Australian rules football in Victoria

Australian rules football in Victoria is the most watched and second most participated code of football. Australian rules football originated in Melbourne in the late 1850s and grew quickly to dominate the sport, which it continues to. Victoria has more than double the number of players of any other state in Australia accounting for approximately 42% of all Australian players in 2023 and continues to grow strongly. Only Soccer in Victoria has more football participants, though the code's growth in Victoria has made up much ground lost to that code over previous decades such that they have now a similar number of players. The sport is governed by AFL Victoria based in Melbourne. The national governing body, the AFL Commission is also based in Melbourne. The national Australian Football League (AFL) grew out of the Victorian competition (the VFL, founded in 1896 and rebadged in 1990) as it expanded nationally in the 1980s (10 of 18 AFL clubs remain Victorian based including the 4 oldest and the most successful with two thirds of all premierships). Victoria is home to the Cordner–Eggleston Cup, first contested in 1858 and the longest continuously running football competition in the world. It is home to the oldest club in the sport, the Melbourne Football Club which wrote the first rules in 1859 also is the oldest professional football club of any code in the world. It was home to the first official tournament in the sport, the Challenge Cup in 1861. It is home to the second oldest football league in Australia, the semi professional Victorian Football Association founded in 1877 which, like the AFL has also begun to expand nationally. While Victoria in 2017 accounted for just 30% of all players worldwide, and 40% of Australian players, more than 60% of professional AFL players are recruited from the state. The Melbourne Cricket Ground, with a capacity of 100,024 people (and has filled to over 120,000 in the past), is considered the "spiritual home" of the game, and is contracted to host the sport's largest event, the AFL Grand Final, annually until 2058 traditionally staged on the afternoon of the last Saturday in September. The state also holds regular blockbusters including the annual Anzac Day match, King's Birthday match and Dreamtime at the 'G. The Victoria Australian rules football team has won more championships than any other state (until the introduction of State of Origin rules) winning 16 of the 19 carnivals up until 1975. Since other states were removed from contesting State of Origin, Victoria has been undefeated, having won against a combined rest of Australia team at home in both 2008 and 2020. Victorian teams have also dominated the National underage championships with two thirds of the titles since it went national in 1976. Victorian clubs have also won 10 of the 19 Championships of Australia. Victoria has produced the most greats in the history of the game. All four of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Australian Football legends are Victorian: Ron Barassi, Ted Whitten, Bob Skilton and Leigh Matthews. In 2024 the vast majority of the Australian Football Hall of Fame Legends are also from the state (20 of 31). Victoria also holds the world record for attendance with 121,696 attending the 1970 VFL Grand Final between Carlton and Collingwood.

While many early Victorian teams participated in one off matches, most had not yet formed clubs for regular competition until 1860. To ensure the supremacy of the Melbourne rules, the first club level competition in Australia, the Caledonian Society's Challenge Cup (1861–64), stipulated that only the Melbourne rules were to be used. This law was reinforced by the Athletic Sports Committee (ASC), which ran a variation of the Challenge Cup in 1865–66. With input from other clubs, the rules underwent several minor revisions, establishing a uniform code known as "Victorian rules". In 1866, the "first distinctively Victorian rule", the running bounce, was formalised at a meeting of club delegates chaired by H. C. A. Harrison, an influential pioneer who took up football in 1859 at the invitation of Wills, his cousin.

On 17 May 1877, the Victorian Football Association (VFA), Victoria's first governing body for Australian football, was formed. The foundation Senior clubs of the VFA were Albert park, Carlton, Hotham, Melbourne, St Kilda. The Junior section of the VFA originally included such clubs as Ballarat, East Melbourne, Essendon, Hawthorn, Northcote, South Melbourne, Standard, Victoria United, Victorian Railways, West Melbourne and Williamstown. During its early years, many clubs dropped in and out and there were erratic promotions between the Senior and Junior sections. Hawthorn, Northcote, Standard, Victoria United, Victorian Railways and Williamstown dropped out within a year or so but Hawthorn, Northcote and Williamstown were all to return at various times. There were also numerous rules changes in this early period.

Not all football was played in Melbourne and the Goldfields experienced its own boom in competition in the 1880s and 1890s. By 1881, the Sandhurst Football Association had formed with a number of clubs in what is now Bendigo. Ballarat was to follow with its own Ballarat Football Association in 1893, giving some of the oldest clubs outside of Melbourne including Ballarat (1860) and Sandhurst (1861) clubs and the growing number of clubs in country Victoria some regular competition. While strong popular competitions in their own right, their member clubs were to become strong feeder clubs to the big metropolitan leagues.

A rift in the VFA led to the formation of the Victorian Football League (VFL), which commenced play in 1897 as an eight team breakaway of the stronger clubs in the VFA competition: Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne. The first season concluded with Essendon finishing as the premiers (winners). Another four VFA clubs joined the VFL later, as Richmond joined the VFL in 1908. Footscray, Hawthorn and North Melbourne joined in 1925, by which time VFL had become the most prominent league in the game. University also joined the VFL in 1908 but left in 1915.

In 1982, in a move which heralded big changes within the sport, one of the original VFL clubs, South Melbourne Football Club, relocated to the rugby league stronghold of Sydney and became known as the Sydney Swans. In the late 1980s, strong interstate interest in the VFL led to a more national competition; two more non Victorian clubs, the West Coast Eagles and the Brisbane Bears began playing in 1987. The league changed its name to the Australian Football League (AFL) following the 1989 season, later gaining further West Australian and South Australian teams. The VFA/VFL became a secondary league, although even it has grown to accommodate a team from Tasmania. Even the biggest locally grown suburban clubs, elevated into the national league, continue struggle for survival, competing for marketshare. Fourteen years after South Melbourne's difficulties led them to move to Sydney, similar problems at the Fitzroy Football Club result in a merger, forming the Brisbane Lions. Although a small consolation of these club's recent success has been establishing renewed interest with their Melbourne based supporters, other clubs, such as the historic Melbourne, Western Bulldogs (formerly Footscray), North Melbourne and Carlton Clubs are assisted by the AFL to remain in the national competition. Many suggestions have been made in response to issues of overcrowding but the AFL has been somewhat reluctant to make a drastic change, due to both the history and supporters' passion for their club – save for the merger of Fitzroy and the Bears.

121,696 (1970). VFL Grand Final Carlton v Collingwood (MCG, Melbourne)

Australian Football Hall of Fame players with Legend status from Victoria (in order of induction) include: Ron Barassi, Haydn Bunton Sr., Roy Cazaly, John Coleman, Jack Dyer, Bill Hutchison, Leigh Matthews, John Nicholls, Bob Pratt, Dick Reynolds, Bob Skilton, Ted Whitten, Ian Stewart, Gordon Coventry, Kevin Bartlett, Jock McHale, Norm Smith, Kevin Murray, Tony Lockett, Kevin Sheedy and John Kennedy Sr.

Victorians represent the vast majority of male Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees. Notable female players include: Debbie Lee (first female member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame), Daisy Pearce. Erin Phillips was born in Melbourne.

The governing body for Australian rules football in Victoria is AFL Victoria.

The Victorian representative team is known as the Big V and have played State of Origin representative matches against all other Australian states. However, since 1999 they have only played at Under 19 and state league level, with the senior professional team only making a once off appearance in the 2008 AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match.