The Australian Football League (AFL), the premier competition of Australian rules football, has seen 16 winners since its inception in 1897.
Known as the Victorian Football League till 1989, the AFL currently features 18 teams with each of Australia’s five mainland states having representations.
Currently, the season runs from March to September and the side that finishes on top with the most points wins the minor Premiership. The top eight teams qualify for a four-round finals series and the Premiership is decided through the AFL Grand Final.
Reigning champions Collingwood secured their 16th Premiership after a close victory over the three-time winners Brisbane Lions in the 2023 AFL Grand Final in Melbourne. The win saw them join Carlton and Essendon in the record books as the teams with the most Premiership wins in the AFL.
Based in Melbourne, Collingwood boast another remarkable record of winning the most consecutive Premierships, a feat achieved with four titles from 1927 to 1930. Additionally, the club has reached the Grand Finals a record 45 times. However, they also bear the distinction of enduring the most losses in the Grand Finals, with 29 defeats.
Essendon were the inaugural champions in 1897 but the record 16-time champions have made the Grand Final only three times since 1990. They last won the Premiership in 2000 and finished runners-up in 2001 in their last appearance at the Grand Finals. Joint record-holders Carlton last won a title in 1995.
As a result of several equalisation policies added to the league in the 1980s, the AFL has seen much more even competition amongst teams. This is proven by the fact that the league has witnessed 13 different Premiers since 1990, compared to only five teams that won the Premiership between 1967 and 1989.
Greater Western Sydney was the latest addition to the league in 2012 and Tasmania will join the AFL in 2028. Besides Gold Coast, Fremantle and Greater Western Sydney, every team currently competing in the AFL has won the Premiership. Gold Coast, founded in 2009, is the only team that has yet to have played in the Grand Final.