115-550: Heritage Round was an annual round of matches in the Australian Football League in which all the teams wore throwback guernseys from the past. The first Heritage Round was in 2003 and the last was in 2007 . Throwback uniforms continue to be worn by clubs on special occasions, but there is no longer a round specifically themed in this manner. The concept of the Heritage Round originated from
230-523: A proprietary limited company called Australian Football Championships Pty Ltd in 1978 to run its night competition and offered shareholdings to the other state leagues in an attempt to lure other states into the competition. For the three years from 1977 until 1979, the NFL and VFL night competitions were run separately as rival night competitions. In 1978, the Tasmanian representative team competed in both
345-835: A 20% cut in industry jobs. The 2021 grand final was played in September at Perth Stadium in Perth because an ongoing COVID-19 lockdown prevented the match from being played with spectators at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne , Victoria. It was the first grand final played in Perth and the second consecutive grand final to be played outside Victoria. The event set a new attendance record for Australian rules football in Western Australia, eclipsing
460-534: A cut-throat away qualifying final, going down by 46 points after leading the Saints at half-time. The Brisbane Lions in 1997 remain the only team in VFL/AFL history to have made the finals in their first season. Despite a talented playing list, the disruption of the merger and injuries to key players Michael Voss and Brad Boyd took their toll. The Lions finished last at the end of the 1998 season . Accordingly, Northey
575-524: A few home games on the Gold Coast in previous years, was offered significant subsidies to relocate to the Gold Coast but declined. The AFL then began work to establish a club on the Gold Coast as a new expansion team. Early in 2008, a meeting held by the AFL discussed having two new teams enter the AFL competition. In March 2008, the AFL won the support of the league's 16 club presidents to establish sides on
690-478: A heritage guernsey due to extreme similarities to current day versions included Geelong , Carlton (whose monogram was the current version and not the one worn from 1933 to 1997 ), and Kangaroos . Fremantle opted to wear a historical East Fremantle guernsey as they were playing the Sydney that round; resulting in the teams taking the field in uniforms almost identical to those of the 1979 WAFL Grand Final -
805-493: A joint venture to begin construction of a brand-new stadium situated at Melbourne's Docklands . Representative state football came to an end, with the last State of Origin match held in 1999. In the late 2000s, the AFL looked to establish a permanent presence on the Gold Coast in the state of Queensland, which was fast-developing as a major population centre. North Melbourne, which was in financial difficulty and had played
920-571: A junior club. Adelaide wore a 1930s South Australia state guernsey with an AFC insignia replacing SA, where Port Adelaide Football Club wore a white guernsey with light blue hoops based on their first guernsey in the SANFL . The fourth Heritage Round in 2006 was themed around football in the 1980s. This achieved very heavy media coverage, with both The AFL Footy Show and Before the Game taking on 1980s themes and both dressing up in clothes from
1035-685: A merged entity against Carlton and the Western Bulldogs before losing to the eventual premiers, the Kangaroos , in a 1999 preliminary final. The Lions played finals again in 2000 but bowed out in the second week after losing an away game to Carlton by 82 points. In this period the club drafted and recruited key players who went on to be pillars of the Lions triple premiership years. Victorian Luke Power , Fitzroy father–son selection Jonathan Brown , and exciting WA product Simon Black came via
1150-611: A new competition, the Victorian Football League (VFL). The remaining VFA clubs— Footscray , North Melbourne , Port Melbourne , Richmond and Williamstown —were given the opportunity to compete as junior sides at a level beneath the VFL but rejected the offer and remained for the 1897 VFA season . The VFL's inaugural season occurred in 1897. It made several innovations early on to entice the public's interest, including an annual finals tournament, rather than awarding
1265-462: A period in which they won three premierships ( 2001 , 2002 , 2003 ). They also finished runners-up in 2023 , and won their fourth premiership in 2024 . The Lions were a foundation team in the AFL Women's competition in 2017, and have featured in five grand finals in that time, winning the premiership in 2021 and again in 2023 also finishing runners-up on the other occasions. They also field
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#17327940812701380-527: A professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane , Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the reigning AFL premiers , having won the 2024 Grand Final by sixty points. The Lions came into existence in 1996 when the AFL expansion club the Brisbane Bears , established in 1987, absorbed the AFL operations of one of
1495-607: A reserves men's team in the Victorian Football League , and operate an under-18s academy which contests Division 2 of the men's and women's underage national championships and the Talent League . The Melbourne-based Fitzroy Football Club was formed on 26 September 1883 at the Brunswick Hotel. The Victorian Football Association (VFA) made changes to their rules, allowing Fitzroy to join as
1610-752: A result, the club withdrew from the VFL at the end of 1914. The VFL premier and the premier of the South Australian Football League met in a playoff matches for the Championship of Australia beginning in 1888 with a 3-game playoff between South Melbourne from the VFL and the Norwood the most successful club in the SAFA. Matches where then held sporadically during the 1890s as single game playoffs and then annually from 1907 until 1914 (except 1912). South Australian clubs won 8 of
1725-585: A second consecutive Grand Final. They faced Collingwood, who had surprised many that year after having missed the finals the previous seven seasons. Brisbane ended up defeating the Magpies 9.12 (66) to 10.15 (75) in cold and wet conditions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Early in the contest, the Lions lost both ruckman Beau McDonald and utility player Martin Pike to injury and had to complete
1840-609: A single game between 1963 and 1964 – known as the Miracle Match when it defeated eventual premiers Geelong in Round 10, 1963 – but its 1964 season was winless, and as of 2023 stands as the only winless season by any club since 1950. Despite a revival in the '80s, when the Lions made the finals four times under the coaching of Robert Walls and David Parkin , and the playing group of 1981 Brownlow Medallist Bernie Quinlan , Ron Alexander , Garry Wilson , Gary Pert and Paul Roos ,
1955-444: A slow start to the 2005 season before having a form reversal towards the end of the year, which included ten-goal thrashings of top-four contenders Geelong and Melbourne. Going into Round 20, they were half a game clear inside the top eight and had one of the strongest percentages in the league. However, they lost their final three games and miss the finals, with their season culminating in a record-breaking 139-point loss to St Kilda at
2070-452: A sole source of income for players who had previously had part-time or full-time jobs outside of football. Functionally, the AFL gave up control over its Victorian-based minor grades at the end of 1991 – clubs continued to field reserves teams in a competition run by the new Victorian State Football League and the under-19s competition and zone-based recruiting were abolished and replaced with an independent system . Midway through 1990,
2185-470: Is also one of the oldest clubs to have later participated in the competition. The Victorian Football Association (VFA) was established in 1877 and quickly went on to become Victoria 's football competition. During the 1890s, an off-field power struggle occurred between the VFA's stronger and weaker clubs, the former seeking greater administrative control commensurate with their relative financial contribution to
2300-403: Is similar to Collingwood which wears a black and white guernsey with three stripes of black and white and has been a part of the VFL/AFL since 1897. When Port Adelaide joined the AFL they adopted a new moniker, Power and added two new colours to their palette, teal and silver. During the 2006 Heritage Round which adopted a 1980s theme Port Adelaide was prevented by the AFL from taking part. During
2415-489: The 1968 to 1973 Fitzroy guernsey which was maroon and navy blue as worn during the days of black and white television. Sydney wore their 1933 to 1986 guernsey, worn during their time when based in South Melbourne. St Kilda 's guernsey got such a positive reaction that it became their clash Guernsey from 2004 until 2006 . Port Adelaide wore its SANFL Magpies "Prison Bar" guernsey from 1914 when
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#17327940812702530-506: The Australian Football League (AFL) that required one preliminary final to be played each year at the MCG. Port Adelaide had finished on top of the ladder and hosted the other preliminary final in Adelaide. Former player Jason Akermanis has since claimed that coach Leigh Matthews was furious over the preliminary final location decision. Despite this setback, Brisbane beat Geelong and reached
2645-459: The Brisbane Bears guernsey worn from 1992 until 1996 , West Coast wore wore a replica of their 1987 gold and blue guernsey and Adelaide wore a manufactured guernsey based on a 1991 original with the SANFL logo on the back and AFC monogram on the front. Port Adelaide wore a magenta and blue guernsey based on their original guernsey from 1877 to 1901 , prior to its famous black and white "Prison Bar" guernsey. The third Heritage Round
2760-685: The Gold Coast and in Western Sydney . The Gold Coast Suns were established and joined the AFL in 2011 as the 17th team. The Greater Western Sydney Giants , representing both Western Sydney and Canberra, were then established and entered the league as the 18th team in 2012. On 25 April 2013 the Westpac Stadium in Wellington , New Zealand hosted the first ever Australian Football League game played for premiership points outside Australia. The night game between St Kilda and Sydney
2875-622: The Gold Coast Suns . The Suns, who were coming off a 139-point loss to Essendon the previous week, upset the Lions by 8 points in their first encounter. Despite their worst season since 1998, coach Michael Voss was granted a contract extension after the board recommended that Voss was the best man to take the club forward into the future. Leading into season 2012, only two players from the triple-premiership-winning team of 2001–2003 remained: Simon Black and Jonathan Brown . The 2013 season started well for Brisbane, defeating Carlton in
2990-560: The Melbourne Hawks but the merger ultimately fell through and both teams continued as separate entities. Fitzroy, however, was too weak to continue by itself. The club nearly merged with North Melbourne to form the Fitzroy-North Melbourne Kangaroos but the other clubs voted against it. In 1994 Port Adelaide was awarded an AFL licence but could not enter until a Victorian team had folded or merged. At
3105-598: The Norm Smith Medal after being judged best on ground in the Grand Final . In 2002, the Lions won a club-record 17 games, spending most of the season firmly entrenched in the top two with Port Adelaide. They narrowly missed out on the minor premiership following a final round defeat to the Power in Adelaide. In the finals, the Lions claimed easy home victories over the two Adelaide-based teams on their way to
3220-597: The Telstra Dome . It remains the club's heaviest defeat, in addition to being the largest victory in the over-100-year history of St Kilda. Some believed that the St Kilda game, rather than the 2004 Grand Final, had signaled the end of Brisbane's triple premiership dynasty. The Lions began the 2006 season optimistically, but injuries plagued the club as they again missed the finals, with Brisbane's players recording an AFL record total of 200 matches lost to injury for
3335-553: The VFL Night Series (1956–1971) and records relating to the three competitions are often combined. With the number of players recruited from country leagues increasing, the wealthier VFL clubs were gaining an advantage that metropolitan zoning and the Coulter law (salary cap) restricting player payments had prevented in the past. Country zoning was introduced in the late 1960s and while it pushed Essendon and Geelong from
3450-556: The Victorian Football Association (VFA), with its inaugural season in 1897. It changed its name to Australian Football League in 1990 after expanding its competition to other Australian states in the 1980s. The AFL publishes its Laws of Australian football , which are used, with variations, by other Australian rules football organisations. The AFL competition currently consists of 18 teams spread over Australia's five mainland states, with Tasmania to join
3565-655: The West Australian Football League and Queensland Australian Football League were awarded licences to field expansion teams in the VFL, leading to the establishment of the clubs in Brisbane and Perth ( Brisbane Bears and West Coast Eagles ), who both joined the league in 1987. These expansion team licences were awarded on payment of multimillion-dollar fees which were not required of the existing VFL clubs. In 1989 financial troubles nearly forced Footscray and Fitzroy to merge but fees paid by
Heritage Round (AFL) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3680-411: The Western Bulldogs in a Semi Final. The 2009/2010 off-season was dominated by the arrival of Brendan Fevola from Carlton, with a belief in the club that Fevola could help them capitalise and improve upon their strong 2009 season. Indeed, the Lions won their first four matches of the 2010 season to be top of the ladder after four rounds, but they only won three more games after that, to finish 13th by
3795-457: The Western Bulldogs who wore an original Footscray guernsey with red Shorts. As Essendon and Richmond were both still wearing guernseys with no major change from what was worn in the 1970s, Essendon once again wore red Shorts and Richmond wore yellow Shorts in their respective matches. There were two teams that did not wear a heritage guernsey; St Kilda , who instead wore their white clash guernsey, and Collingwood . Other teams to not wear
3910-447: The grand final for the fourth consecutive year. Their opponents, Port Adelaide, playing in their first grand final, were too good on the day and recorded a 40-point win in what was the first-ever all-non-Victorian grand final . The grand final is partly remembered for a wild punch-up between Port Adelaide's Darryl Wakelin and Alastair Lynch, who was playing in his last ever game and therefore immune from suspension. The Lions endured
4025-575: The 11 Titles of which Port Adelaide was the most successful winning four titles in 1890, 1910, 1913 and 1914. The majority of the matches were held in South Australia at Adelaide Oval . Following the outbreak of World War 1 the Championship playoff ceased and wasn't revived until 1968. In 1916, district football was introduced, meaning new players from metropolitan Melbourne were allocated to clubs based on residential address. In 1925,
4140-434: The 1980s Port Adelaide won four SANFL premierships ( 1980 , 1981 , 1988 , 1989 ) wearing it's Prison Bar' guernsey . The following year Port Adelaide, Collingwood and the AFL came to an agreement that Port Adelaide would be able to use their 'Prison Bar' guernsey in future Heritage Rounds. However, after this agreement was reached the AFL ceased sanctioning official Heritage Rounds. In 2021 Eddie McGuire noted that he knew at
4255-517: The 1980s. Melbourne wore a guernsey with red and royal blue instead of its red and navy blue it used prior to 1974 with the introduction of colour TV . Richmond wore yellow Shorts from the 1980s with their 1980s guernsey with printed laces. Essendon wore red Shorts as they did in the 1980s when they played Carlton . West Coast wore a replica of their 1988 to 1994 blue and gold guernsey The AFL prevented Port Adelaide from wearing their 1980s SANFL guernsey. The fifth Heritage Round in 2007
4370-408: The 1980s. The AFL even release a compilation CD of songs recorded during the 1980s. Brisbane Lions wore the 1987 to 1990 Brisbane Bears away/clash guernsey, a variant of its original gold and cerise Brisbane Bears guernsey. Adelaide , who were non-existent in the 1980s, wore a modified home guernsey, including a monogrammed crest featuring all the colours of all the teams in the SANFL from
4485-489: The Bears from private ownership and revert to a traditional club structure in which the club's members were able to elect the board. Membership and attendances instantly tripled now that the club was finally playing in their home city of Brisbane. The Bears only qualified for the finals series in 1995 and 1996, and the closest the club came to a Grand Final was a preliminary final in 1996. On extremely shaky financial ground,
4600-561: The Bears struggled to generate many revenue opportunities in their short and turbulent ten-year existence. Despite improving its on-field fortunes, and drafting exciting young players on such as Michael Voss , Justin Leppitsch , Jason Akermanis , Darryl White , and Nigel Lappin , the club's existence was still at threat due to severe financial problems, and since 1990 the Bears had been actively exploring merger options with Fitzroy. Fitzroy's directors had agreed in principle to merge with
4715-476: The Brisbane Bears and West Coast Eagles, propped up the struggling VFL sides. The 1980s first saw new regular timeslots for VFL matches. VFL matches had previously been played on Saturday afternoons but Sydney began playing its home matches on Sunday afternoons and North Melbourne pioneered playing matches on Friday night. These have since become regular timeslots for all teams. The first national draft
Heritage Round (AFL) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4830-578: The Brisbane Lions outside of the normal draft or trade system. They were Brad Boyd , Chris Johnson , Jarrod Molloy , John Barker , Nick Carter , Simon Hawking , Scott Bamford and Shane Clayton . Fitzroy played its last VFL/AFL game on 1 September 1996 against Fremantle at Subiaco Oval , and the Bears' last match was a preliminary final on Saturday 21 September 1996 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground against North Melbourne. The Brisbane Lions were officially launched on 1 November 1996, joining
4945-604: The Centenary Celebration Round, which took place in 1996 , the centenary year of the VFL/AFL . In recognition of the VFL/AFL reaching its 100th season the eight original teams of the VFL played each other in round 7 , 100 years after the first round of matches in the inaugural season . The first Heritage Round in 2003 saw heritage guernseys worn by all teams except two. It was seen in a very positive and nostalgic light, especially as Brisbane Lions wore
5060-600: The Fremantle Derby Grand Final between East Fremantle and South Fremantle . Port Adelaide is the only pre-existing non-Victorian AFL club having joined the national competition in 1997 after having played in the SANFL since 1877. Before joining the AFL|PAt Adelaide used a Magpie moniker and wore a black and white guernsey with six vertical stripes and one horizontal stripe. This guernsey
5175-642: The Gabba , and were coached by Bears coach John Northey . However, the club's identity, logo, song, and guernsey were based on those of Fitzroy, three Fitzroy representatives served on the board, and the Lions kept an office in Melbourne. None of the Fitzroy representatives, former Fitzroy champion Laurie Serafini , David Lucas and Ken Levy, chosen to serve on Brisbane's board, were Fitzroy directors at that time. Eight Fitzroy players were allowed to be recruited to
5290-403: The Gabba, and past players names being placed on lockers. Within a year, the Lions rose from the bottom of the ladder to fourth. The 1999 season included a Round 20 Gabba match where the Lions led Fremantle by 113 points at half-time after having kicked 21 goals. Their half-time score of 21.5 (131) still remains the highest half-time score in VFL/AFL history. Brisbane won their first finals as
5405-413: The Lions in 1957, but when Fitzroy was evicted from its home ground of Brunswick St Oval in 1965, this began a sustained period of poor on-field performance and financial losses. Fitzroy entered one of the least successful periods any VFL/AFL club has had. The club finished in the bottom three 11 times in the 1960s and 1970s, including three wooden spoons in four years between 1963 and 1966. The club won only
5520-417: The Lions took on the reigning premiers Essendon in Round 10. Brisbane finished as 28-point victors, and head coach Leigh Matthews famously used a Predator quote, "if it bleeds, we can kill it", to inspire his team for the game. The Lions then won 16 games straight, finishing the year undefeated and booking their place in the 2001 AFL Grand Final to play Essendon . Going in as underdogs, Brisbane started
5635-423: The Magpies in cool but sunny conditions. At one stage in the final quarter, the Lions led by almost 80 points before relaxing when the match was well and truly won, allowing Collingwood to score the last four goals. The final score of 20.14 (134) to 12.12 (84) saw the club become only the fourth in VFL/AFL history to win three consecutive premierships and the first since the creation of the AFL. Simon Black claimed
5750-595: The NFL and VFL night competitions but all SANFL and WAFL clubs and the minor states teams remained in the NFL Night Series. In 1979, the WAFL clubs and the New South Wales and A.C.T. representative teams defected from the NFL Night Series and joined the VFL's night competition, leaving the NFL Night Series mostly composed of SANFL teams. The NFL Night Series was not revived in 1980 and the SANFL clubs joined
5865-610: The Norm Smith Medal with a dominant 39-possession match, the most possessions ever gathered by a player in a grand final; the record was equalled by Melbourne 's Christian Petracca 18 years later in the 2021 Grand Final . During their premiership years, the club took the premiership cups to Brunswick Street Oval , Fitzroy, the home of the Fitzroy Football Club , each morning after the grand final. Honouring Fitzroy's history at their traditional home ground
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#17327940812705980-543: The SANFL's most successful club, Port Adelaide , made a bid for an AFL licence. In response, the SANFL gained an injunction via Glenelg and Norwood against Port Adelaide , allowing it time to establish a composite South Australian team called the Adelaide Crows , which was awarded the licence and joined the league in 1991 as the fourth non-Victorian club. The same year saw the West Coast Eagles become
6095-585: The VFA and University Football Club from the Metropolitan Junior Football Association . Professionalism began from the 1911 season, with clubs permitted to pay players beyond the reimbursement of expenses for the first time. University, after three promising seasons, finished last each year from 1911 until 1914, including losing 51 matches in a row, in part caused by its players' focus on their studies rather than football and in part because it had chosen to remain amateur; as
6210-481: The VFL commenced in 1957 with direct telecasts of the final quarter permitted. At first, several channels competed through broadcasting different games. When the VFL found that television coverage had reduced crowds, it decided no that television coverage was to be allowed for 1960. In 1961 television replays in Melbourne were introduced although direct telecasts were rarely permitted, where as the rest of Australia received live telecasts every Saturday afternoon. In 1959,
6325-434: The VFL expanded from nine teams to twelve, with Footscray , Hawthorn and North Melbourne each crossing from the VFA. North Melbourne and Hawthorn remained very weak in the VFL for a very long period. Although North Melbourne would become the first of the 1925 expansion sides to reach a grand final in 1950 , initially it was Footscray that adapted to the VFL with the most ease of the three clubs and by 1928 were well off
6440-435: The VFL night competition was at its largest, with all VFL, WAFL and SANFL clubs plus the four minor states teams (selected under residential qualification rather than state of origin qualification) competing for a total of 34 teams. In 1982, the size of the competition was reduced and, thereafter, only the top two or three teams from the SANFL and WAFL and the winner of the minor states' annual carnival were invited. In 1987,
6555-483: The VFL planned the first purpose-built mega-stadium, VFL Park (later known as Waverley Park) , to give it some independence from the Melbourne Cricket Club , which managed the Melbourne Cricket Ground . VFL Park was planned to hold 155,000 spectators, which would have made it one of the largest stadiums in the world – although it would ultimately be built with a capacity of 78,000. Land for the stadium
6670-423: The VFL's night competition. Although the NFL itself continued to exist as an administrative body into the early 1990s, the power gained by the VFL as a result of its take-over of night competition was one of the first significant steps in the VFL's spread interstate and ultimately its take-over and control of Australian football across Australia. In 1980 and 1981, the first years after the NFL Night Series ended,
6785-476: The VFL's weaker clubs into dire financial situations. The South Melbourne Swans became the first VFL team to relocate interstate. The South Melbourne Football Club was deeply indebted, including to the VFL which took over the club's Swans team and moved the team's home games to Sydney in 1982 and renamed the team the Sydney Swans the following year. Under the private ownership of Dr Geoffrey Edelsten during
6900-428: The VFL, SANFL and WAFL, as well as state representative teams from other states. In November 1976, the VFL announced that it was withdrawing from the NFL's competition, having arranged more substantial television and sponsorship deals for its own, rival night competition for 1977 to be based in Melbourne and feature only the VFL clubs. Light towers were erected at VFL Park specifically for the event. The VFL established
7015-519: The assistance of state governments and health officials, the season resumed on 11 June, with the length of the season reduced from 22 matches per team to 17 matches. The grand final was played in October at The Gabba in Brisbane , the first time it was held outside of Victoria since the creation of the league due to the spiking cases in that state. The pandemic caused the league to lose out on up to $ 400 million in anticipated revenue and also precipitated
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#17327940812707130-511: The bottom of the ladder. Between the years of 1927 and 1930, Collingwood became the first and only VFL team, to win four successive premierships. In 1952, the VFL hosted a national day, when all six matches were played outside Melbourne. Matches were played at the Sydney Cricket Ground , Brisbane Exhibition Ground , North Hobart Oval , Albury Sports Ground and Victorian country towns Yallourn and Euroa . Footscray became
7245-473: The club defeat Carlton to win the 1914 Championship of Australia . The second Heritage Round in 2004 saw all 16 clubs wear a heritage guernsey. It was also the first year which the field and goal Umpires wore uniforms from the past as well. All the umpires wore white uniforms (the traditional colour the umpires wore before changing to coloured uniforms) and the goal umpires wore their traditional long coats and White brimmed hats. Brisbane Lions chose to wear
7360-412: The club's financial situation was perilous. The VFL's plans to move or merge struggling Fitzroy to Brisbane pre-dated the Brisbane Bears, and negotiations between the league and the club began in 1986 with the playing group voting for a move to Brisbane. However, Fitzroy resisted the move despite significant incentives and in response, the VFL made the decision to cut any further financial assistance to
7475-426: The club. By the start of the 1996 season, they were almost at the end of their financial tether. With no home ground, back to back wooden spoons, and their future under a cloud, Fitzroy began to consider options for survival. The Brisbane Bears were born in 1987 and initially played home matches at Carrara Stadium on the Gold Coast . In its early days, the club was uncompetitive on the field and struggled to shake
7590-419: The coach ahead of 2009. After only winning 2 games from the first 5 played in 2009, the club won 9 of the next 12 to sit in 6th on the ladder, where they finished the season. They also recorded a strong victory over eventual premiers Geelong during this timeframe by 43 points. The club beat Carlton in their Elimination Final, coming from 30 points behind in the final quarter to win by 7 points, before losing to
7705-417: The derisive tags which included "The Carrara Koalas" (in reference to the Gold Coast home and the somewhat tame marsupial) and "The Bad News Bears". After the collapse of the business empire belonging to Bears deputy chairman Christopher Skase and the resignation of chairman Paul Cronin , the club was taken over by the AFL and re-sold to Gold Coast hospitality businessman Reuben Pelerman. Off-field, Pelerman
7820-518: The draft, and Brad Scott , Mal Michael , and ex-Fitzroy B&F winner Martin Pike were recruited from Hawthorn, Collingwood, and North Melbourne respectively. The Lions began 2001 by making the final of the Ansett Australia Cup , their first pre-season grand final. They went down by 85 points away to Port Adelaide, who they had also been scheduled to play in Round 1 at the same venue. After an inconsistent start to their 2001 season,
7935-707: The eight break-away clubs who formed the Victorian Football League in 1897. They continued their VFA form and be a powerhouse in the early days of the new VFL, winning a total of eight premierships, of which seven (1898, 1899, 1904, 1905, 1913, 1916 and 1922) were won while they were nicknamed the Maroons, and one (1944) as the Gorillas. The club also boasted 6 Brownlow Medal winners who were Haydn Bunton Sr. , Wilfred Smallhorn , Dinny Ryan , Allan Ruthven , Kevin Murray , and Bernie Quinlan . The club changed its nickname to
8050-532: The end of 1996 Fitzroy played its last match and merged with Brisbane to form the Brisbane Lions. This allowed Port Adelaide to enter the AFL for the 1997 season as the sixth and only pre-existing non Victorian club. Through the 1990s there was a significant trend of Melbourne-based teams abandoning the use of their small (20,000–30,000 capacity) suburban venues for home matches in favour of the MCG and VFL Park , which have and had larger seating capacities. The 1990s saw
8165-411: The end of the season. The Lions' 2010/2011 off-season was disrupted by the sacking of Fevola after just one season at the Lions, following repeated off-field indiscretions which included getting drunk in the Brisbane streets during New Year's Eve celebrations. On the field, the Lions won only four games for the year and finished 15th overall. The 2011 season saw the debut of another Queensland-based team,
8280-548: The eventual 1996 premiers, North Melbourne , as the "North-Fitzroy Kangaroos". However, that proposal was rejected 15–1 by the club presidents, reportedly out of concern that an all-Victorian merge would be too powerful. Instead, Fitzroy was placed into administration, and its administrator accepted an offer to merge its AFL operations with Brisbane. The club became the Brisbane Bears-Fitzroy Football Club (trading as Brisbane Lions), remained at
8395-774: The field, a succession of owners and transfer to its supporter "members", the Sydney Swans remain indebted to the AFL and subject to its veto control and reversion rights in what became a model for the AFL control of teams. Throughout the 1980s, approaches were made by SANFL and WAFL clubs to enter the VFL. Of particular note were approaches by the East Perth Royals in 1980, the Norwood Redlegs in 1986 and 1988, and an East – South Fremantle merger proposal in 1987. None of these attempts were successful despite Norwood trying again in 1990 and 1994. In 1986,
8510-533: The final of the NAB Cup , with Daniel Rich winning the Michael Tuck Medal for best on ground. However, the club began its 2013 season with back-to-back losses to the Western Bulldogs and Adelaide . Injuries took a toll on the team, with young players Claye Beams and Jared Polec suffering severe injuries. In Round 13, Brisbane defeated second-placed Geelong , coming from 52 points down late in
8625-473: The first club in the history of the AFL to have five co-captains. The team struggled during the 2008 season and missed out on the finals with a 10–12 record, losing 3 games despite having at least 5 more scoring shots in each of those games. Following the season, Coach Leigh Matthews resigned after 10 seasons and 3 premierships with the club. The Lions appointed former player and Captain Michael Voss as
8740-518: The first non-Victorian club to reach the grand final, which was won by Hawthorn. The Eagles would then win the premiership in 1992 and 1994. In 1994, Fremantle obtained an AFL licence and joined the AFL in 1995, becoming the fifth non-Victorian club, and the second from Western Australia. The VFA took over the Victorian Football League name in 1996. In 1996 several Victorian clubs were in severe financial difficulties, most notably Fitzroy and Hawthorn. Hawthorn proposed to merge with Melbourne to form
8855-443: The first of the 1925 expansion teams to win the premiership in 1954. Melbourne became a powerhouse during the 1950s and early 1960s under coach Norm Smith and star player Ron Barassi . The club contested seven consecutive grand finals from 1954 to 1960, winning five premierships, including three in a row from 1955 to 1957. The became the only club to win the minor premiership 6 times in a row from 1955-1960. Television coverage for
8970-601: The first-ever AFL match for premiership points in Shanghai , China, attracting a crowd of 10,114 at Jiangwan Stadium . Port Adelaide won the game by 72 points. In 2020, the AFL season was severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic . The first round of matches was played in front of no crowds due to the pandemic, before the season was suspended on 22 March due to health concerns and strict government regulations on non-essential travel. After nearly two months of planning with
9085-452: The football ground. The VFL played the first of a series of exhibition matches in 1962 in an effort to lift the international profile of the league. In 1967, district football was expanded throughout all of Victoria, clubs now allocated a country zone in addition to their metropolitan districts. The 1970 season saw the opening of VFL Park, with the inaugural match being played between Geelong and Fitzroy, on 18 April 1970. Construction work
9200-556: The game by 10 points, featured a famous spectacular mark by Alex Jesaulenko and was witnessed by a record crowd of 121,696. In 1976, the National Football League , which was the peak national administrative body of Australian rules football at the time, established the NFL Night Series to succeed the Championship of Australia . The Night Series was played concurrently with the premiership season and
9315-494: The game well, scoring the first goal of the match from a free kick awarded to Alastair Lynch for holding against Dustin Fletcher . Essendon fought back late in the first quarter and then took control of the game in the second term. The Lions' poor kicking for goal almost put them out of the game in the second quarter as Essendon blew their lead out to 20 points late in the term. However, The Lions managed to overrun Essendon in
9430-446: The game. This came to a head in 1896 when it was proposed that gate profits, which were always lower in matches involving the weaker clubs, be shared equally among all teams in the VFA. After it was intimated that the proposal would be put to a vote, six of the strongest clubs— Collingwood , Essendon , Fitzroy , Geelong, Melbourne and South Melbourne —seceded from the VFA and later invited Carlton and St Kilda to join them in founding
9545-418: The inaugural season. Six clubs joined the league in the coming years; Geelong and North Melbourne entered the competition in 2019, while Gold Coast , Richmond , St Kilda and West Coast made their debut in 2020. The remaining four clubs— Essendon , Hawthorn , Port Adelaide and Sydney — entered AFL Women's in the seventh season in 2022. On 14 May 2017, Port Adelaide and the Gold Coast played
9660-460: The last matches played at Windy Hill (Essendon), Moorabbin Oval (St Kilda), Western Oval (Footscray) and Victoria Park (Collingwood) and saw Princes Park abandoned by its long-term co-tenant, Hawthorn. The transition to the use of only two venues in Melbourne was ultimately completed in 2005 when Carlton abandoned the use of Princes Park. In 1999, the league sold VFL Park and used the funds in
9775-483: The league as its 19th team in 2028. AFL premiership season matches have been played in all states and mainland territories, as well as in New Zealand and China to expand its audience. The AFL premiership season currently consists of a 23-match regular (or home-and-away) season, which runs from March to September. The team with the best record at the end of the home-and-away season is awarded the minor premiership ;
9890-463: The league's foundation clubs, Fitzroy , established in Melbourne , Victoria in 1883. Its colours of maroon, blue, and gold were drawn from both Fitzroy and the Bears. The club plays its home matches at the Gabba in Brisbane, and its headquarters and training facilities are located at Springfield Central Stadium . The Lions are one of the most successful AFL clubs of the 2000s, appearing in four consecutive grand finals from 2001 to 2004 ,
10005-407: The match with a limited bench. In 2003, the Lions became the first team in the national era to win three consecutive premierships. With a number of players under an injury cloud—and having lost to Collingwood in a qualifying final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground three weeks previously–the Lions went into the game as underdogs. However, they sealed their place in history as an AFL dynasty by thrashing
10120-535: The mid-1980s, the Sydney Swans became successful on-field. Moving the Swans team to Sydney effectively shifted the debts of a Melbourne club onto Australian football in Sydney and re-directed support and finance to the Swans team to the detriment of existing Australian Football clubs and league competitions in Sydney. However, the Swans team attracted new prominence and supporters for the sport. Despite becoming successful on
10235-489: The national competition in 1997 . In 1997, the Lions narrowly made the finals, finishing eighth. They ended up with the same win–loss record as fellow 1997 newcomers Port Adelaide , who missed out due to having an inferior percentage. Their first two games were against the eventual grand finalists of that year, Adelaide and St Kilda . They went down to Adelaide by 36 points before recording an emphatic 97-point thrashing of St Kilda in round 2. The Lions met St Kilda again in
10350-400: The night competition reverted to include only the VFL teams. The competition was pushed earlier into the year, with the final played on 28 April. The following season, the competition did not overlap with the day premiership season at all and became entirely a pre-season competition . The night competition is generally considered to be of equivalent importance as the pre-season competition and
10465-494: The premiership to the team with the best record through the season; and, the formal establishment of the modern scoring system, in which six points are awarded for a goal and one point for a behind. Although the VFL and the VFA continued to compete for spectator interest for many years, the VFL quickly established itself as the premier competition in Victoria. In 1908, the league expanded to ten teams, with Richmond crossing from
10580-462: The previous record set in 2018 despite not featuring any WA-based teams and being played during the COVID pandemic. [REDACTED] The AFL operates on a single table system, with no divisions and conferences, nor promotion and relegation from other leagues. Brisbane Lions From the incorporated AFL operations of: Fitzroy Football Club (formed 1883) The Brisbane Lions are
10695-457: The red and blue Fitzroy guernsey worn from 1975 to 1978 . Adelaide wore the same guernsey as what was worn in the 2006 Heritage Round in its defeat against Hawthorn. Port Adelaide 's application to the AFL for its 1970s black and white "Prison Bar" was rejected at first, but an agreement was later reached with Collingwood and the AFL for Port Adelaide to wear the guernsey this year but with conditions for further heritage rounds. They lost to
10810-429: The reigning premiers, having won the 2024 AFL Grand Final . Several of the AFL's current member clubs date back to the origins of Australian football and were instrumental in establishing the sport's popularity and the AFL. The oldest club is Melbourne Football Club , which wrote the first laws of the code, and Geelong , which date back to 1858 and 1859 respectively, while Melbourne University , also founded in 1859,
10925-477: The season. The Brisbane Lions' 2007 season started with them finishing runners-up to Carlton in the 2007 NAB Cup Grand Final. The Lions failed to make the finals for a third successive year, again showing promising glimpses at stages, with a shock away win against reigning premiers the West Coast Eagles , and a 93-point hiding of finalists Collingwood at the MCG. They made history in 2007 by becoming
11040-539: The seventh club in 1884, playing in the maroon and blue colours of the local Normanby Junior Football Club. They quickly became one of the most successful clubs, consistently in the top four, and drawing large crowds to their home at the Brunswick Street Oval in Edinburgh Gardens. This success was capped off by Fitzroy winning the VFA premiership in 1895. Fitzroy then went on to be one of
11155-469: The third quarter to win by 5 points due to an Ash McGrath goal after the siren in his 200th match, in what became known as the Miracle on Grass . On 13 August 2013, coach Michael Voss was told his contract would not be renewed. On 18 October 2013, Brisbane Lions Hall of Famer Simon Black announced his retirement. On 25 August 2013, a former premiership player for the Lions, Justin Leppitsch ,
11270-488: The third term, kicking six goals to one and turning a 14-point deficit into a 16-point lead. Brisbane's pace in the midfield and the tiring legs of most of the Essendon players played a pivotal role in them taking full control of the game in the second half. The Lions won their first premiership comfortably, with a final score of 15.18 (108) to 12.10 (82). The win was topped off with Lions utility player Shaun Hart winning
11385-414: The time of signing the agreement with Port Adelaide that Heritage Rounds would ceased to be officially sanctioned by the AFL in the future. Australian Football League The Australian Football League ( AFL ) is the pre-eminent professional competition of Australian rules football . It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition from
11500-518: The top eight teams then play off in a four-round finals series , culminating in the AFL Grand Final , which is normally held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground each year. The grand final winners are termed the premiers , the most important team prizes for which are the premiership cup and flag . Carlton , Collingwood and Essendon are the joint-most successful clubs in the competition, having each won 16 premierships. The Brisbane Lions are
11615-455: The top of the ladder, it created severe inequality during the 1970s and 1980s. Between 1972 and 1987, only six of the league's twelve clubs – Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Hawthorn, North Melbourne and Richmond – played in grand finals. (equivalent to $ 53,142 in 2022) (equivalent to $ 2,898,675 in 2022) (equivalent to $ 3,221,426 in 2022) (equivalent to $ 99,714 in 2022) (equivalent to $ 12,885,702 in 2022) The 1980s
11730-419: The triple-premiership era remaining at the club. On 29 August 2016, just one day after the end of the club's season, Leppitsch was sacked as coach of the Lions after multiple disappointing seasons, despite being granted a one-year contract extension at the start of the year which would have seen him remain at the club until the end of the 2017 season. On 4 October 2016, Hawthorn football manager Chris Fagan
11845-499: Was a period of significant structural change in Australian football around the country. The VFL was dominant among the Australian football leagues around the country in terms of overall attendance, interest and money and began to look towards expanding its influence directly into other states. The VFL and its top clubs were asserting their financial power to recruit top players from interstate. The resulting rising cost pressures drove
11960-407: Was announced as Brisbane's senior coach from the 2017 season onwards. The Lions claimed the 2017 wooden spoon , despite winning 5 games for the season, 2 more than the previous season. Their percentage of 74.3 was the worst in the league, behind Fremantle with a percentage of 74.4. The 2018 season was very similar, recording 5 wins to finish in 15th place, but multiple close losses showed signs of
12075-540: Was based on Football in the 1970s. It took place in July from the 7th to the 9th. Once again it generated media coverage both in News broadcasts and both The Footy Show and Before the Game holding 1970s themed shows. As West Coast were not established in the 1970s they chose to wear the original Western Australia guernsey from the first State of Origin game played against Victoria. They lost to Brisbane Lions who wore
12190-406: Was carried out at the stadium as the 1970s progressed, culminating in the building of the now heritage listed Sir Kenneth Luke Stand. Queen Elizabeth II , was a guest at the game and formally opened the stadium to the public. The 1970 grand final between traditional rivals Carlton and Collingwood, arguably the league's most famous game, saw Carlton recover from a 44-point deficit at half-time to win
12305-599: Was confirmed as the senior coach of the Lions for the next three seasons. During Round 13, 2014 Lions captain Jonathan Brown was the victim of a facial injury in a clash between the Lions and the Greater Western Sydney Giants. He collided with Tomas Bugg's knee and was taken off the ground. He suffered a concussion and subsequently retired from football. His retirement, alongside the retirement of Ash McGrath , meant there were no players from
12420-480: Was contested among twelve clubs from the VFL, SANFL and WAFL , invited based on their finishing positions from the previous year. The event was mostly played on Tuesday nights, with night games at Norwood Oval in Adelaide and all games were televised live in colour on Channel 9 , which opened up unprecedented revenue streams from television rights and sponsorship opportunities for the sport. The NFL began plans to expand its Night Series to incorporate more teams from
12535-489: Was held in 2005. The field umpires wore replica uniforms from an old fashioned period (with colours brought back) that were impractical in modern day. St Kilda wore a guernsey worn during the First World War in which white was replaced with gold so they were not to be seen as a supporter of Germany . Hawthorn 's guernsey was not brown and gold, but red, white, and blue from its 1902 guernsey worn when they were
12650-541: Was introduced in 1986 and a salary cap was introduced in 1987. District football within Victoria was discontinued around the same time. The league was renamed the Australian Football League in 1990 to reflect its national composition. In 1990 the AFLPA , the players union, signed its first Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the league which outlined wages and conditions in what was becoming
12765-402: Was losing millions of dollars annually on the club and at one point in 1991 told Bears coach Robert Walls that he was closing it down. The Bears finished last in 1990 and 1991. To survive, The Bears experimented with playing matches at the Gabba in Brisbane in 1991, moving all home matches to the venue ahead of the 1993 season. As part of the club's move to the Gabba, Pelerman agreed to release
12880-504: Was played in front of a crowd of 22,183 on Anzac Day to honour the Anzac bond between the two countries. A national women's league comprising a subset of AFL clubs began in 2017. Thirteen AFL clubs placed bids to participate in the women's competition. Eight clubs – Adelaide , Brisbane Lions , Carlton , Collingwood , Fremantle , Greater Western Sydney , Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs – were granted licences to participate in
12995-658: Was purchased at Mulgrave, then farmland but predicted to be near the demographic centre of Melbourne's population. The VFL premiership trophy was first awarded in addition to a pennant flag in 1959; essentially the same trophy design has been in use since. In the 1960s, television coverage began to have a huge impact on the VFL. Spectators hurried home from games to watch replays and many former players took up positions as commentators on pre-game preview programs and post-game review programs. There were also several attempts at variety programs featuring VFL players, who generally succeeded in demonstrating that their skills were limited to
13110-590: Was sacked as coach with eight rounds remaining in the season. During the off-season, the club hired Leigh Matthews , who in 1990 had delivered Collingwood its first premiership since 1958 . Matthews, who was voted "Player of the Century" in 2000, played his entire career with Hawthorn and brought many of the Hawthorn disciplines to the Lions. Importantly, he forced the Lions to embrace and acknowledge their Fitzroy heritage with murals and records being erected at
13225-515: Was seen as an important way of connecting with the Melbourne-based Fitzroy supporters who'd chosen to support the Brisbane Lions. The 2004 season saw Brisbane remain in the top portion of the ladder for most of the season. Reaching the finals in second position, Brisbane controversially had to travel to Melbourne to play against Geelong in the preliminary final due to a contract between the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and
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