studying a Physiotherapy degree at La Trobe University. In 2016, Birch switched from netball to Australian rules football and was recruited by the Western Bulldogs as a rookie after having only played football for three months for the Darebin Falcons in the VFL Women's.
Kirsty Maree Lamb is an Australian rules footballer playing for Port Adelaide in the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition. She has previously played for the Western Bulldogs Lamb previously played cricket for Victoria in the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) and for the Melbourne Renegades in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL).
Peta Searle is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. Searle was senior coach of the St Kilda Football Club in the AFL Women's competition (AFLW) from 2020 to 2021. Searle was previously the first woman appointed as an assistant coach in the Australian Football League when she was joined St Kilda as a development coach in 2014.
Natalie Wood is a former Australian rules footballer and current senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW).
The 2017 VFL Women's season was the second season of the VFL Women's (VFLW). The season commenced on 6 May and concluded with the Grand Final on 24 September 2017.
The 2018 VFL Women's season was the third season of the VFL Women's (VFLW). The season commenced on 5 May and concluded with the Grand Final on 23 September 2018. The competition was contested by thirteen clubs.
The 2019 VFL Women's season was the fourth season of the VFL Women's (VFLW). The season commenced on 5 May and concluded with the Grand Final on 22 September 2019. The competition was contested by thirteen clubs. This was to be the last VFLW season until 2021, with no competition held in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2021 VFL Women's season was the fifth season of the VFL Women's (VFLW). The season commenced on 27 February and was eventually curtailed on 10 September 2021 by the COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria, causing the grand final to be cancelled and no premiership awarded. Collingwood were recognised as the minor premiers for their undefeated regular season.
The 2022 VFL Women's season was the sixth season of the VFL Women's (VFLW). The season commenced on 12 February and concluded with the grand final on 3 July. Essendon went through the season undefeated and won its first VFLW premiership, defeating the Southern Saints by 35 points in the grand final; this resulted in the first completed VFLW season since 2019 after COVID-19 disruptions affected the previous two seasons.
The 2023 VFL Women's season was the seventh season of the VFL Women's (VFLW). The season commenced on 25 March and concluded with the grand final on 30 July.
The 2024 VFL Women's season was the eighth season of the VFL Women's (VFLW), the state level senior women's Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season ran from 22 March to 21 July, comprising a home-and-away season, followed by a finals series featuring the top six clubs.