Australian Rules Football has always been a winter sport, but it is the start of January, and football is on the television. Tonight is the first game of the Australian Football League Women's (AFLW) competition.
In 2010 the Australian Football League commissioned a report into the state of women's football In Australia. The report recommended that the Australian Football League (AFL) begin establishing a national women's league. While the option of new stand-alone clubs was considered, a model using the resources and branding of existing AFL clubs was the preferred model for a new league.
The first game was played on 3rd February 2017. With a crowd approaching 25,000 fans, the match was deemed a "lockout", with a few thousand estimated to have been locked out. The inaugural season concluded with the Grand Final held on 25th March 2017, with the Adelaide Crows crowned the league's first premiers after defeating the Brisbane Lions.
All the clubs are subsets of the AFL competition. This year's competition has fourteen teams, and next year, a further four teams will be added to the competition, representing all teams in the AFL. The AFLW has now become the most popular women's football competition in Australia.
In 2010 the Australian Football League commissioned a report into the state of women's football In Australia. The report recommended that the Australian Football League (AFL) begin establishing a national women's league. While the option of new stand-alone clubs was considered, a model using the resources and branding of existing AFL clubs was the preferred model for a new league.
The first game was played on 3rd February 2017. With a crowd approaching 25,000 fans, the match was deemed a "lockout", with a few thousand estimated to have been locked out. The inaugural season concluded with the Grand Final held on 25th March 2017, with the Adelaide Crows crowned the league's first premiers after defeating the Brisbane Lions.
All the clubs are subsets of the AFL competition. This year's competition has fourteen teams, and next year, a further four teams will be added to the competition, representing all teams in the AFL. The AFLW has now become the most popular women's football competition in Australia.