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85-404: Since the mid-1980s, the formerly all-Victorian Victorian Football League (VFL) competition had undertaken a large expansion program which saw the league expand from being a state-based competition (centred around the inner suburbs of Melbourne) to a national competition. The decision to undertake this expansion was in response to elite national leagues being run by other sporting codes (for example

170-523: 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

255-835: 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

340-524: A club to occupy the oval. Hawthorn paid $ 1 and, in return, received the freehold on the entire oval and a portion of what is now the administrative buildings. The club began playing a few home games each year in Launceston in 2001, predominantly against the non-Victorian clubs, which earns it a hefty sponsorship from the Tasmanian government. In 2015, Hawthorn signed a five-year, $ 19 million deal with

425-546: A disproportionately large number of teams relative to the other states. By the mid-1990s, there were eleven teams based in Victoria – ten of those in the inner suburbs of Melbourne – and concerns were raised about the long term viability (both on the field, and economically) of some of the weaker Melbourne-based clubs. Members of the AFL Commission (the governing body for the competition) began to worry that, relative to

510-524: 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

595-493: 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

680-532: A large bloc of proxy votes and the inability of all interested parties to get inside the hall to vote) voted 4,679 to 4,229 in favour of the merger, Hawthorn members overwhelming voted against it by a vote of 5,241 to 2,841 and the proposal was defeated. Large-scale resignations followed on both boards as those who had supported the merger fell on their swords; several prominent members of the anti-merger campaigns (including Dicker, Scott, Brereton, and Gutnick) would take senior executive or board positions at both clubs in

765-403: A late fightback campaign had averted a merger between Fitzroy and Footscray in 1989. Carlton , Collingwood , Essendon , Geelong were generally exempt from these proposals due to their financial success. Of the potential mergers that were speculated about in the media, the one which perhaps seemed to make the most sense was the potential merger between Melbourne and Hawthorn. On the surface,

850-611: 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

935-576: A record club membership, secured Melbourne's short-term future as a stand-alone club. In 2021 , Melbourne reached the Grand Final for the second time since the failed merger, where they ended their 57-year premiership drought with a defeat of the Western Bulldogs . Hawthorn has managed to grow in strength on and off the field since the merger. Membership jumped from 12,484 to 27,000 in 1997 and has continued to increase every year. One of

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1020-752: 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

1105-452: 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,

1190-470: 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

1275-750: 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 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

1360-756: The Australian Rugby League , the National Basketball League , and the National Soccer League ), which threatened to undermine interest in football at both a junior and elite level. The VFL expansion included new teams from Perth, Adelaide, and Brisbane, in addition to the relocation of South Melbourne to Sydney, and saw the league change its name from the VFL to the Australian Football League (AFL). The expansion led to Victoria holding

1445-685: 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

1530-560: 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

1615-553: 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

1700-655: 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

1785-575: 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,

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1870-499: The AFL undertook an active program of pursuing mergers between Melbourne-based clubs. The AFL began this policy by offering A$ 6 million to any newly merged football team (an offer which grew to A$ 8 million by mid-1996). Within Melbourne, discussions about potential mergers were often greeted with deep suspicion and open hostility. While the growth of a national competition from the former VFL has arguably been highly beneficial to

1955-476: 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

2040-550: The Grand Final in 2000 and making the finals in 2002, Gutnick was voted out by the members. The club generally struggled financially for 19 years afterwards, and had struggled to make finals on a consistent basis. However, in 2018 they played in the finals series for the first time since 2006. In 2003, Melbourne plunged into a new crisis, winning only five games for the year and posting a $ 1 million loss. President Gabriel Szondy resigned and it seemed that Daniher's tenure as coach

2125-647: 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

2210-543: 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

2295-621: The Tasmanian State Government to continue to play four home and away games and a pre-season game in Launceston until the end of 2021; this agreement was later extended an additional year through 2022. The club now boasts one of the highest memberships among Victorian clubs, and was a dominant club on-field in the early 21st century with four premierships between 2008 and 2015. Victorian Football League (1897%E2%80%931989) The Australian Football League ( AFL )

2380-585: 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

2465-481: 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,

2550-434: 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

2635-435: 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,

Melbourne Hawks - Misplaced Pages Continue

2720-483: 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

2805-423: 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,

2890-476: 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

2975-428: 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

3060-574: 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

3145-511: 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

3230-538: The club in 2009, with the MCC matching the AFL contribution. By the midpoint of the 2009 season, things had improved off field for Melbourne. They had secured a record number of members, remerged with the MCC, and knocked off more debt. On-field matters, however, worsened, and allegations of tanking in the latter part of the season tarnished the club. Midway through the 2010 season , Melbourne chairman Jim Stynes announced that Melbourne had paid off all debts, which, along with

3315-507: The club's direction and eliminate debt, introducing a drive called "Debt Demolition", beginning with a call for members to sign up. A 5 August fundraiser raised $ 1.3 million, and the club raised well over $ 3 million in total. Despite the reduced debt, in November new club CEO Cameron Schwab declared that it required urgent AFL assistance to continue, requesting additional funding to its special annual distribution. The AFL committed $ 1 million to

3400-422: The code of Australian rules football overall, throughout the 1980s and 1990s, many Melburnians were opposed to reform attempts. The merger debate led to widespread accusations that the league's administrators had grown out-of-touch with the sport's grass-roots supporter base. The league openly discussing the elimination of some Melbourne-based clubs through mergers led to widespread anger, and disillusionment, towards

3485-596: 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

Melbourne Hawks - Misplaced Pages Continue

3570-774: 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,

3655-532: The field. Prior to the game, an "anti-merger" rally, led by Scott, was held at Hawthorn's then training ground, Glenferrie Oval . Later in the round, Richmond lost to North Melbourne by a large margin. This loss ensured that Hawthorn were playing in the finals. The finals system at the time meant that Hawthorn, which finished in eighth position, had to play the team which finished first, Sydney Swans , in Sydney. Hawthorn would lose by 6 points and be knocked out in

3740-596: 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

3825-443: 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

3910-589: The first week of the 1996 finals, a week after the merger votes. Hawthorn's future four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson played for Melbourne that night, as did three of his assistant coaches: David Neitz , Todd Viney and Adem Yze . Both the Hawthorn and Melbourne Football Clubs called extraordinary general meetings – Hawthorn held their meeting at the Camberwell Civic Centre, while Melbourne held its meeting at Dallas Brooks Hall. To

3995-601: 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

4080-452: 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

4165-556: 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

4250-535: The game by any margin to have any chance to contest the 1996 finals series , many supporters saw this game as a last chance to see their team play football. A crowd of 63,196 attended the Melbourne Cricket Ground to see Jason Dunstall kick 10 goals and the Hawks win by one point. In a now-famous moment of defiance to both the league and his team's board, Chris Langford (Hawthorn's full-back), took off his Hawthorn jumper and proudly held it above his head while leaving

4335-446: 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

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4420-418: 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

4505-460: 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

4590-570: The last two decades. Shortly after the season and the collapse of the Melbourne-Hawthorn merger, AFL CEO Ross Oakley , who had overseen the previous decade, stepped down and was replaced by Wayne Jackson . With the new CEO came a change in the league's off-field direction, and in October 1996 the $ 6M incentive for Victorian clubs to merge was taken off the table. A new structure, which included stronger and earlier action against insolvent clubs, as well as restrictions on private ownership,

4675-483: 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 ;

4760-420: The league. Upon pressure and incentives from the league, and saturation of the dire warnings about the consequences of too many teams based in Melbourne, a number of Melbourne-based clubs began investigating and pursuing potential mergers. Some proposals raised in the local media included various combinations of Melbourne , Hawthorn , St Kilda , Footscray , Fitzroy , North Melbourne and Richmond , and only

4845-440: The media in response to comments from the club's auditors spelling disaster for the club. Gardner reiterated that the club had posted a $ 97,000 profit at the end of 2007. Despite celebrating the club's birthday with an official mid-season function, shortly afterward chairman Paul Gardner resigned, handing the presidency to former club champion Jim Stynes , who inherited a $ 4.5 million debt. Stynes wasted no time attempting to change

4930-423: The merger appeared to make sense for a number of reasons: It is perhaps from a combination of these reasons that negotiations would proceed further between Melbourne and Hawthorn than between other potential merger partners. The negotiations advanced considerably and settled on a number of key aspects of the proposed team. Speculation about ongoing merger negotiations often appeared in the mainstream media prior to

5015-420: The merger vote was defeated. Following the launch of Operation Payback, and Gutnick's campaign at Melbourne, a vocal backlash to the merger proposal emerged amongst the supporters at both clubs. Banners with slogans including "No Merger" and "Operation Payback" became a common fixture at both Hawthorn training sessions, Hawthorn matches, and at Glenferrie Road. Other signs appeared, including several which decried

5100-404: The merger were equally as passionate as those who opposed it. The end of the 1996 season saw Melbourne and Hawthorn play each other in the last round of that season. The "merger game", as it was called, was a spirited contest as it was a likely possibility that it would be the last Hawthorn vs Melbourne contest and, as the result that Melbourne could not make the finals and Hawthorn needed to win

5185-581: The merger were passionate. When triple premiership coach Allan Jeans got up to speak on behalf of the merger the crowd shouted him down. Anti-merger coordinator Don Scott (in a now-famous moment) at one point holding up a mock-up of the Melbourne Hawks jumper, and proceeding to rip off a Velcro hawk and yellow V-neck to reveal a Melbourne jumper underneath. Prior to the commencement of the meetings, vocal anti-merger supporters chanted team songs and anti-merger slogans. While Melbourne members (aided by

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5270-482: 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

5355-481: The new interstate clubs and more powerful Victorian-based teams, the weaker Melbourne-based clubs would not have a sufficiently large supporter base to survive in the new national competition. Statistics published in newspapers like the Herald Sun showed that several Melbourne-based clubs (including Hawthorn and Melbourne) only had a fraction of the membership base of either their interstate or cross-town rivals. It

5440-400: 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

5525-435: The official announcement, with several key details leaking to the press. Key points related to the club's identity which were agreed upon during negotiations prior to the official announcement included that: Some commentators noted that the merged team would more closely resemble Melbourne than Hawthorn and speculated whether Hawthorn suffered from a weaker bargaining position as a result of its weak financial situation. Under

5610-440: The package offered by the AFL, the transitional arrangements for the merged club would be as follows: In the wake of the official merger announcement, Don Scott (a former Hawthorn footballer) launched the "Operation Payback" campaign. Aided by the business acumen of former Pacific Dunlop executive Ian Dicker the campaign, which would be backed by other former Hawthorn footballers including Dermott Brereton and Brian Falconer ,

5695-438: 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

5780-552: 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. Don Scott (footballer, born 1947) Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include

5865-419: The proposed advantages of merging was playing on the MCG , and Hawthorn moved its home games there in 2000 after the AFL closed Waverley Park . The Hawks moved from their home base at Glenferrie. They relocated to the old Waverley Park , which was being carved into lucrative real estate by Mirvac. Under the terms of the deal, the oval and immediate surrounds were to remain for sporting purposes. Mirvac needed

5950-429: 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,

6035-403: The surprise of the respective clubs' boards, the meeting halls were filled, with more members and supporters of each team watching proceedings on large monitors outside. Entrepreneurial peddlers set up stalls selling merchandise along the long queues into the respective meeting halls. The Hawthorn meeting was chaired by former premiership player and lawyer Richard Loveridge . The debates about

6120-444: The system of 'proxy votes' for members unable to attend the anti-merger meeting (it was speculated by some of those who opposed the merger proposal that proxy votes would help the pro-merger cause). It is important to note, however, that this opposition was not universal: several thousand members (as noted earlier) ended up voting in favor of the merger proposal; including a majority of Melbourne supporters. In some cases, those supporting

6205-518: 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

6290-455: 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

6375-725: The wake of the merger. The two sides continue to play in their original form to this day. Before the failed merger of Melbourne and Hawthorn, on 4 July 1996, the Fitzroy and Brisbane clubs had been merged by the directive of the AFL commission to take effect as the Brisbane Lions on 1 November 1996. Footscray and North Melbourne also changed their names to the Western Bulldogs and the Kangaroos respectively to attract more fans, having both been considered for mergers in

6460-499: 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

6545-406: 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

6630-536: 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

6715-461: 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

6800-725: Was multifaceted and included a number of aims: In the weeks following Scott's launch of the Operation Payback campaign, a similar anti-merger campaign was launched for the Melbourne Football Club by former premiership player Brian Dixon , who was aided by millionaire businessman Joseph Gutnick . Gutnick, a Melbourne supporter who had accumulated his wealth (and earned the nickname "Diamond" Joe Gutnick) through investments in Western Australian mining, pledged to donate A$ 3 million to Melbourne if

6885-504: 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

6970-658: 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

7055-461: Was put forward. Nevertheless, decades later, merger and relocation talks among weaker Victorian clubs continue. In the months following the 1996 merger vote, prominent businessman Joseph Gutnick became president of the Melbourne Football Club. He put $ 3 million of his own money into the club, which performed inconsistently onfield over the following few years, reaching and then missing the finals in alternating years between 1998 and 2004. Despite making

7140-687: Was suggested by some at the time that the Melbourne market could realistically support no more than six to eight teams. The AFL, under CEO Ross Oakley , proposed that the preferred outcome for these smaller Melbourne-based clubs would be to merge (or amalgamate) with other smaller teams. According to the AFL at the time, mergers would create super-clubs which would retain at least some of the traditions and history of its former teams; clearly preferable to having both teams eventually financially collapse. Merging with other Melbourne-based clubs, rather than relocating interstate, would allow local supporters to continue attending their teams' matches. Based on this logic,

7225-536: Was under threat. But, continuing the recent trend, in 2004, Melbourne climbed the ladder again, to finish seventh. They made finals again in 2005 and 2006, but 2007 was a poor season for Melbourne; Daniher resigned after the club recorded just two wins in its first thirteen games, and Melbourne finished 14th out of 16 clubs. Off the field, the club remained in serious turmoil. In the first sign of troubles in February 2008, CEO Steve Harris resigned. Paul Gardner addressed

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