West Australian Football League

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Template:Short description Template:Multiple issues Template:Use Australian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox sports league The West Australian Football League (WAFL Template:IPAc-en "waffle" or "W-A-F-L") is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from April to September, with the top five teams playing off in a finals series, culminating in a Grand Final. The league also runs reserves, colts (under-19<ref name="waflrules1">Template:Cite web</ref>) and women's competitions.

The WAFL was founded in 1885 as the West Australian Football Association (WAFA), and has undergone a variety of name changes since then, re-adopting its current name in 2001. For most of its existence, the league was considered one of the traditional "big three" Australian rules football leagues, along with the Victorian Football League and South Australian National Football League. However, since the introduction of two Western Australia-based clubs into the Victorian Football League (later renamed the Australian Football League) – the West Coast Eagles in 1987 and the Fremantle Dockers in 1995 – the popularity and standard of the league has decreased to the point where it is considered a feeder competition to the Australian Football League.Template:Citation needed

Although payments are made to players, it is generally considered to be a semi-professional competition, with a salary cap of A$245,000 per club. The league is currently affiliated with the two Western Australia-based AFL clubs. The competition is governed by WA Football.

Clubs

The West Australian Football League operates on a single table system, with no divisions, conferences nor promotion and relegation from other leagues.

Current clubs

Template:Clear

Club Colours Nickname Home ground Capacity Former League Est. Years in WAFL Premierships
Total Most Recent
Claremont*
File:Claremont Football Club colours.jpg
 Tigers Claremont Oval, ClaremontTemplate:Ref label<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 5,000 Template:Tooltip 1906 Template:Tooltip* 12 2012
East Fremantle
File:East Fremantle Football Club Colours.svg
 Sharks East Fremantle Oval,
East FremantleTemplate:Ref label 		20,000 – 1898 1898- 30 2023
East Perth
File:East Perth Football Club colours.jpg
 Royals Leederville Oval, LeedervilleTemplate:Ref label 18,000 Template:Tooltip 1906 1906- 17 2002
Peel Template:Small
File:Peel Thunder Football Club colours.jpg
 Thunder Rushton Park, Mandurah 10,000 – 1996 1997- 3 2024
Perth
File:Essendon Football Club colours.svg
 Demons Lathlain Park,
LathlainTemplate:Ref label<ref name="perthfc.com.au">Template:Cite news</ref> 		6,500 Template:Tooltip 1899 1899- 7 1977
South Fremantle
File:South Fremantle Football Club colours.jpg
 Bulldogs Fremantle Oval, Fremantle<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 17,000 – 1900 1900- 15 2025
Subiaco
File:Subiaco Football Club Colours.svg
 Lions Leederville Oval, LeedervilleTemplate:Ref label 18,000 Template:Tooltip 1896 1901- 16 2021
Swan Districts
File:Collingwood icon.svg
 Swans Bassendean Oval, Bassendean 22,000 – 1934 1934- 8 2010
West Coast Template:Small
File:West Coast Eagles Football Club colours (WAFL and clash).jpg
 Eagles Lathlain Park,
LathlainTemplate:Ref label<ref name="perthfc.com.au" /> 		6,500 – 2019 2019- 0 -
West Perth
File:West Perth Football Club Colours.svg
 Template:Tooltip Arena Joondalup, Joondalup<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Ref label 16,000 – 1891 1891-<ref>Cowan, Sean (18 April 2015). "Historian debunks West Perth claim". The West Australian.</ref> 20 2022
Template:Note label Claremont played at the Claremont Showground from 1925 to 1927 and again from 2014 until 2016 when Claremont Oval was closed for re-development, and at Subiaco Oval from 1945 to 1947 when Claremont Oval was being rebuilt after a grandstand fire in 1944.
Claremont were known as Claremont-Cottesloe between 1926 and 1934.
Template:Note label East Fremantle played at Fremantle Oval from 1898 to 1952, excluding a period in 1906 where home games were played at East Fremantle Oval; and at the WACA Ground (in 2022 and 2023), Fremantle Oval (2024) and Claremont Oval (2024) whilst East Fremantle Oval is re-developed.
Template:Note label East Perth played at Wellington Square from 1902 to 1909, at Perth Oval from 1910, to 1987 and from 1990 to 1999, and at the WACA Ground during 1988 and 1989. East Perth were aligned with West Coast between 2014 and 2018.
Template:Note label Perth played at the WACA Ground from 1899 to 1958 and during 1987 and 1988.
Template:Note label Subiaco played at Shenton Park between 1901 and 1905, at Mueller Park in 1906 and 1907, and at Subiaco Oval from 1908 to 2003.
Template:Note label West Perth played at Leederville Oval from 1915 to 1993.
Template:Note label West Coast mainly play away games, selling their home games to other clubs, when they do play home games it is at their training base at Lathlain Park
Template:Note label Claremont known as Claremont-Cottesloe from 1926 to 1934.
Template:Note label Peel have been aligned with Fremantle since 2014.
Template:Note label Perth was known as Victoria Park from 1934 to 1935.

Uniforms

Template:Australian rules football kit box Template:Australian rules football kit box Template:Australian rules football kit box Template:Australian rules football kit box Template:Australian rules football kit box
Template:Australian rules football kit box Template:Australian rules football kit box Template:Australian rules football kit box Template:Australian rules football kit box Template:Australian rules football kit box

Former clubs

Eleven other clubs formerly competed in the competition: Template:Clear

Club Colours Nickname(s) Home ground(s) Former League Est. Years in WAFL WAFL Premierships Fate
Total Most Recent
Centrals
File:Lauderdale Football Club colours.jpg
 None/UnknownTemplate:Ref label – 1891 1891–1891 0 - Folded after 1891 season
East Perth (I)
File:East Perth (I) Football Club colours.jpg
 None/UnknownTemplate:Ref label – 1891 1891–1892 0 - Folded after 1892 season
Fremantle (I)
File:Fremantle (original WAFL) Football Club colours.jpg
 Fremantleites Barrack Green, Fremantle – 1882 1885–1886 1<ref name="Premiers">Template:Cite book</ref> 1886 Folded after 1886 season
High School
File:High School Football Club colours.jpg
 Students High School Grounds, Wembley Downs – 1885 1885–1885 0 - Folded two rounds into 1885 season due to lack of players
Imperials
File:Imperials Football Club colours (WAFL).jpg
 Blue and Whites Esplanade Park,
Fremantle 		Template:Tooltip 1892 1895–1897 0 - Folded after 1897 season
Metropolitan
File:Lauderdale Football Club colours.jpg
 – 1889 1889-1890 0 - Replaced by West Perth following 1890 season
Midland Junction
File:Midland Junction Football Club colours.jpg
 Midlanders, Railways Midland Junction Oval, Midland Template:Tooltip 1905–1910
1914–1917 		0 - Folded after 1917 season
North Fremantle
File:Collingwood icon.svg
 Magpies North Fremantle Oval, North Fremantle Template:Tooltip 19th century 1901–1915 0 - Folded after 1915 season
Rovers
File:Rovers Football Club colours (WAFL).jpg
 Rovers, Tigers None/UnknownTemplate:Ref labelTemplate:Ref label – 1882 1885–1899 2<ref name="Premiers" /> 1891 Folded after the first 8 rounds of the 1899 season
Unions/
Fremantle (II)*
File:Fremantle-Unions Football Club colours.jpg
 Ports, Fremantleites Fremantle Park and Fremantle Oval, Fremantle – 1882 1886–1899 10<ref name="Premiers" /> 1898 Folded after 1899 season
Victorian
File:Melbourne Football Club Colours.svg
 – 1885 1885-1888 0 - Merged with West Australian to form Metropolitan following 1888 season
West Australian
File:Lauderdale Football Club colours.jpg
 Wests<ref name="daily" /> New Recreation Ground, Perth
Template:Ref label<ref name="daily">Template:Cite news</ref> 		– 1886 1887–1888 0 - Merged with Victorian to form Metropolitan following 1888 season
Template:Note label Fremantle Football Club (II) was known as Unions Football Club from 1886 to 1889.
Template:Note label West Australian (1887–1888) merged with Victorians (1885–1888) in 1889 to form the Metropolitan Football Club (1889–1890), which in turn became the West Perth Football Club in 1891<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Note label Up until the turn of the century, there were a limited number of grounds available for use by the clubs, with all clubs sharing the different grounds. As such, the Esplanade Park, Fremantle and Fremantle Park in Fremantle, and the Old Recreation Ground (Wellington Square) and the New Recreation Ground (Esplanade Reserve) in Perth were all used as "home" grounds by the above teams.
Template:Note label Rovers were a "wandering" team – they had no home ground and had drawn players from all over the metropolitan area.

Competition timeline

<timeline> ImageSize = width:720 height:580 PlotArea = width:620 height:500 left:92 bottom:50 AlignBars = late

BarData= 

 bar:WP text:West Perth
 bar:WC text:West Coast
 bar:WA text:West Australian
 bar:SD text:Swan Districts
 bar:Su text:Subiaco
 bar:SF text:South Fremantle
 bar:Ro text:Rovers
 bar:PH text:Perth High School
 bar:Pe text:Perth
 bar:PT text:Peel Thunder
 bar:NF text:North Fremantle
 bar:MJ text:Midland Junction
 bar:Im text:Imperials
 bar:Ft text:Fremantle (II)
 bar:Fr text:Fremantle (I)
 bar:Ea text:East Perth (II)
 bar:EP text:East Perth (I)
 bar:EF text:East Fremantle
 bar:Cl text:Claremont
 bar:Ce text:Centrals

Colors = 

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 id:lgrey  value:gray(0.8)
 id:vlgrey value:gray(0.95)
 id:premier value:brightblue legend:Premier
 id:spoon value:rgb(0.5,0,0) legend:Last_place
 id:rup value:powderblue  # legend:Runner_Up  # need more data
 id:minor value:orange  # legend:Minor_Premier  # need more data
 id:rup&minor value:lightpurple  # legend:R-Up&Minor_Premier  # need more data
 id:future value:rgb(0.94,0.92,0.92)

DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1884 till:2025 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:1890 gridcolor:lgrey ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1884 gridcolor:vlgrey

PlotData= 

 color:lgrey width:12
 bar:Ce from:1891 till:1891
   at:1891 mark:(line, grey) shift:(2,-4) text:Withdrew
 bar:Cl from:1925 till:end
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 bar:Ea from:1906 till:end
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 bar:EP from:1891 till:1892
   at:1891 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:1892 mark:(line,spoon) shift:(2,-4) text:Withdrew
 bar:Ft from:1886 till:1899
   at:1887 mark:(line,premier)
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   at:1899 mark:(line,grey) shift:(2,-4) text:Withdrew
 bar:Fr from:1885 till:1886
   at:1886 mark:(line,premier) shift:(2,-4) text:Withdrew
 bar:Im from:1895 till:1897
   at:1897 mark:(line,grey) shift:(2,-4) text:Withdrew
 bar:MJ from:1905 till:1910
   at:1909 mark:(line,spoon)
 bar:MJ from:1914 till:1917
   at:1917 mark:(line,spoon) shift:(2,-4) text:Withdrew
 bar:NF from:1901 till:1915
   at:1914 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:1915 mark:(line,spoon) shift:(2,-4) text:Withdrew
 bar:PT from:1997 till:end
   at:1997 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:1998 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:1999 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:2003 mark:(line,spoon)
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   at:2020 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:2024 mark:(line,premier)
  bar:Pe from:1899 till:end
   at:1900 mark:(line,spoon)
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   at:2015 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:2017 mark:(line,spoon)
 bar:PH from:1885 till:1885
   at:1885 mark:(line,spoon) shift:(2,-4) text:Withdrew after two rounds
 bar:Ro from:1885 till:1899
   at:1885 mark:(line,premier)
   at:1891 mark:(line,premier)
   at:1892 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:1893 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:1894 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:1896 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:1897 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:1899 mark:(line,spoon) shift:(2,-4) text:Withdrew midway through the season
 bar:SF from:1900 till:end
   at:1904 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:1916 mark:(line,premier)
   at:1917 mark:(line,premier)
   at:1920 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:1925 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:1936 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:1943 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:1944 mark:(line,spoon)
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   at:1961 mark:(line,spoon)
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   at:1969 mark:(line,spoon)
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   at:2005 mark:(line,premier)
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   at:2020 mark:(line,premier)
   at:2025 mark:(line,premier)
 bar:Su from:1901 till:end
   at:1901 mark:(line,spoon)
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   at:2021 mark:(line,premier)
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   at:2019 mark:(line,spoon)
 bar:WA from:1887 till:1888
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   at:2019 mark:(line,grey) shift:(2,-4)
 bar:WC from:2021 till:end
   at:2021 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:2022 mark:(line,spoon)
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   at:2025 mark:(line,spoon)
 bar:WP from:1885 till:end
   at:1889 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:1890 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:1895 mark:(line,spoon)
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   at:1919 mark:(line,spoon)
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   at:1935 mark:(line,premier)
   at:1938 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:1939 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:1941 mark:(line,premier)
   at:1942 mark:(line,premier)
   at:1949 mark:(line,premier)
   at:1951 mark:(line,premier)
   at:1960 mark:(line,premier)
   at:1969 mark:(line,premier)
   at:1971 mark:(line,premier)
   at:1974 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:1975 mark:(line,premier)
   at:1990 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:1991 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:1992 mark:(line,spoon)
   at:1995 mark:(line,premier)
   at:1999 mark:(line,premier)
   at:2003 mark:(line,premier)
   at:2013 mark:(line,premier)
   at:2022 mark:(line,premier)

 color:future width:12

 bar:WP from:2019 till:end
 bar:Wc from:2021 till:end
 bar:SD from:2019 till:end
 bar:Su from:2019 till:end
 bar:SF from:2019 till:end
 bar:Pe from:2019 till:end
 bar:PT from:2019 till:end
 bar:Ea from:2019 till:end
 bar:EF from:2019 till:end
 bar:Cl from:2019 till:end

Legend = left:50 top:20 columnwidth:90

</timeline>

Venues

Template:Clear

Bassendean Template:Location map+ East Fremantle
Bassendean Oval East Fremantle Oval
Capacity: 22,000 Capacity: 20,000
File:Bassendean Reserve.jpg
 File:East Fremantle Oval – stands (cropped – 1).jpg
Lathlain Leederville
Lathlain Park Leederville Oval
Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 18,000
File:Lathlain Park in 2019.jpg
File:LEEDERVILLE OVAL.jpg
Fremantle Claremont
Fremantle Oval Claremont Oval
Capacity: 17,000 Capacity: 5,000
File:Fremantle Oval gnangarra-1.jpg File:Claremont FC entry doors.JPG
Mandurah Joondalup
Rushton Park Arena Joondalup
Capacity: 10,000 Capacity: 10,000
File:Rushton Park 02.jpg
File:Wiki takes joondalup Nov 2011 gnangarra-14.jpg

Salary cap

Although players are paid, the WAFL is considered a semi-professional competition with a salary cap in place and Total Player Payments (TPP) equating to around Template:AUD. This is the third highest Australian rules football salary cap after the AFL and SANFL. Each WAFL club has 2 squads of 22 players. In 2023, this equates to approximately Template:AUD on average for a player per season, however some players may be paid much more than this.

Year TPP (AFL aligned clubs)
2023 245,000<ref>WAFL Clubs Advocate Salary Cap Boost Amid Talent Drain Ministry of Sport 10 November 2023</ref>
2016 294,000<ref name="2016 cap">Template:Cite web</ref> 191,000<ref name="2016 cap" />
2012 217,000<ref name="2016 cap"/> -

Audience

Media

Television

In 2022, the WAFL signed a deal that will see 26 games including all finals matches broadcast on the Seven Network, with the remaining 72 matches to be available for streaming on the AFL's official app and AFL On Demand service.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Previously in January 2015, the WAFL announced a deal struck with the Seven Network, where under the arrangement, Seven agreed to a three-year deal involving the telecast of 18 home and away matches as well as all Finals matches, broadcast throughout Western Australia.<ref name="seven-wafl">Template:Cite web</ref> Before this, the WAFL match of the round was broadcast on ABC throughout Western Australia every Saturday afternoon during the regular home and away season. Matches were replayed nationwide on-demand from the ABC iView service and re-broadcast on the ABC2 channel early Friday morning at 2:30Template:Nbspam local time.<ref name="abc-wafl">Template:Cite web</ref>

Radio

Radio stations which cover the competition include ABC Radio Perth, ABC Radio Grandstand Digital, 91.3 SportFM, 107.3 HFM and KIX Country Digital.

Sponsorship

Since the 2025 season, the WAFL has been sponsored by Western Australia-based logistics service provider Sullivan Logistics, who signed a four-year deal to be naming rights sponsor of the competition.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This ended a three-year period where there no naming rights sponsor which were previously held by Optus (2019–2021),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> And before that McDonald's (2015–2018)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and earlier still AAMI (2010–2014).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Attendance

Attendance at WAFL matches dropped when each of the two Western Australian based AFL teams entered the league. In recent years, however the attendances have increased slightly, with 2009 recording the first combined annual attendance of more than 200,000 since 1994.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The largest recent crowd was 29,879 at the 2021 WAFL Grand Final between Subiaco and South Fremantle at Optus Stadium. The all-time attendance record is 52,781 in 1979 for East Fremantle v South Fremantle at Subiaco Oval.

Patrons at the WAFL pay at the gates. The following are relatively recent attendance figures.

*Includes finals games

Year # Games played* H & A Total H & A Average Finals Total Finals Average Total Average Grand Final<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Full citation needed
2024 90 151,060 1,678 46,620 7,770 197,680 2,059 25,481
2023 90 142,120 1,519 43,737 7,290 185,857 1,936 27,104
2022 96 141,176 1,569 34,932 5,822 176,108 1,834 16,791
2021 96 143,454 1,594 50,204 8,367 193,658 2,017 29,879
2020 40 72,301 2,008 22,038 5,510 94,339 2,558 10,179
2019 96 148,281 1,648 32,677 5,446 180,958 1,885 18,941
2018 87 139,673 1,724 42,128 7,021 181,801 2,090 25,064
2017 36,678 18,180
2016 31,599 15,031
2015 30,114 13,094
2014 21,035 11,987
2013 32,565 1,694 20,008
2012 31,376 18,612
2011 199,002<ref name="2011 Attend">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Full citation needed 24,399 15,459
2010 201,225<ref name="2011 Attend" /> 46,861 249,269<ref name="2011 Attend" /> 24,638
2009 37,365 245,289<ref name="2011 Attend" /> 22,738
2008 94 38,673 219,205<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Full citation needed 2,332 23,199<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Full citation needed
2007 94 32301 207,304<ref name="autogenerated1">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Full citation needed 2,205 19,541<ref>Australian Stadiums :: WAFL GF: Claremont v Subiaco</ref>Template:Full citation needed
2006 94 173,768 34,488 208,347<ref name="autogenerated1" /> 2,216 21,287
2005 164,822 37,889 198,000 2,106 22,570
2004 163,140 41,011 202,797<ref name="autogenerated2">News – WAFL</ref>Template:Full citation needed 2,157 21,507
2003 35,871 17,750
2002 47,582 31,382

Source(s):<ref>WAFL Fixtures & Results</ref>Template:Full citation needed

History

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Pre–1900: Formation and early years

Organised football in the Perth and Fremantle region of Western Australia dates back to 1881.Template:Citation needed Back then though rugby union was the dominant football code, with only one senior club, "Unions", playing Australian Rules.Template:Citation needed

In 1883 a second club, Swans, emerged, but Australian Rules' growth remained much subdued compared to that of Victoria and South Australia.Template:Citation needed

However, in those days many young men of Perth's wealthier families were educated in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia.Template:Citation needed

On returning home from there they naturally wished to play the sport they had grown up with and no doubt exerted some influence on their less affluent peers as to such.Template:Citation needed Coincidentally, the press at the time reported there was a growing dissatisfaction with rugby as a spectacle.Template:Citation needed

During the 1880s, the discoveries of gold, firstly in the Kimberley, Pilbara and Murchison regions, led to a dramatic increase in Western Australia's population, including many players and supporters of Australian Rules from the eastern colonies.

In 1885 one of the leading rugby clubs, Fremantle, decided to change to Australian Rules. It was quickly joined by three other clubs – Rovers, Victorians, and a team of schoolboys from Perth High. The schoolboy side lasted just two matches, but the three other sides went on to contest what in retrospect was viewed as the first-ever official Western Australian Football Association (WAFA) premiership, won by Rovers. And virtually overnight Australian Rules football became the dominant code for the spectator as well.Template:Citation needed

However progress of Australian rules in Western Australia still lagged behind the big football cities of Melbourne, Adelaide and Geelong and is evidenced by the unstable nature of the clubs that participated in the early years.Template:Citation needed

In 1886 a new club Fremantle-based club Unions joined.Template:Citation needed

In 1887 Fremantle left the WAFA and the West Australian Football Club joined but they would only play two seasons before they disappeared.

In 1890 Unions would rename themselves Fremantle as those involved in the game saw the need to identify themselves with the region they were located in.

1891 saw two new clubs arrive, Centrals and East Perth, but they would be gone after one season and two seasons respectively.

1898 saw the entry of East Fremantle to the league.

1899 would be the last season Fremantle would take part. Despite Unions being the most dominant club in the WAFA up to this point winning the competition 10 times in its 13 years of existence, problems with debt saw the club disappear and some people involved with the old entity formed South Fremantle Football Club in its place. Despite the fact that many involved with Fremantle moved onto South Fremantle, the new club is not seen as a continuation of the old and did not lay claim to its records to that date.

1899 was also the last time Rovers would take part. The move to regionalisation which saw Unions take on the old Fremantle's name and colours made it difficult for this club that didn't represent a particular area to attract players. They folded and were immediately replaced by Perth Football Club who were promoted from the Perth First Rate Association.

Early 1900s

Major gold discoveries at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie in 1892, coupled with a major international economic depression, caused immigration from the eastern colonies to accelerate not only to the Goldfields but also onto Perth. These migrants came from a climate where Australian Rules football was more popular and included a large number of footballers including some celebrated players.

The Goldfields competition (later known as the Goldfields Football League) was hence comparable in status and standard to the Perth competition for many years. (This was shown by the fact that it had a separate seat on the Australian National Football Council until 1919.)

The higher standard of play that followed helped to increase the game's popularity and increased the professionalism of the WAFA which in turn saw a more stable look come to the league which to this point saw teams frequently coming and going, not to mention problems with frequent crowd violence.

By 1901, the WAFA had grown to have six teams. Up to this point, five sides at most had been in the competition, and this number had invariably changed from year to year, as clubs came and went. And by 1906 there were eight teams. Template:Div col

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Recent arrivals East Fremantle became the dominant force in the league winning 11 premierships from 1900 to 1918.

On 27 March 1907, the WAFA was renamed the West Australian Football League (WAFL).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The West Australian State Premiership was awarded to the winner of a contest played between the GNFL premiers and the WAFL premiers. The contest was played intermittently between 1903 and 1924 and the winning team accorded the title Champions of Western Australia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Unlike many other sporting competitions, the WAFL didn't go into recess during World War I, although two teams – North Fremantle and Midland Junction – were "casualties" of the war, competing for the last time in 1915 and 1917 respectively.

Between the wars

1919 saw East Perth win their first premiership, and they would go on to win five in a row.

In 1921, the WAFL followed the idea of the SANFL's Magarey Medal and introduced the Sandover Medal, for the fairest and best player over a season, as voted by the field umpires. The medal has been awarded annually ever since.

Template:WAFL entered the league in 1926, bringing the number of teams back to seven. They would rename the club to simply Claremont a few years later.

On Wednesday 12 October 1927, the WAFL was renamed the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL) – the "national" concept in the name being adopted by the SANFL, TANFL and other leagues when the Australian Football Council became the Australian National Football Council earlier in the year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Swan Districts entered the league in 1934. The eight competing sides at this point still remain today and are often referred to as the "traditional eight clubs" as opposed to Peel who would join much later on.Template:Citation needed

Because of World War II, the league only ran an "under age" competition between 1942 and 1944. However, the three premierships won during this time are given equal status to any other, in official records (East Perth however do not give their 1944 premiership win equal status). All clubs competed, with the exception of Swan Districts who could not form a team in 1942, although they were back in 1943. The Sandover Medal was also presented each year.

Post-war

File:John Gerovich Statue - Fremantle Oval.jpg
Statue of the famous mark by South Fremantle's John Gerovich over East Fremantle's Ray French at the 1956 WAFL preliminary final

Western Australian football was particularly strong during the years immediately following World War II. The state side enjoyed unparalleled success, downing Victoria in each of the first three post war meetings as well as enjoying the better of their encounters with South Australia.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, there were several attempts at expansion of the league. WANFL secretary Billy Orr supported the admission of teams from Inglewood and South Perth.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1951 the league established a separate recruiting district in Inglewood in anticipation of a new club being established at Inglewood Oval.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Inglewood Football Club was established in 1953, with support from three local amateur clubs and former East Perth player Herbie Screaigh.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the same year it applied for admission to the WANFL reserves competition from the following season.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, by 1954 the league had instead announced that it would expand East Perth's zone to include the Inglewood district.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1952, the Avon Valley Football Association applied to enter a team in the WANFL, following concerns about its players being poached by Perth-based teams. It would have been based at Northam's Jubilee Oval.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The proposal was raised again in 1954 but did not proceed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

South Fremantle were without dispute one of the strongest teams in Australia during much of the period 1947 to 1954, not only winning six premierships but also defeating many touring sides from Victoria and South Australia.

From 1956 to 1961 it would be East Perth's turn to dominate the WAFL with them featuring in all six Grand Finals of this period and coming out with three victories. Their team featured Graham Farmer who would leave at the end of the 1961 season and carve out a reputation in the VFL as one of the game's greatest ever players.

The 1960s saw crowds get bigger and bigger, as WAFL football captured the hearts and minds of the WA public like never before, and in the 1970s and early 1980s it was easily the biggest show in town.

However, during this period more and more star WAFL players were looking to head to the Victorian Football League (VFL), enticed by the bigger money and the fact that it was more and more gaining a reputation as the "big" league.

This is perhaps best evidenced in that Victoria (i.e. the VFL representative team) had by far the best record in interstate games for a long time. But in 1977, when the first proper State of Origin match was played, it saw Western Australia inflict its biggest defeat on Victoria.

East Perth's 1961 loss to Swan Districts would see that side's first-ever premiership. Captain/coached by Haydn Bunton, Jr., they became the team of the early 1960s when they followed it up in 1962 and 1963 to make it three in a row.

The dominating sides of the late 1960s and early 1970s were the three Perth teams. Perth won three in a row from 1966 to 1968, and West Perth won in 1969 and 1971 captained and coached by Graham Farmer who had returned from over east. All five of these grand final wins came at the expense of East Perth who earned the bridesmaid tag in this era. However East Perth finally won through in the 1972 grand final.

After 1972 the competition was more evenly matched with every team winning a grand final over the next 10 years.

At this time crowds were as big as they ever were.Template:Citation needed The 1979 grand final was played before a record crowd of 52,781 and saw East Fremantle defeat South Fremantle.

1980s

In 1980, the WANFL dropped the "N (National)" and the "ern" from the "West" and reverted to being called the WAFL.

At the end of the 1980 season East Perth put in an application to join the VFL. The offer was withdrawn.

Crowds had been buoyed by State of Origin football that saw Western Australia's best players return home briefly, but this effect was short lived. Interest in the WAFL began a slow decline, as it became increasingly obvious that even larger numbers of the WAFL's best players were going to head east.

By 1983 the management of the WAFL itself acknowledged that economic crisis loomed. They approached the state government for financial aid, and were rewarded with a grant of Template:AUD, equivalent to Template:AUD in Template:Inflation/year. In response, the government wanted a full-scale investigation into the likely future financial demands of football.

This led to the formation of the West Australian Football Commission who functioned independently of the WAFL.

In 1986 the decision had been made that the WAFL needed to become involved in helping the VFL, where several clubs were also struggling financially, to become national.

Against a backdrop in which several WAFL clubs were looking to enter the VFL or in which a struggling Victorian club may be relocated to Perth, the WAFL decided to hastily form a new club to enter the VFL such that they could retain control of a West Australian presence in the situation.

Meanwhile, in the league Swan Districts won another hat-trick of premierships from 1982 to 1984. East Fremantle, the WAFL's most successful club, won the centenary premiership in 1985 and in 1986 Subiaco had the honour to be the last club to win the premiership prior to Western Australia's participation in the national league.

Effect of VFL expansion and the AFL

File:South Freo Premiership 2005 Flag.jpg
South Fremantle Football Club celebrate with "The Flag" and "The Cup" after winning the 2005 WAFL Premiership.

The West Coast Eagles were formed and competed in the VFL for the first time in 1987 (the VFL was renamed the AFL in 1990).

With many of Western Australia's best players now competing in a team that represented Western Australia on a national scale, it was suddenly apparent that the WAFL was not the prime focus of the football public as crowds and media attention centred on the 'national' league.

In 1990 the league was renamed the Western Australian State Football League, but it had reverted to WAFL by 1991.

Another locally based AFL team, the Fremantle Football Club were formed in 1994, and this cemented the position of WAFL as a second-class competition. (Indeed, the 1991 introduction of the Adelaide Crows to the VFL/AFL meant that the SANFL was experiencing a similar decline to the WAFL.)

WAFL clubs have struggled ever since with their sudden demise from being technically equal to any VFL club, to feeder club status. However, they have enjoyed some benefits, such as the funds flowing from the WA-based AFL teams and the influx of talented players from other states, attempting to make a name for themselves.

In 1997, Peel Thunder – somewhat controversially – became the ninth WAFL club. Throughout their brief history, they struggled to compete with the traditional eight clubs, which were generally opposed to their presence. This was partly because having an odd number of teams forced one team to have a bye each week. Also in 1997, the league was renamed Westar Rules,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> in an attempt to revamp its image. The name again reverted to WAFL in 2001, when the "Fong Report" declared "Westar Rules" was a painfully contrived name,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> although the new 1997 logo was retained.

Recent years have seen the WAFL stabilise itself as a league a step down from the AFL. Having the best football players all playing in the AFL has lessened the standard of play; however this has recovered somewhat, with retired or delisted AFL players returning and young players coming through. It is becoming fairly common, however, for young players to be drafted as 17- or 18-year-olds directly to the AFL and not play in the WAFL football for more than a few games.

Attendances have recovered slightly and in 2004, the league posted a total attendance of 202,797.<ref name=autogenerated2 /> The total attendance, including AFL games was a record 1,030,000.

In 2019 the WAFL expanded to a 10-club competition, with the introduction of West Coast Eagles Reserves.Template:Citation needed

Future

While the WAFL has not been as keen as the SANFL to include teams from other states, there have been proposals to include teams from regions unwanted by the AFL, and even to serve as a second-tier national league.

The most pushed for expansion team was to be from Darwin, Northern Territory, formed as a representative club of the Northern Territory Football League,<ref>AFL Central Australia opposes Darwin-based team from abc.net.au</ref> however the NT team opted to join the Queensland Australian Football League for the 2009 season, and moved to the newly created North East Australian Football League in 2011 after the top divisions of the Queensland AFL and AFL Canberra merged.

In 2019, the WAFL partnered with the West Australian Women's Football League to create a new women's state league, the WAFL Women's. The league is run adjacent to the WAFL premiership.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Awards and records

Awards

The following awards are or were awarded each season:

  • The WAFL Premiership Cup for the winner of the WAFL Grand Final.
  • The Sandover Medal for the fairest & best player(s) in the WAFL.
  • The Simpson Medal for the best players in the WAFL Grand Final.
  • The Bernie Naylor Medal for the leading goalkicker during the home and away season.
  • The JJ Leonard Medal for the best coach during the season.
  • The Montgomery Medal for the best field umpire during the season.
  • The RP Rodriguez Shield for the best overall team, combining league, reserves and colts games. Click here for a list of winners.
  • The Prendergast Medal for the fairest & best player(s) in the reserves.
  • The Jack Clarke Medal for the fairest & best player(s) in the colts.
  • The WA State Premiership (1903–24), awarded to the winner of a match between the WAFA/WAFL premiers and the GFA/GFL premiers.

Premierships

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East Fremantle has won the most premierships, with 30, most recently in 2023. West Perth rank second with 20 premierships, the most recent in 2022.

The first premiership was awarded in 1885, and was won by the Rovers Football Club, which disbanded in 1899.

Wooden spoons

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Subiaco and Swan Districts have the equal most wooden spoons, with 21. Swan Districts most recent wooden spoon was in 2019, while Subiaco had their most recent in 1996.

The most recent team to receive the wooden spoon (2024) are West Coast Eagles, with its 4th wooden spoon.

Records

Template:See also

Team records

  • Highest score: 40.18 (258) – South Fremantle v West Perth 12.6 (78) at Fremantle Oval, Round 21, 1981
  • Lowest score (1898 onwards):
0.0 (0) – Subiaco v South Fremantle 12.23 (95) at North Fremantle Oval, 4 August 1906
0.0 (0) – Peel Thunder v Claremont 17.15 (117) at Rushton Park, 2004Template:Efn
  • Most premierships (club): 30 – East Fremantle
  • Most "wooden spoons": 21 – Subiaco & Swan Districts
  • Most successive finals appearances: 36 – East Fremantle (1916–1951)
  • Most consecutive unbeaten games: 35 – East Fremantle (1945–1947)
  • Most consecutive winless games: 27 – Subiaco (1903–1905)
  • Most Sandover Medals (club): 18 (East Perth)
  • Most Bernie Naylor Medals/Leading Goalkicker Awards (club): 21 (Subiaco)
  • Highest attendance: 52,781 at Subiaco Oval, 1979 WAFL Grand Final, East Fremantle v South Fremantle


Individual records

West Australian Football Hall of Fame

Template:Main On 12 March 2004, a West Australian Football Hall of Fame was formed when 81 former players, coaches, umpires, administrators and media representatives were inducted. More people have been inducted every year since then, and as of 2017, there are sixteen who have been elevated to Template:Vague: Template:Div col

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Top 25 Players over the Past 25 years

In March 2012, the Top 25 players over the Past 25 Years were announced, to recognise the WAFL performances of players, rather than the performances of Western Australian players in the AFL. The judges were The West Australian's sports reporter Ross Lewis, Football Budget editor Tracey Lewis, Claremont CEO Todd Shimmon, former players Clint Roberts, Bill Monaghan, Todd Ridley plus historians Greg Wardell-Johnson and Steve Davies.<ref>WAFL recognises stars of new generation</ref>

Player WAFL clubs
Marty Atkins South Fremantle
Shane Beros Swan Districts
Stephen Bilcich East Fremantle
Brad Bootsma South Fremantle
Jaxon Crabb Claremont
Ian Dargie Subiaco
Willie Dick Perth
Travis Edmonds Swan Districts
Craig Edwards East Perth & South Fremantle
Mark Hann Claremont
Anthony Jones Claremont & South Fremantle
Steve Malaxos Claremont & East Fremantle
Toby McGrath South Fremantle
Paul Mifka West Perth
Kris Miller East Fremantle & South Fremantle
Darrell Panizza Claremont
Aidan Parker Subiaco
Allistair Pickett West Perth, Peel Thunder & Subiaco
Kim Rigoll West Perth
Jason Salecic West Perth
Brad Smith Subiaco
Craig Treleven East Fremantle
Ryan Turnbull Claremont & East Perth
Marc Webb Perth & Subiaco
Rod Wheatley East Perth

Other WAFL competitions

Template:See also The WAFL has run a simultaneous reserves competition and colts (under-19s) competition for its clubs since 1925 and 1957 respectively. A fourths-grade premiership was held between 1965 and 1974.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A senior women's competition was inaugurated in 2019.

See also

Notes

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References

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Template:West Australian Football League Template:WAFL seasons Template:WAFL Grand Finals Template:Aussie Rules in Western Australia Template:Australian rules football

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