Australian Football League
Upcoming season or competition: 2017 AFL season
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| Formerly | Victorian Football League (1897–1989) |
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| Sport | Australian rules football |
| Founded | 2 October 1896 |
| Inaugural season | 1897 |
| CEO | Gillon McLachlan |
| No. of teams | 18 |
| Country | Australia |
| Headquarters | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Most recent champion(s) |
Western Bulldogs (2nd VFL/AFL premiership) |
| Most titles |
Carlton & Essendon (16 VFL/AFL premierships) |
| TV partner(s) | |
| Related competitions |
AFL Women's |
| Official website | afl.com.au |
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body, and is responsible for controlling the laws of the game. The league was founded as the Victorian Football League (VFL) as a breakaway from the previous Victorian Football Association (VFA), with its inaugural season commencing in 1897. Originally comprising only teams based in the Australian state of Victoria, the competition's name was changed to the Australian Football League for the 1990 season, after expanding to other states throughout the 1980s.
The league currently consists of 18 teams spread over five of Australia's six states (Tasmania being the exception). Matches have been played in all mainland states and territories of Australia, as well as in New Zealand. The AFL season currently consists of a pre-season competition (currently branded as the "JLT Community Series"), followed by a 23-round regular (or "home-and-away") season, which runs during the Australian winter (March to September). The top eight teams then play off in a four-round finals series, culminating in the AFL Grand Final, which is held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground each year. The winning team in the Grand Final is termed the "premiers", and is awarded the premiership cup. The current premiers are the Western Bulldogs.
The Australian Football League can trace its beginnings back to the foundation of the Victorian Football League in 1897 when six of the strongest clubs in Victoria – Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne and South Melbourne – broke away from the established Victorian Football Association to establish a more professional competition. The six clubs invited two more VFA clubs – Carlton and St Kilda – to join the league for its inaugural season in 1897. Among the notable initiatives established in the new league was an annual finals tournament, rather than awarding the premiership directly to the team with the best record through the season; and, the formal establishment of the modern scoring system, in which six points are scored for a goal, and one point is scored for a behind.
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