61-685: The Pittsburgh Wallabies is a former Eastern Australian Football League and United States Australian Football League team. The club was based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , United States. The club in the USAFL in 2004 and the EAFL in 2005. The club also held a tournament, known as the Steel City Boomerang Cup, which was played only once, in 2004. This article about a sports team in Pennsylvania
122-515: A proprietary limited company called Australian Football Championships Pty Ltd in 1978 to run its night competition and offered shareholdings to the other state leagues in an attempt to lure other states into the competition. For the three years from 1977 until 1979, the NFL and VFL night competitions were run separately as rival night competitions. In 1978, the Tasmanian representative team competed in both
183-799: A 20% cut in industry jobs. The 2021 grand final was played in September at Perth Stadium in Perth because an ongoing COVID-19 lockdown prevented the match from being played with spectators at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne , Victoria. It was the first grand final played in Perth and the second consecutive grand final to be played outside Victoria. The event set a new attendance record for Australian rules football in Western Australia, eclipsing
244-515: A few home games on the Gold Coast in previous years, was offered significant subsidies to relocate to the Gold Coast but declined. The AFL then began work to establish a club on the Gold Coast as a new expansion team. Early in 2008, a meeting held by the AFL discussed having two new teams enter the AFL competition. In March 2008, the AFL won the support of the league's 16 club presidents to establish sides on
305-487: A joint venture to begin construction of a brand-new stadium situated at Melbourne's Docklands . Representative state football came to an end, with the last State of Origin match held in 1999. In the late 2000s, the AFL looked to establish a permanent presence on the Gold Coast in the state of Queensland, which was fast-developing as a major population centre. North Melbourne, which was in financial difficulty and had played
366-597: A new competition, the Victorian Football League (VFL). The remaining VFA clubs— Footscray , North Melbourne , Port Melbourne , Richmond and Williamstown —were given the opportunity to compete as junior sides at a level beneath the VFL but rejected the offer and remained for the 1897 VFA season . The VFL's inaugural season occurred in 1897. It made several innovations early on to entice the public's interest, including an annual finals tournament, rather than awarding
427-724: A result, the club withdrew from the VFL at the end of 1914. The VFL premier and the premier of the South Australian Football League met in a playoff matches for the Championship of Australia beginning in 1888 with a 3-game playoff between South Melbourne from the VFL and the Norwood the most successful club in the SAFA. Matches where then held sporadically during the 1890s as single game playoffs and then annually from 1907 until 1914 (except 1912). South Australian clubs won 8 of
488-452: A sole source of income for players who had previously had part-time or full-time jobs outside of football. Functionally, the AFL gave up control over its Victorian-based minor grades at the end of 1991 – clubs continued to field reserves teams in a competition run by the new Victorian State Football League and the under-19s competition and zone-based recruiting were abolished and replaced with an independent system . Midway through 1990,
549-570: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about an Australian rules football team or club is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Eastern Australian Football League The Eastern Australian Football League is an Australian rules football competition in the Eastern United States of America and a division of the United States Australian Football League . In
610-467: Is also one of the oldest clubs to have later participated in the competition. The Victorian Football Association (VFA) was established in 1877 and quickly went on to become Victoria 's football competition. During the 1890s, an off-field power struggle occurred between the VFA's stronger and weaker clubs, the former seeking greater administrative control commensurate with their relative financial contribution to
671-665: The Gold Coast and in Western Sydney . The Gold Coast Suns were established and joined the AFL in 2011 as the 17th team. The Greater Western Sydney Giants , representing both Western Sydney and Canberra, were then established and entered the league as the 18th team in 2012. On 25 April 2013 the Westpac Stadium in Wellington , New Zealand hosted the first ever Australian Football League game played for premiership points outside Australia. The night game between St Kilda and Sydney
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#1732883584346732-540: The Melbourne Hawks but the merger ultimately fell through and both teams continued as separate entities. Fitzroy, however, was too weak to continue by itself. The club nearly merged with North Melbourne to form the Fitzroy-North Melbourne Kangaroos but the other clubs voted against it. In 1994 Port Adelaide was awarded an AFL licence but could not enter until a Victorian team had folded or merged. At
793-540: The VFL Night Series (1956–1971) and records relating to the three competitions are often combined. With the number of players recruited from country leagues increasing, the wealthier VFL clubs were gaining an advantage that metropolitan zoning and the Coulter law (salary cap) restricting player payments had prevented in the past. Country zoning was introduced in the late 1960s and while it pushed Essendon and Geelong from
854-637: The West Australian Football League and Queensland Australian Football League were awarded licences to field expansion teams in the VFL, leading to the establishment of the clubs in Brisbane and Perth ( Brisbane Bears and West Coast Eagles ), who both joined the league in 1987. These expansion team licences were awarded on payment of multimillion-dollar fees which were not required of the existing VFL clubs. In 1989 financial troubles nearly forced Footscray and Fitzroy to merge but fees paid by
915-562: The 11 Titles of which Port Adelaide was the most successful winning four titles in 1890, 1910, 1913 and 1914. The majority of the matches were held in South Australia at Adelaide Oval . Following the outbreak of World War 1 the Championship playoff ceased and wasn't revived until 1968. In 1916, district football was introduced, meaning new players from metropolitan Melbourne were allocated to clubs based on residential address. In 1925,
976-564: The Baltimore Dockers and D.C. Eagles, and the Columbus Jackaroos joining the remaining four clubs—Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and North Carolina—that would mean a six-game schedule. But due to the varying resources, non-regional ambitions, and travel capabilities from the different clubs involved, not all clubs would be able to commit to such a full schedule. Thus, a pod-based, round robin schedule featuring 2x20 "lightning" matches
1037-715: The Boston Demons. At the end of the season, Pittsburgh disbanded, and the Redbacks pulled out of the league due to high travel costs of playing the Northern teams. The league continued as a five-team division from 2006 until 2010. From 2006, the USAFL's two Florida-based clubs, the Tampa area based Redbacks and Fort Lauderdale Fighting Squids, played together as the Florida United Saints, playing an independent schedule against teams in
1098-469: The Brisbane Bears and West Coast Eagles, propped up the struggling VFL sides. The 1980s first saw new regular timeslots for VFL matches. VFL matches had previously been played on Saturday afternoons but Sydney began playing its home matches on Sunday afternoons and North Melbourne pioneered playing matches on Friday night. These have since become regular timeslots for all teams. The first national draft
1159-456: The Eagles took out the flag in 2007 and 2008. The ensuing years saw Magpie domination as they finished top of the table in each of the years from 2009 through 2013 before the competition went on hiatus in 2013. From 2005 through 2011, each team played the other once, the team with the best record being awarded the title. Home and away fixtures were reversed every year to ensure that each team played
1220-624: The NFL and VFL night competitions but all SANFL and WAFL clubs and the minor states teams remained in the NFL Night Series. In 1979, the WAFL clubs and the New South Wales and A.C.T. representative teams defected from the NFL Night Series and joined the VFL's night competition, leaving the NFL Night Series mostly composed of SANFL teams. The NFL Night Series was not revived in 1980 and the SANFL clubs joined
1281-528: The SANFL's most successful club, Port Adelaide , made a bid for an AFL licence. In response, the SANFL gained an injunction via Glenelg and Norwood against Port Adelaide , allowing it time to establish a composite South Australian team called the Adelaide Crows , which was awarded the licence and joined the league in 1991 as the fourth non-Victorian club. The same year saw the West Coast Eagles become
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#17328835843461342-629: The Southeast. In 2010, the Saints played four of the five EAFL clubs (all except Boston). Prior to the 2011 season, the Redbacks and Squids ended their merger played as two separate clubs, with the Squids playing independently still and the Redbacks returning to play a full EAFL schedule. They returned to a regional schedule in 2012 before folding the following season. Boston won the inaugural EAFL championship title over New York. The Magpies struck back in 2006 before
1403-569: The VFA and University Football Club from the Metropolitan Junior Football Association . Professionalism began from the 1911 season, with clubs permitted to pay players beyond the reimbursement of expenses for the first time. University, after three promising seasons, finished last each year from 1911 until 1914, including losing 51 matches in a row, in part caused by its players' focus on their studies rather than football and in part because it had chosen to remain amateur; as
1464-533: The VFL commenced in 1957 with direct telecasts of the final quarter permitted. At first, several channels competed through broadcasting different games. When the VFL found that television coverage had reduced crowds, it decided no that television coverage was to be allowed for 1960. In 1961 television replays in Melbourne were introduced although direct telecasts were rarely permitted, where as the rest of Australia received live telecasts every Saturday afternoon. In 1959,
1525-434: The VFL expanded from nine teams to twelve, with Footscray , Hawthorn and North Melbourne each crossing from the VFA. North Melbourne and Hawthorn remained very weak in the VFL for a very long period. Although North Melbourne would become the first of the 1925 expansion sides to reach a grand final in 1950 , initially it was Footscray that adapted to the VFL with the most ease of the three clubs and by 1928 were well off
1586-435: The VFL night competition was at its largest, with all VFL, WAFL and SANFL clubs plus the four minor states teams (selected under residential qualification rather than state of origin qualification) competing for a total of 34 teams. In 1982, the size of the competition was reduced and, thereafter, only the top two or three teams from the SANFL and WAFL and the winner of the minor states' annual carnival were invited. In 1987,
1647-473: The VFL planned the first purpose-built mega-stadium, VFL Park (later known as Waverley Park) , to give it some independence from the Melbourne Cricket Club , which managed the Melbourne Cricket Ground . VFL Park was planned to hold 155,000 spectators, which would have made it one of the largest stadiums in the world – although it would ultimately be built with a capacity of 78,000. Land for the stadium
1708-423: The VFL's night competition. Although the NFL itself continued to exist as an administrative body into the early 1990s, the power gained by the VFL as a result of its take-over of night competition was one of the first significant steps in the VFL's spread interstate and ultimately its take-over and control of Australian football across Australia. In 1980 and 1981, the first years after the NFL Night Series ended,
1769-470: The VFL's weaker clubs into dire financial situations. The South Melbourne Swans became the first VFL team to relocate interstate. The South Melbourne Football Club was deeply indebted, including to the VFL which took over the club's Swans team and moved the team's home games to Sydney in 1982 and renamed the team the Sydney Swans the following year. Under the private ownership of Dr Geoffrey Edelsten during
1830-428: The VFL, SANFL and WAFL, as well as state representative teams from other states. In November 1976, the VFL announced that it was withdrawing from the NFL's competition, having arranged more substantial television and sponsorship deals for its own, rival night competition for 1977 to be based in Melbourne and feature only the VFL clubs. Light towers were erected at VFL Park specifically for the event. The VFL established
1891-564: The assistance of state governments and health officials, the season resumed on 11 June, with the length of the season reduced from 22 matches per team to 17 matches. The grand final was played in October at The Gabba in Brisbane , the first time it was held outside of Victoria since the creation of the league due to the spiking cases in that state. The pandemic caused the league to lose out on up to $ 400 million in anticipated revenue and also precipitated
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1952-502: The bottom of the ladder. Between the years of 1927 and 1930, Collingwood became the first and only VFL team, to win four successive premierships. In 1952, the VFL hosted a national day, when all six matches were played outside Melbourne. Matches were played at the Sydney Cricket Ground , Brisbane Exhibition Ground , North Hobart Oval , Albury Sports Ground and Victorian country towns Yallourn and Euroa . Footscray became
2013-539: The club hosting the pod, and two "neutral" games against the other traveling club within the pod. The ladder follows the same format as the Australian Football League : four points for a win, two points for a draw, and none for a loss. Any ties for position are broken by points percentage: (PF / PA) * 100. Australian Football League The Australian Football League ( AFL ) is the pre-eminent professional competition of Australian rules football . It
2074-479: The desire for the legacy EAFL clubs to reform the competition for 2018 in the hope of restoring structure to the USAFL season for the involved clubs, and for the results to have consequences on seeding and placement at the USAFL National Championships at the end of each season. The goal was to have a full round-robin fixture similar to 2005–2011. With Baltimore-Washington expanding into two new clubs,
2135-921: The early months of 2005, member clubs of the South Eastern Australian Football League and North Eastern Australian Football League on the eastern seaboard formed a new league, the Eastern AFL. The league at the start of the 2005 season comprised the Florida Redbacks, the North Carolina Tigers, the Baltimore Washington Eagles, the Pittsburgh Wallabies, the Philadelphia Hawks, the New York Magpies and
2196-586: The end of 1996 Fitzroy played its last match and merged with Brisbane to form the Brisbane Lions. This allowed Port Adelaide to enter the AFL for the 1997 season as the sixth and only pre-existing non Victorian club. Through the 1990s there was a significant trend of Melbourne-based teams abandoning the use of their small (20,000–30,000 capacity) suburban venues for home matches in favour of the MCG and VFL Park , which have and had larger seating capacities. The 1990s saw
2257-753: The field, a succession of owners and transfer to its supporter "members", the Sydney Swans remain indebted to the AFL and subject to its veto control and reversion rights in what became a model for the AFL control of teams. Throughout the 1980s, approaches were made by SANFL and WAFL clubs to enter the VFL. Of particular note were approaches by the East Perth Royals in 1980, the Norwood Redlegs in 1986 and 1988, and an East – South Fremantle merger proposal in 1987. None of these attempts were successful despite Norwood trying again in 1990 and 1994. In 1986,
2318-585: The first non-Victorian club to reach the grand final, which was won by Hawthorn. The Eagles would then win the premiership in 1992 and 1994. In 1994, Fremantle obtained an AFL licence and joined the AFL in 1995, becoming the fifth non-Victorian club, and the second from Western Australia. The VFA took over the Victorian Football League name in 1996. In 1996 several Victorian clubs were in severe financial difficulties, most notably Fitzroy and Hawthorn. Hawthorn proposed to merge with Melbourne to form
2379-443: The first of the 1925 expansion teams to win the premiership in 1954. Melbourne became a powerhouse during the 1950s and early 1960s under coach Norm Smith and star player Ron Barassi . The club contested seven consecutive grand finals from 1954 to 1960, winning five premierships, including three in a row from 1955 to 1957. The became the only club to win the minor premiership 6 times in a row from 1955-1960. Television coverage for
2440-591: The first-ever AFL match for premiership points in Shanghai , China, attracting a crowd of 10,114 at Jiangwan Stadium . Port Adelaide won the game by 72 points. In 2020, the AFL season was severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic . The first round of matches was played in front of no crowds due to the pandemic, before the season was suspended on 22 March due to health concerns and strict government regulations on non-essential travel. After nearly two months of planning with
2501-452: The football ground. The VFL played the first of a series of exhibition matches in 1962 in an effort to lift the international profile of the league. In 1967, district football was expanded throughout all of Victoria, clubs now allocated a country zone in addition to their metropolitan districts. The 1970 season saw the opening of VFL Park, with the inaugural match being played between Geelong and Fitzroy, on 18 April 1970. Construction work
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2562-538: The game by 10 points, featured a famous spectacular mark by Alex Jesaulenko and was witnessed by a record crowd of 121,696. In 1976, the National Football League , which was the peak national administrative body of Australian rules football at the time, established the NFL Night Series to succeed the Championship of Australia . The Night Series was played concurrently with the premiership season and
2623-446: The game. This came to a head in 1896 when it was proposed that gate profits, which were always lower in matches involving the weaker clubs, be shared equally among all teams in the VFA. After it was intimated that the proposal would be put to a vote, six of the strongest clubs— Collingwood , Essendon , Fitzroy , Geelong, Melbourne and South Melbourne —seceded from the VFA and later invited Carlton and St Kilda to join them in founding
2684-418: The inaugural season. Six clubs joined the league in the coming years; Geelong and North Melbourne entered the competition in 2019, while Gold Coast , Richmond , St Kilda and West Coast made their debut in 2020. The remaining four clubs— Essendon , Hawthorn , Port Adelaide and Sydney — entered AFL Women's in the seventh season in 2022. On 14 May 2017, Port Adelaide and the Gold Coast played
2745-456: The last matches played at Windy Hill (Essendon), Moorabbin Oval (St Kilda), Western Oval (Footscray) and Victoria Park (Collingwood) and saw Princes Park abandoned by its long-term co-tenant, Hawthorn. The transition to the use of only two venues in Melbourne was ultimately completed in 2005 when Carlton abandoned the use of Princes Park. In 1999, the league sold VFL Park and used the funds in
2806-477: The league as its 19th team in 2028. AFL premiership season matches have been played in all states and mainland territories, as well as in New Zealand and China to expand its audience. The AFL premiership season currently consists of a 23-match regular (or home-and-away) season, which runs from March to September. The team with the best record at the end of the home-and-away season is awarded the minor premiership ;
2867-527: The mid-1980s, the Sydney Swans became successful on-field. Moving the Swans team to Sydney effectively shifted the debts of a Melbourne club onto Australian football in Sydney and re-directed support and finance to the Swans team to the detriment of existing Australian Football clubs and league competitions in Sydney. However, the Swans team attracted new prominence and supporters for the sport. Despite becoming successful on
2928-400: The night competition reverted to include only the VFL teams. The competition was pushed earlier into the year, with the final played on 28 April. The following season, the competition did not overlap with the day premiership season at all and became entirely a pre-season competition . The night competition is generally considered to be of equivalent importance as the pre-season competition and
2989-554: The others once and home and once away every two years. Scheduling conflicts and other logistical challenges prevented a full fixture from being played in 2012 and 2013, but the Magpies were crowned champions based on having the best record in full matches against the remaining EAFL sides. From 2014, each club scheduled irregular matches with the others, and league rankings were not kept, and the competition effectively went on hiatus. In 2017, Baltimore-Washington president Antoun Issa expressed
3050-489: The premiership to the team with the best record through the season; and, the formal establishment of the modern scoring system, in which six points are awarded for a goal and one point for a behind. Although the VFL and the VFA continued to compete for spectator interest for many years, the VFL quickly established itself as the premier competition in Victoria. In 1908, the league expanded to ten teams, with Richmond crossing from
3111-429: The reigning premiers, having won the 2024 AFL Grand Final . Several of the AFL's current member clubs date back to the origins of Australian football and were instrumental in establishing the sport's popularity and the AFL. The oldest club is Melbourne Football Club , which wrote the first laws of the code, and Geelong , which date back to 1858 and 1859 respectively, while Melbourne University , also founded in 1859,
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#17328835843463172-511: The top eight teams then play off in a four-round finals series , culminating in the AFL Grand Final , which is normally held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground each year. The grand final winners are termed the premiers , the most important team prizes for which are the premiership cup and flag . Carlton , Collingwood and Essendon are the joint-most successful clubs in the competition, having each won 16 premierships. The Brisbane Lions are
3233-455: The top of the ladder, it created severe inequality during the 1970s and 1980s. Between 1972 and 1987, only six of the league's twelve clubs – Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Hawthorn, North Melbourne and Richmond – played in grand finals. (equivalent to $ 53,142 in 2022) (equivalent to $ 2,898,675 in 2022) (equivalent to $ 3,221,426 in 2022) (equivalent to $ 99,714 in 2022) (equivalent to $ 12,885,702 in 2022) The 1980s
3294-493: Was a period of significant structural change in Australian football around the country. The VFL was dominant among the Australian football leagues around the country in terms of overall attendance, interest and money and began to look towards expanding its influence directly into other states. The VFL and its top clubs were asserting their financial power to recruit top players from interstate. The resulting rising cost pressures drove
3355-406: Was carried out at the stadium as the 1970s progressed, culminating in the building of the now heritage listed Sir Kenneth Luke Stand. Queen Elizabeth II , was a guest at the game and formally opened the stadium to the public. The 1970 grand final between traditional rivals Carlton and Collingwood, arguably the league's most famous game, saw Carlton recover from a 44-point deficit at half-time to win
3416-531: Was contested among twelve clubs from the VFL, SANFL and WAFL , invited based on their finishing positions from the previous year. The event was mostly played on Tuesday nights, with night games at Norwood Oval in Adelaide and all games were televised live in colour on Channel 9 , which opened up unprecedented revenue streams from television rights and sponsorship opportunities for the sport. The NFL began plans to expand its Night Series to incorporate more teams from
3477-526: Was introduced in 1986 and a salary cap was introduced in 1987. District football within Victoria was discontinued around the same time. The league was renamed the Australian Football League in 1990 to reflect its national composition. In 1990 the AFLPA , the players union, signed its first Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the league which outlined wages and conditions in what was becoming
3538-657: Was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition from the Victorian Football Association (VFA), with its inaugural season in 1897. It changed its name to Australian Football League in 1990 after expanding its competition to other Australian states in the 1980s. The AFL publishes its Laws of Australian football , which are used, with variations, by other Australian rules football organisations. The AFL competition currently consists of 18 teams spread over Australia's five mainland states, with Tasmania to join
3599-558: Was played in front of a crowd of 22,183 on Anzac Day to honour the Anzac bond between the two countries. A national women's league comprising a subset of AFL clubs began in 2017. Thirteen AFL clubs placed bids to participate in the women's competition. Eight clubs – Adelaide , Brisbane Lions , Carlton , Collingwood , Fremantle , Greater Western Sydney , Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs – were granted licences to participate in
3660-491: Was proposed which would still produce a full schedule, while at the same time reducing the commitment level of the clubs to three dates. Each round will see one team will host two other teams in a three-way "pod", where each team plays the other two in 2x20 minute matches. The season is played over seven rounds, which each team getting the opportunity to host one round and travelling for the remaining two. That means that each side will play two home games, two "away" games against
3721-658: Was purchased at Mulgrave, then farmland but predicted to be near the demographic centre of Melbourne's population. The VFL premiership trophy was first awarded in addition to a pennant flag in 1959; essentially the same trophy design has been in use since. In the 1960s, television coverage began to have a huge impact on the VFL. Spectators hurried home from games to watch replays and many former players took up positions as commentators on pre-game preview programs and post-game review programs. There were also several attempts at variety programs featuring VFL players, who generally succeeded in demonstrating that their skills were limited to
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