Australian Football League

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Australian Football League

sport Australian football
abbreviation AFL
League foundation 1896
Teams 18th
Country countries Australia
Title holder West Coast Eagles (4th title)
Record champions Carlton FC and Essendon FC
(16 titles each)
Record player Brent Harvey (432, 1996-2016)
Record scorer Tony Lockett (1,360, 1983-2002)
TV partner Seven Network , Fox Footy
Website www.afl.com.au
The sold out Melbourne Cricket Ground at the 2007 Grand Final

The Australian Football League ( AFL ) is the top division of Australian football in Australia and the only professional league in this sport. 18 teams currently play in the AFL. Until 1990 the league was called the Victorian Football League. The season in the AFL begins at the end of March and traditionally ends with the Grand Final on the last Saturday in September. The Grand Final, the highlight of the season in which the Australian champions are determined, will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne . Record winners are the Carlton Blues and the Essendon Bombers with 16 titles each.

Teams

team city Stadium name joined the AFL Championships
Adelaide Crows Adelaide , South Australia Adelaide oval 1991 2
Brisbane Lions Brisbane , Queensland The gabba 1997 3
Carlton Blues Melbourne , Victoria Marvel Stadium 1897 16
Collingwood Magpies Melbourne , Victoria Melbourne Cricket Ground 1897 15th
Essendon Bombers Melbourne , Victoria Marvel Stadium 1897 16
Fremantle Dockers Fremantle , Western Australia Optus Stadium 1995 0
Geelong cats Geelong , Victoria Kardinia Park 1897 9
Gold Coast Suns Gold Coast , Queensland Carrara Stadium 2011 0
Greater Western Sydney Giants Sydney , New South Wales Sydney Showground Stadium , ANZ Stadium , Manuka Oval 2012 0
Hawthorn Hawks Melbourne , Victoria Melbourne Cricket Ground , York Park 1925 13
Melbourne Demons Melbourne , Victoria Melbourne Cricket Ground 1897 12
North Melbourne Kangaroos Melbourne , Victoria Marvel Stadium 1925 4th
Port Adelaide Power Adelaide , South Australia Adelaide oval 1997 1
Richmond Tigers Melbourne , Victoria Melbourne Cricket Ground 1908 11
St Kilda Saints Melbourne , Victoria Marvel Stadium 1897 1
Sydney Swans (1897–1981 as South Melbourne) Sydney , New South Wales Sydney Cricket Ground , ANZ Stadium 1982 2 (3 more than South Melbourne)
West Coast Eagles Perth , Western Australia Optus Stadium 1987 4th
Western Bulldogs Melbourne , Victoria Marvel Stadium , Marrara Oval 1925 1

Former teams

team city Years Championships
Brisbane Bears Brisbane , Queensland 1987-1996 0
Fitzroy Lions Melbourne , Victoria 1897-1996 8th
University Students Melbourne , Victoria 1908-1914 0

mode

Regular season

A season consists of 29 game days, with each team receiving one game-free weekend per season. A win means four, a draw two points. If two or more teams have collected the same number of points in the table, the so-called percentage decides on the table position. The percentage expresses the relationship between points scored and points received and is given as a percentage. The team with the higher percentage is shown in the table above the team with the lower percentage . At the end of the regular season, the championship leader receives the McClelland Trophy .

Finals

The best eight teams of the regular season play the national champions in the four-week finals series . The best four clubs of the season have the opportunity to reach the Grand Final despite losing in the qualifying final. The individual weeks are organized as follows:

First week

  • First Qualifying Final (3 month ): First of the regular season against the fourth of the regular season
  • Second Qualifying Final : Second of the regular season against the third of the regular season
  • First pre-final ( 1st Elimination Final ): Fifth of the regular season against the eighth of the regular season
  • Second Elimination Final : Sixth of the regular season against the seventh of the regular season

The winners of the qualifying finals go directly to the preliminary finals , the losers must first compete against the winners of the elimination finals in the semi-finals . The losers of the elimination finals are finally eliminated from the competition.

Second week

  • First Semi-final : Loser of the first qualifying final against the winner of the first elimination final
  • Second semi-final : loser of the second qualifying finals against the winner of the second elimination final

Third week

  • First Preliminary Final : Winner of the first qualifying final against the winner of the second semi-final
  • Second Preliminary Final : Winner of the second qualifying final against the winner of the first semi-final

Fourth week

  • Grand Final: Winner of the first pre-final against the winner of the second pre-final

In the event of a tie, a replay is due in the fifth week, if this match also ends in a tie, there is overtime.

player

The Australian Football League is dominated by Australian players. During the 2012 season, only twelve professionals without Australian roots were active in the AFL, including ten Irish , one Canadian and one US American . 78 players were of indigenous origin in the 2011 season , which corresponds to 9.74% of the Australian football players.

A club may have a maximum of 20 players per year, with 38 to 40 professionals on the so-called senior list and four to six players on the rookie list . There are also up to three development rookies, including a. foreign players count too. Player changes are only possible during the trade period during the break of the season. New players can join the league through various drafts , such as the rookie draft, the national draft and the pre-season draft. A mid-season draft was carried out between 1990 and 1993 . Since the offseason 2012/2013 it is also possible to change players from free agents .

In the case of player commitments, the clubs must on the one hand take into account the size of the squad, on the other hand they must also comply with the AFL's salary cap . This is currently at AUD 9.13 million (around EUR 6.25 million) per season. Clubs that have recently joined receive a higher salary cap, for example the Gold Coast Suns earned AUD 9.63 million (around EUR 6.6 million) in the 2013 season, and the Greater Western Sydney Giants AUD 9.987 million (around EUR 6.85 million) . Euro). In addition, there is a so-called salary floor, which defines the minimum salary that must be paid for the entire management team. Since 2013, this has been 95% of the salary cap. On average, every Australian football player earns around AUD 250,000 (around 172,000 euros) per year, the top earners an estimated AUD 1.2 million (around 820,000 euros).

popularity

The average attendance at the games in the AFL is over 30,000 per game. This makes the Australian Football League one of the most popular sports leagues worldwide. During the finals, the average since 1995 was between 49,938 (2002) and 68,385 (2009) viewers. Almost 100,000 spectators flock to the Grand Final every year (2018: 100,022 paying visitors). In Australia, Australian football is the most popular league in terms of audience appeal and the second most popular sport in terms of television audience after cricket .

AFL ranking from 1990–2019 according to victory percentage

team Games Victories draw Defeats points scored points received percentage Points title Wins in percent
Geelong cats 710 445 6th 259 72370 61651 117.39 1802 3 63.10
West Coast Eagles 711 410 6th 295 67186 61568 109.10 1654 4th 58.09
Hawthorn Hawks 697 393 4th 300 67750 61951 109.36 1580 5 56.67
Collingwood Magpies 696 374 7th 315 66567 62002 10736 1510 2 54.24
North Melbourne Kangaroos 693 372 3 318 68797 66498 103.46 1494 2 53.90
Adelaide Crows 671 360 2 309 61229 57444 106.59 1444 2 53.80
Essendon Bombers 691 362 9 320 67064 65494 102.40 1466 2 53.04
Sydney Swans SMFC 702 364 8th 330 65586 62609 104.75 1472 2 52.42
Port Adelaide Power 529 271 5 253 48622 47838 101.64 1094 1 51.70
Western Bulldogs Footscray 688 337 8th 343 64657 66047 97.90 1374 1 49.56
St. Kilda Saints 683 320 10 353 62399 63973 97.59 1300 0 47.58
Brisbane Lions 529 242 6th 281 49179 50459 97.46 980 3 46.31
Richmond Tigers 675 308 6th 361 60857 65666 92.68 1244 2 46.07
Greater Western Sydney Giants 187 82 3 102 15560 17553 88.65 334 0 44.65
Fremantle Dockers 565 249 1 315 48375 52413 92.30 998 0 44.16
Carlton Blues 683 299 5 379 63014 66058 95.39 1206 0 44.14
Melbourne FC 658 266 4th 388 60332 66991 90.06 1112 0 40.73
Brisbane Bears * 156 51 2 103 14007 17024 82.28 208 0 33.33
Fitzroy FC * 152 38 0 114 12673 17740 71.44 152 0 25.00
Gold Coast Suns 198 47 1 150 14704 20581 71.44 190 0 23.99

The different number of games is explained by the year of entry and the number of final games played.

* Brisbane Bears and Fitzroy FC merged in 1997 to form the Brisbane Lions

Reporting in Germany

Until the 2015 season, Eurosport 2 broadcast a game live from the AFL every week. For the 2016 season, Eurosport 2 has no longer secured the broadcasting rights.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eurosport: AFL 2nd matchday. Retrieved April 6, 2010