AFL Grand Finals

The game is codified in Melbourne in 1858–59, with the Melbourne and Geelong football clubs among the founding clubs. For decades the game is organised through club rivalries and the Victorian Football Association (VFA, founded 1877).

In 1896 six leading clubs — Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne and South Melbourne, plus Carlton, St Kilda and later Richmond — break from the VFA to form the Victorian Football League. The first VFL season is played in 1897, won by Essendon, with no Grand Final: the minor premier simply claimed the premiership.

A finals system introduced in 1898 produces the first recognised Grand Final, won by Fitzroy. The league grows into Melbourne's winter obsession, and Collingwood's record four consecutive premierships (1927–1930) set the benchmark.

Twelve clubs battle it out in Melbourne's suburbs with record crowds — the 1970 Grand Final between Carlton and Collingwood draws 121,696 to the MCG, still the record for any VFL/AFL match.

South Melbourne relocates to Sydney in 1982; the West Coast Eagles and Brisbane Bears join in 1987. In 1990 the league is renamed the Australian Football League, with 14 teams and a national reach.

Adelaide (1991), Fremantle (1995), Port Adelaide (1997) and GWS (2012) join, while Fitzroy merges with the Brisbane Bears to form the Brisbane Lions in 1997. The league settles at 18 clubs.

The AFL is a national competition spanning every mainland state, with a national women's league (AFLW, launched 2017), blockbuster Grand Finals at the MCG and a growing international following.