West Australian Football League
Current season, competition or edition: 2016 WAFL season
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| Formerly | West Australian Football Association (1885–1907) Western Australian National Football League (1931–1979) Western Australia State Football League (1990) Westar Rules (1997–2000) |
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| Sport | Australian rules football |
| Founded | 1885 |
| Inaugural season | 1885 |
| Owner(s) | West Australian Football Commission |
| No. of teams | 9 |
| Country | Australia |
| Venue(s) | various |
| Most recent champion(s) |
Peel Thunder (1st) |
| Most titles | East Fremantle (29) |
| TV partner(s) | Seven Network |
| Sponsor(s) | McDonald's |
| Official website | wafl.com.au |
The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The WAFL is the third-most popular league in the nation, behind the nationwide Australian Football League (AFL) and South Australian National Football League (SANFL). The league currently consists of nine teams, which play each other in a 24-round season usually lasting from March to September, with the top five teams playing off in a finals series, culminating in a Grand Final. The league also runs reserves and colts (under-19) competitions.
The WAFL was founded in 1885 as the West Australian Football Association (WAFA), and has undergone a variety of name changes since then, re-adopting its current name in 2001. For most of its existence, the league was considered one of the traditional "big three" Australian rules football leagues, along with the Victorian Football League (VFL) and South Australian National Football League (SANFL). However, since the introduction of two Western Australia-based clubs into the VFL (later renamed the Australian Football League) – the West Coast Eagles in 1987 and the Fremantle Football Club in 1995 – the popularity and standard of the league has decreased to the point where it is considered a feeder competition to the AFL.
Although payments are made to players, it is generally considered to be a semi-professional competition. A salary cap of A$200,000 per club is in place. The league is currently affiliated with the two Western Australia-based AFL clubs. Players who are not selected to play with their respective AFL clubs instead play for allocated clubs in the WAFL. The competition is governed by the West Australian Football Commission, and based at Subiaco Oval.
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