Australian Football Association of North America

5. Australian Football League Clubs

Sixteen clubs compete in the Australian Football League. Only two clubs have ever folded in the AFL (or VFL): University was merged into Melbourne in 1914, and Fitzroy into Brisbane in 1996. In 1982, South Melbourne relocated to Sydney. A list of details for each AFL team follows.

Notes:

Adelaide

Malcolm Blight, who coached the Crows to two premierships in a row, announced his resignation in the middle of his third season, citing professional burnout. Gary Ayres took the job after the home-and-away season, shortly after his resignation from Geelong. Gary Ayres departed midway through the 2004 season and was replaced by his assisant Neil Craig, who had played SANFL football, but never played at AFL level. Craig was also the club's fitness coach and has a degree in sports science and worked at the Australian Institute of Sport. His innovations for training and list management have seen the team improve out of sight. By midseason 2006, the Crows had one of the highest percentages in league history and were already considered outright favorites for the 2006 premiership,.

Brisbane

Matthews took the club to the top and kept them there for several years. They made the finals in 1999 and 2000 before becoming the dominant team of the competition over the next 3 seasons, although they never finished the season proper in first place. They continued that strength into 2004 and were favorites to equal Collingwood's record of 4 consecutive premierships but were defeated by Port Adelaide. Injuries savaged the team in 2005 and they fell to 11th. Injury and age took its toll again in 2006 and the club struggled early in the season, but hit a modicum of form over the second half of the year. They finished ninth in 2007 and 10th in 2008. At the end of 2008, Leigh Matthews resigned as coach with former club icon Michael Voss replacing him.

Carlton

Carlton was considered the most successful club in the competition with 16 premierships and never finishing last in its history, until 2002. Years of poor management and recruiting from the administration and penatlies for salary cap cheating saw the club take a dramatic slide on and off the fleid. They recovered enough form to win the 2005 preseason championship, but again finished last during the main season and were in serious debt.  In 2005, the club decided they would be better off financially by playing all their games at the Telstra Dome and the MCG, as Optus Oval had no lights for night games and had a seating capacity of less than 30,000. They still retain Optus Oval for adminstrative and training purposes.

Collingwood

Tony Shaw resigned effective at the end of his original three-year contract with the Maggies, after failing to improve their record during his term and "winning" the mythical Wooden Spoon as last-place finishers in 1999. Mick Malthouse decided he had done all he could with the West Coast Eagles during his 10 year stint in WA and wanted to return to Melbourne. He signed on with the Pies and, after 2 years of rebuilding, took them to consecutibve Grand Finals in 2002-2003, losing narrowly in a heart-breaker to Brisbane and getting thumped in 2003. The next 2 years were disappointing with the side savaged by injury, but they bounced back in 2006 to be serious flag contenders.
The Magpies abadoned their antiquated Victoria Park as a training ground in 2004 to move into the state-of-the-art facilities at the new Lexus Center near the MCG. They had previously abandoned Vic Park severak years prior to play home games at the MCG. 

Essendon

Fitzroy (merged into Brisbane in 1996)

Footscray (dba Western Bulldogs)

Fremantle

Geelong

Geelong's original name was the Pivotonians because of the town's "pivotal" role as a seaport and the home ground was Corio Oval, near the Corio Bay. Corio Oval had to be abandoned in 1940 because of the war and the team went to their current home, oringinally known as Kardinia Park. The Pivotonians became the Cats when a black cat ran onto the ground during the half time break of a juniors game. A newspaper cartoonist suggested it might bring the struggling Geelong, who had won just 2 from 7 games, some luck. The team won the next day and captain Cliff Rankin concurred with the journo the the cat had brought luck to the side and the team became known as the Cats. They were one of several teams to drop out of the compition in 1916 due to wartime travel restrictions with Geelong being 60 kilometers southwest of Melbourne along the Port Phillip Bay. 

Hawthorn

Melbourne

North Melbourne (dba Northern Kangaroos)

The Kangaroos became the first "traveling team" in football history. They proposed the concept to the AFL during the 1998 season, and played five home dates at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1999. As part of the initiative, they dropped the "North" from thier name and became simply the Kangaroos.
They then shifted to Manuka Oval in Canberra, the Australian capital. In 2008, the AFL offered the Kangaroos a lucrative deal to relocate to the Gold Coast in Queensland, but the club refused.  

Port Adelaide

On December 13 1994, the SANFL announced that the Port Adelaide Football Club (currently playing in the SANFL) would become South Australia's second team in the AFL when a new license became available.

The SANFL was told to prepare a possibility for a 2nd South Australian team as early as 1996. (The Adelaide Crows had a 5 year market exclusivity deal in SA until then.) Debate then arose as to when/if Port Adelaide would be admitted, as the AFL was not keen to expand to a 17 team competition. It had been previously foreseen that a Victorian club would fold or merge thus providing the way for a licence being made available; Fitzroy's failure and merger with Brisbane in 1996 finally made it possible.

Another issue to be resolved was that of Port Adelaide's guernsey design and logo. Unlike the other expansion teams, Port had an already existing history in the SANFL - the Port Adelaide Magpies, with a black and white vertically striped guernsey. The name and colors, however, were already 'owned' by Collingwood in the AFL. Port had already registered 6 names as possibilities, including the Pirates, and the Raiders, and were considered likely to retain black and white as their colours but add silver in addition. But within weeks of their admission in 1996, Port Power introduced a new organization with entirely new uniforms incorporating teal blue instead of silver (either of which bothered traditionalists to no end).
There remains a Port Adelaide Magpie team in the SANFL.

Richmond

The Transport Accident Commision was the club's major sponsor for many years, but several drunk driving incidents by the players over a period of several years resulted in the TAC - which tries to promote a strong anti-drink-while- driving message - cancel their sponsorship in 2005.
St. Kilda

Sydney

University 

University had trouble retaining players due to the transitory nature of students and their schedules of exams and holidays. The advent of World War One exacerbated the problems and the club folded. While some players crossed to Melbourne, there is no evidence that University actually merged with Melbourne as some believe.

West Coast

Mick Malthouse resigned as of the end of the 1999 finals campaign to return to Melbourne, presumably to be near ailing family members. Ken Judge was recruited from Hawthorn to replace him. Both had a year remaining on their contracts, which was a subject of some controversy. Judge was replaced in 2002 by former champion Eagle defender John Worsfold (who had a stint at Carlton as an assistant). He took the Eagles to their first Grand Final since 1994, albeit a losing effort against Sydney.
West Coast's orginal guernsey was the royal blue with a yellow eagle on the front and yellow trim. In 2004, they adapted a new home guernsey and now use the orginal blue and gold for away games.

Statistical Trivia from the AFL (and VFL)

Most Premierships:

16 - Carlton (most recent 1995)
16 - Essendon (most recent 2000)

Most "Wooden Spoons" (Last Place):

26 - St Kilda (most recent 1988)

Highest Score in an AFL match:

37.17 239 points - Geelong defeated Brisbane Round 7, 1993

Lowest Score in an AFL match:

0.1 1 point - St Kilda lost to Geelong in Round 3 of the Section B Finals, 1899

Most Goals by a player:

Lockett kicked his 1300th VFL/AFL goal for the Swans after the quarter-time siren against Collingwood in Round 10, 1999 at the SCG, breaking a 62-year-old record. Gordon "Nuts" Coventry scored 1299 goals in 18 seasons at Collingwood (1920-37).

Most Consecutive Wins:

23 Games - Geelong Round 12,1952 to Round 13, 1953
Technically, and it is a point of debate, the streak could actually be considered as 26 without a loss, as there was a draw in that mix. 

Most Consecutive Losses:

51 Games - University Round 4, 1912 to Round 18, 1914

Longest Premiership Drought:

72 years: Sydney 1933-2005)

Yet to win a Premiership:

Fremantle (joined 1995)

Yet to 'win' the Wooden Spoon:

West Coast (joined 1987)
Adelaide (joined 1991)
Port Adelaide (joined 1997)

Oldest Player:

43 years - Vic Cumberland, St Kilda, 1920

Youngest Player:

15 years 287 days - Kevin Bromage, Collingwood, 1953

Most Consecutive Matches by a player:

244 - Jim Stynes, Melbourne, Round 16, 1987 to Round 4, 1998

Longest Finals Absence:

32 Years - Hawthorn, 1925 - 1957

Worst team:

Debatable. University has the longest losing streak of 51, but St Kilda's opening few years were pretty bad. From Round 1 1897 (the first VFL matches) to Round 5 1903, St Kilda's record was 2 wins - 101 losses - 1 draw . In fact, St Kilda's first win was actually a draw against Melbourne, which they later won on protest to break a losing streak of 48. Only University's demise prior to WW I produced something to match St Kilda's form.

Best Goal Kicking Average:

5.63 goals/game - Peter Hudson (Hawthorn) (727 goals in 130 games)

Origin of St Kilda's Uniform Crest

Round 5, 1933 St Kilda vs North Melbourne:

Nine Saints players were seriously injured during the game. They eventually finished the game with only 15 men on the ground, many still injured (there was no interchange bench in those days). Despite this, St Kilda managed to hang on for a 97 to 83 win. Emotional officials pinned badges of recognition on the survivors' guernseys. The badge is now incorporated into the uniform.

Fitzroy Win Wooden Spoon AND Premiership in Same Year

1916 - Five of the nine VFL clubs went into recess due to the continuation of World War I. This left only Carlton, Collingwood, Richmond and Fitzroy to play a 12 round season. Fitzroy ended the season on the bottom of the Premiership Ladder with a 2-9-1 record. A Final Four system was in use, so Fitzroy still got to play in the Finals. Producing a remarkable form reversal, Fitzroy won all three finals matches to become Premiers, defeating Carlton in the Grand Final 85 to 56.

Club Nicknames

Many AFL clubs have not always played under their current nicknames. Some examples:

NOTE: "Camrys" is an often-used, but sarcastic, nickname for the Adelaide Crows. The Toyota Camry brand name has appeared on Crows guernseys since Day One.

AFL Attendances

Change and expansion in the AFL certainly haven't hurt attendance figures. Crowd figures have risen steadily over the years with 2005 recording an all time high of 6,763,852 fans attending matches. The highest attendance for 2005 was at the MCG as 91,828 fans witnessed the Grand Final thriller between Sydney and West Coast. 

The record crowd for an Australian Rules Football Game was the 1970 VFL Grand Final between Carlton and Collingwood at the MCG. It drew a crowd of 121,696. Subsequent modifications to the MCG (the building of the Great Southern Stand reduced capacity to just under 100,000, and Cricket Club members with reserved seats in their pavilion always stay away in numbers). However, in 2004, a new redevelopment plan saw the demolition and reconstruction of several sections of stands which brought the capacity back up to a potential 6 figure number. The work was completed in time for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. 

The record for a round was Round 22 of 1998 (August 28-30), with attendance of 367,974. This last weekend of 1998 featured seven clubs still in contention for six spots in the finals, and the final appearance of legendary full-forward Jason Dunstall.

Admission to an AFL ground cost $13.50 in 1999, and was $18 in 2005.  2000. This merely buys your way into the stadium, where you hopefully will find standing room somewhere. Seats are extra, if they are available. Pirces are always higher for finals and the Grand Final with those prices usually announced late in the season.

Club Memberships

One of the distinctive features of Australian clubs is that their fans can become dues-paying members. A simple support membership can be had at most clubs for A$90 or less, which buys access to the club's social club facilities, a membership card with season fixture, and the club magazine. Additional money buys access to reserved seating, among other perks.

Social clubs generally include restaurants, bars, banquet halls, the club trophy case, and a gambling hall featuring video *gambling term* machines. The "pokies" generate substantial revenue for the clubs, and for the contractors who operate them.

While fans can purchase memberships from before the preseason starts right through to the end of the year, the official cut off date for official tallies is June 30. Published membership numbers for 2003-2005 were as follows:

2004 

2005 

Sponsorships

The "Prime Sponsors" listed above contribute enough money to their clubs to have their advertising placed on the players' uniforms; this has been allowed since 1977 in the VFL and AFL, and is even more ubiquitous in European soccer and other Australian sporting leagues. As an indication of how much money is involved, the Western Bulldogs ended their long-term relationship with Orica (the former ICI Australia) in 1998 to seek A$1,000,000 support per year. They signed up the major cellular carrier Vodafone just before the 1999 season started, after they lowered their expectations to $800,000.

Sponsors can ask for other favors as well; Carlton's oval at Princes Park was named for the Optus telecom company (the naming rights money helped pay for the seats in the Legends Stand opened in 1997); they lost that sponsorship in 2005 and the new sponsor, MC Labour, took over and the Oval was renamed again. An Adelaide Crows club song began "Here we go, Camry Crows..."  Other unusual favors include:

Sponsorship deals don't always work out. Before the 1998 season even started, Collingwood tore up a A$3 million sponsorship deal with Viatel Communications Group when they found out that they were among many conned by Viatel's charismatic chairman John Massey, having never received a penny of promised support. The club signed with Primus Communications for 1998 instead.

Believe it or not, the AFL's prime sponsors for many years were McDonald's and Coca-Cola.  (Believe it. Both are known for their skill at playing to local audiences. We still remember a Coke ad screened in the USA during the Centennial Olympic Games in 1996; the company hired AFL players to put up a red-and-white banner of the sort players run through on game day lettered "Always for the Fans", and had fans run onto the MCG through it.) The Coca-Cola script logo pervaded AFL promotional materials and was painted on AFL football grounds, and the Golden Arches were stamped on the ball itself.  (The author suspects that Aussies are not uniformly thrilled with this.). The current major AFL sponsor is Toyota. However, the preseason competitioon, the Rising Star Award, and the juniors tournaments are all sponsored by The National Australia Bank (NAB).