The Australian Football League is the pre-eminent professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway co
The final standing of the 1896 VFA ladder. Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, South Melbourne, Carlton and St Kilda would form the VFL the following year.
Essendon won the inaugural VFL premiership by finishing on top of the 1897 round robin finals ladder. A new finals system was implemented during the 1898 VFL season in order that a final match, or "grand final", should determine the premiers.
In 1924, Footscray, the premiers of the VFA, defeated Essendon, the VFL premiers, in the Championship of Victoria. The result played a large part in Footscray, Hawthorn and North Melbourne gaining entry into the VFL the following year.
Luke Hodge, the first pick in the 2001 AFL draft. Hodge has played the most VFL/AFL games of any number-one draft pick (346 games played), is the only number-one draft pick to win a Norm Smith Medal, is one of just five number-one draft picks to have won a premiership, and has won the most premierships of any number-one draft pick (4)
The Anzac Day match is an annual Australian rules football match between Collingwood and Essendon, two clubs in the Australian Football League, held on Anzac Day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Anzac Appeal Logo used as the official logo for the Anzac Day match
A crowd of over 90,000 attends the annual Anzac Day Collingwood–Essendon game (2010)
Ron Barassi with a serviceman lighting the torch with the Eternal Flame at the Shrine of Remembrance. (Barassi's father was killed in action during the Siege of Tobruk.) This is part of the pre-match ceremony.
National Anthem ceremony prior to the beginning of the 2023 match