VFL Women's

Last updated

VFL Women's
Current season, competition or edition:
AFL current event.svg 2024 VFL Women's season
VFL Women's Logo.jpg
Sport Australian rules football
Founded21 March 2016;7 years ago (2016-03-21)
Melbourne, Victoria
First season2016
Administrator AFL Victoria
No. of teams12
CountryAustralia
Most recent
champion(s)		 Port 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.

Contents

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.

History

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]

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. [18] [19] 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. [18] In 2023, the competition commenced in March, and Hawthorn transferred its license back to Box Hill. [20]

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. [21]

Clubs

Current clubs

ClubColoursMonikerHome venueMain affiliateSecondary affiliateEst.SeasonsPremierships
FirstTotalTotalMost recent
Box Hill Hawthorn Football Club colours.jpg Hawks Box Hill City Oval Box Hill (VFL) Hawthorn (AFL)1936201720—
Carlton Carlton 2018 AFL.png Blues Princes Park Carlton (AFL)—1864201850—
Casey Melbourne AFLW icon.png Demons Casey Fields Casey (VFL) Melbourne (AFL)1902201850—
Collingwood Collingwood icon.svg Magpies Victoria Park Collingwood (AFL)—18922018512019
Darebin Darebin VFLW icon.png Falcons Bill Lawry Oval Independent women's club19902016722017
Essendon EssendonDesign.svg Bombers The Hangar Essendon (AFL)—18712018512022
Geelong AFL Geelong Icon.jpg Cats Deakin University Elite Sports Precinct Geelong (AFL)—1859201760—
North Melbourne AFL North Melbourne Icon.jpg Kangaroos Arden Street Oval North Melbourne (AFL)—1869202130—
Port Melbourne PortMelbourneDesign.png Borough North Port Oval Port Melbourne (VFL) Richmond (AFLW)18742021312023
Southern Saints AFL St Kilda Icon.jpg Saints Trevor Barker Beach Oval Sandringham (VFL) St Kilda (AFL)2017201850—
Western Bulldogs Western Bulldogs AFLW icon.png Bulldogs Whitten Oval Western Bulldogs (AFL)—1877201850—
Williamstown Vfl williamstown icon.png Seagulls Williamstown Cricket Ground Williamstown (VFL)—1864201850—

Former clubs

ClubColoursMonikerSeasonsPremierships
FirstLastTotal
Cranbourne Cranbourne Football Club colours.jpg Eagles2016201720
Diamond Creek Diamond Creek Football Club.jpg Demons2016201720
Eastern Devils Eastern Devils Football Club colours.jpg Devils2016201720
Geelong Magpies Collingwood icon.svg Magpies2016201610
Hawthorn Hawthorn Football Club colours.jpg Hawks201820224 1
Knox Knox Football Club colours.jpg Falcons2016201610
Melbourne University Melbourne University Football Club colours.jpg Mugars2016201940
Northern Territory NTThunderDesign.png Thunder2018201920
Richmond RichmondDesign.svg Tigers2018201920
Seaford RichmondDesign.svg Tigers2016201720
St Kilda Sharks AFL St Kilda Icon.jpg Sharks2016201720
Western Spurs VU Western Spurs Football Club colours.jpg Spurs2016201720

Honours

Darebin's 2017 premiership team Celebrations 3 VFLWGF17.jpg
Darebin's 2017 premiership team

Premiers

Lambert–Pearce Medal

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "VFL Women's fixture release". AFL Victoria . 21 March 2016. Archived from the original on 26 March 2016.
  2. ↑ Pierik, Jon (11 October 2017). "Victorian stadium upgrade plan likely by end of year, says state government". The Age . Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  3. ↑ "Hawthorn extends the family". hawthornfc.com.au. 14 December 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  4. ↑ "Three clubs depart in revamped VFLW comp". afl.com.au. 4 November 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  5. ↑ "Thunder rolls into VFL Women's in 2018". AFL Northern Territory . 9 November 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  6. ↑ "Western Bulldogs to field team in VFL Women's competition". westernbulldogs.com.au. 11 October 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  7. ↑ "Our Club | Western Spurs". ParksideSpurs. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  8. ↑ Black, Sarah (20 December 2018). "Giants to play five VFLW games in 2019". womens.afl. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  9. ↑ McGowan, Marc (12 September 2019). "Thunder no more: AFLNT confirms no NEAFL and VFLW teams". afl.com.au. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  10. ↑ Black, Sarah (27 September 2019). "Crows align with VFLW club Williamstown". womens.afl. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  11. ↑ "Kangaroos hop into VFLW 2020". vfl.com.au. 1 November 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  12. ↑ "Future AFLW stars to showcase their talents in VFLW Super Series". womens.afl. 16 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  13. ↑ Twomey, Callum (16 June 2020). "Who's in? Eight-team VFL season is on, start date revealed". afl.com.au. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  14. ↑ Cherny, Daniel (16 June 2020). "VFL revamped, VFLW season substituted with new series". The Age . Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  15. ↑ "VFL to return with eight clubs in August". SEN . 16 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  16. ↑ "VFL confirms eight-team competition for 2020 and a four-team VFLW set-up". foxports.com.au. 16 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  17. ↑ Black, Sarah (4 August 2020). "Trade wrap: Eagles swoop on Dogs mid, Tigers add trio". womens.afl. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  18. 1 2 "Port Melbourne joins VFLW, competition start date locked in". AFL Women's. 29 October 2020.
  19. ↑ "Richmond form Port Melbourne alignment for 2021 VFLW season". Richmond FC. 27 October 2020.
  20. ↑ Black, Sarah (7 February 2023). "Women's footy action just around the corner, with VFLW R1 fixture locked in". womens.afl. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  21. ↑ "Sydney to compete in rebel VFLW competition". Sydney Swans.
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