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Welcome!

Welcome to the site! It primarily serves as a web interface for its author undertaking extensive research into the history of Australian rules football.

Yet another AFL site?

Admittedly, there is already a plethora of AFL sites that present statistical data. However, this site contains the (incomplete) history of the VFL/AFL, VFA/VFL, SANFL, WAFL, TSL and interstate carnivals. It is of course inspired by the great work of Paul Jeffs, known for www.afltables.com, and a shortlist of additional acknowledgements can be found below. As mentioned, there are indeed many existing sites, with each one of them bringing something to the table, but I personally wanted a unified view of everything available. So this site contains not only information about VFL/AFL matches, players, coachs and umpires, but extends this to the drafts, VFA/VFL (1st division only where applicable), SANFL, WAFL, TSL and interstate carnivals. It should be noted that this site does not necessarily align with official record; changes are often applied to align the disparate sources to a single convention. It should also be noted that metrics (tallies, orders, etc.) may not be accurate since these can be derived from an incomplete set of information.

An extra dimension

With more leagues comes more people. More players, more coaches and more umpires. But that's not all that comes; there can be draftees in the VFL/AFL that may never get to play a game in the VFL/AFL, but they may have a rich playing history (or future) in other leagues. One fine example is Trevor Clisby who was drafted to Footscray in the 1981 VFL interstate draft but never played a game with them (or any team in the VFL/AFL). However, he has a rich history with North Adelaide, playing a total of 240 SANFL league games. Neil Craig, former coach of Adelaide and Melbourne (VFL/AFL), was also drafted to Footscray in the 1981 VFL interstate draft and also never played a game with them (or any team in the VFL/AFL). However, he did play with Norwood, Sturt and North Adelaide and is a two-time SANFL premiership player. However, it doesn't have to stop there. Andre Gianfagna is primarily known as a field umpire, but he was also picked by Melbourne in the 2006 Rookie Draft and played for the Northern Bullants / Northern Blues in the VFA/VFL.

Current numbers

As it currently stands, there are 77,576 match reports available. There are also profiles for 25,986 persons:

• 23,961 player profiles, including (but not limited to)
  • 13,174 VFL/AFL players
  • 2,867 VFA/VFL players
  • 3,394 SANFL players
  • 4,485 WAFL players
  • 807 TSL players
• 1,240 coach profiles
• 4,497 draftee profiles
• 1,208 umpire profiles

How to get started?

There is a lot of content on this site and it may be confusing at first, so here are some example pages to highlight what is available:

• The match report for the 2018 AFL grand final, including team line-ups, all umpires, Norm Smith votes and AFLCA Gary Ayres votes
• The match report for the infamous blackout match (and its subsequent continuation) between St Kilda and Essendon, including team line-ups, player replacements, all umpires and Brownlow votes
• The details on Hawthorn's first VFL/AFL premiership in their 1961 season, including the typical team line-up and the leadership group
• The first 24 draftees, chosen during the 1981 VFL interstate draft
• The match report for the 1942 SANFL grand final, the first of three grand finals played in the SANFL during its wartime merger years
• The match report for the final (and deciding) match of the 1927 Melbourne carnival between Victoria and Western Australia
• The complete list of players that have represented New Zealand at carnivals
• The match report for the 1995 AFL reserves grand final, including team line-ups, all umpires and score progression
• The 1966 All-Australian team, as selected from the 1966 Hobart carnival
• The match report for the 2015 VFL reserves grand final, the last time the golden point system was used
• The player profile for Charlie Tyson (b. 1872), eldest of the prominent Tyson brothers

Acknowledgement

This project would not be possible without the following works and its contributors, and it should be noted that this work is not intended to supplant them, but to instead provide a consistent, integrated view as per the author's perspective that can help provide further context to each part. The shortlist is as follows:
AFL: The progenitor of the official record for the national league.
AFL Tables: It goes without saying AFL Tables provided the foundation of the data that forms this site.
Wikipedia: Need I say more?
Trove: A literal treasure trove of Australian publications.
Australian Football: This site provided the foundation for adding additional leagues into the records, as well as providing information on players who have played in multiple leagues. It is acknowledged that my attention would not have been brought to Lou Jackson without it.
Draftguru: This site provided the foundation for adding draft information into the records.
AFLCA: This site provided information on AFLCA awards, such as the AFLCA Champion Player Award and AFLCA Gary Ayres Award.
AFLUA: This site provided information that enriched data on field umpires, as well as providing information for goal and boundary umpires, in-match replacements and player-umpires. Special thanks goes to its honorary historian/statistician, David Flegg.
VFA Project: This site provided information on the VFA.
SANFL: This site provided information on the SANFL.
WAFL: This site provided information on the WAFL.
WAFL Footy Facts: This site provided information on the WAFL.
Demonwiki: This site provided information on the Melbourne Football Club.
Blueseum: This site provided information on the Carlton Football Club.
Tigerland Archive: This site provided information on the Richmond Football Club.
NAFC: This site provided information on the North Adelaide Football Club.
Redlegs Museum: This site provided information on the Norwood Football Club.
Big Footy (Forum): This forum and its contributers have helped fill in gaps. Special thanks go to, but is not limited to, users Bassoon, Brad_5668, stemline, 35Daicos, and others I have yet to add here.