List of Australian rules football clubs by date of establishment

This is a chronological list of Australian rules football clubs since their formation.

Note that some of these football clubs that formed before 1866 (see Laws of Australian football) may not have originally played the game known today as Australian rules football. It is more than likely that most of these clubs were influenced the Melbourne Rules of 1859 which were the dominant rules of the day. However many played by their own rules and often compromised rules when playing against other clubs.

In 1879 Prince Eugene Louis Napoleon, the ‘Prince Imperial’ and heir to the French throne, was ambushed and killed by Zulu warriors during the Anglo-Zulu war in Africa. Out of respect to him, the Footscray Football Club changed their name to the prince Imperials Football Club. In 1882 it decided to revert to the name ‘Footscray’ and therefore 1883 can not have been its formation date. The following websites suggest that its formation date must have be pre 1877 ... (http://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/club/history/timeline/1880s) and (http://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/club/history/timeline/pre-1880s)

A meeting was held at the Collingwood town hall on Friday 12 February 1892 to announce the foundation of the Collingwood Football Club. from "A Century of the Best" – Michael Roberts 1991.

* = defunct, disputed, poorly documented or dormant for a period.

...
Wikipedia