West Australian Football League

West Australian Football League

Current season, competition or edition: 2026 WAFL season
Formerly	1885–1907: West Australian Football Association 1931–1979: Western Australian National Football League 1990: Western Australia State Football League 1997–2000: Westar Rules
Sport	Australian rules football
Founded	1885 (1885)
First season	1885 (1885)
Owner	WA Football
No. of teams	10
Region	Western Australia
Most recent champion	South Fremantle (15th premiership)
Most titles	East Fremantle (30)
Broadcasters	Seven Network AFL Media
Sponsor	Sullivan Logistics
Website	www.wafl.com.au

The West Australian Football League (WAFL /ˈwɒfəl/ "waffle" or "W-A-F-L") is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league consists of ten teams which play a 20-round season from April to September. The top five teams then play a finals series, culminating in a Grand Final. The league also runs reserve, colts (under 19) and women's competitions.

The WAFL was founded in 1885 as the West Australian Football Association (WAFA) and, after several name changes, adopted its current name in 2001. For most of its existence, the league was considered one of the "big three" Australian rules football leagues with the Victorian Football League and South Australian National Football League. 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 league's popularity and quality have decreased to the point where it is considered a feeder competition of the Australian Football League.

Although players are paid, the WAFL is generally considered a semi-professional league with a salary cap of A$245,000 per club. Affiliated with the two Western Australia-based AFL clubs, the league is governed by WA Football.

Clubs

The West Australian Football League has a single table system with no divisions, conferences, promotion or relegation.

Current clubs

Club	Colours	Nickname	Home ground	Capacity	Former league	Est.	Joined WAFL	Premierships
								Total	Most Recent
Claremont*		Tigers	Claremont Oval, Claremont[a]	5,000	WAFA	1906	1926*	12	2012
East Fremantle		Sharks	East Fremantle Oval, East Fremantle[b]	20,000	–	1898	1898-	30	2023
East Perth		Royals	Leederville Oval, Leederville[c]	18,000	PFRJA	1906	1906-	17	2002
Peel (A)		Thunder	Rushton Park, Mandurah	10,000	–	1996	1997-	3	2024
Perth		Demons	Lathlain Park, Lathlain[d]	6,500	PFRJA	1899	1899-	7	1977
South Fremantle		Bulldogs	Fremantle Oval, Fremantle	17,000	–	1900	1900-	15	2025
Subiaco		Lions	Leederville Oval, Leederville[e]	18,000	PFRJA	1896	1901-	16	2021
Swan Districts		Swans	Bassendean Oval, Bassendean	22,000	–	1934	1934-	8	2010
West Coast (R)		Eagles	Lathlain Park, Lathlain[g]	6,500	–	2019	2019-	0	-
West Perth		Falcons	Arena Joondalup, Joondalup[f]	16,000	–	1891	1891-	20	2022

^a Played at the Claremont Showground from 1925 to 1927 and from 2014 to 2016 when Claremont Oval was closed for re-development, and at Subiaco Oval from 1945 to 1947 when Claremont Oval was rebuilt after a 1944 grandstand fire. Known as Claremont-Cottesloe from 1926 to 1934.

^b Played at Fremantle Oval from 1898 to 1952 except 1906 (when 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.

^c Played at Wellington Square from 1902 to 1909, at Perth Oval from 1910 to 1987 and 1990 to 1999, and at the WACA Ground during 1988 and 1989. East Perth were affiliated with West Coast from 2014 to 2018.

^d Played at the WACA Ground from 1899 to 1958, and during 1987 and 1988.

^e Played at Shenton Park from 1901 to 1905, at Mueller Park in 1906 and 1907, and at Subiaco Oval from 1908 to 2003.

^f Played at Leederville Oval from 1915 to 1993.

^g Primarily play away games, and often sell their home matches to other clubs. When they play home games, they are at their training base at Lathlain Park.

• (R) Reserves team of a senior club of the AFL
• (A) Affiliated team of a senior club of the AFL

^* Claremont known as Claremont-Cottesloe from 1926 to 1934.

^* Peel have been aligned with Fremantle since 2014.

^* Perth was known as Victoria Park from 1934 to 1935.

Uniforms

Claremont	East Fremantle	East Perth	Peel	Perth
South Fremantle	Subiaco	Swan Districts	West Coast	West Perth

Former clubs

Eleven other clubs formerly competed in the league.

Club	Colours	Nickname(s)	Home ground(s)	Former League	Est.	Years in WAFL	WAFL Premierships		Fate
							Total	Most Recent
Centrals			None/Unknown[h]	–	1891	1891–1891	0	-	Folded after 1891 season
East Perth (I)			None/Unknown[h]	–	1891	1891–1892	0	-	Folded after 1892 season
Fremantle (I)		Fremantleites	Barrack Green, Fremantle	–	1882	1885–1886	1	1886	Folded after 1886 season
High School		Students	High School Grounds, Wembley Downs	–	1885	1885–1885	0	-	Folded two rounds into 1885 season due to lack of players
Imperials		Blue and Whites	Esplanade Park, Fremantle	WAJFA	1892	1895–1897	0	-	Replaced by East Fremantle after the 1897 season
Metropolitan				–	1889	1889-1890	0	-	Replaced by West Perth after the 1890 season
Midland Junction		Midlanders, Railways	Midland Junction Oval, Midland	PFRJA		1905–1910 1914–1917	0	-	Folded after the 1917 season
North Fremantle		Magpies	North Fremantle Oval, North Fremantle	PFRJA	19th century	1901–1915	0	-	Folded after the 1915 season; reformed in 1921, now in the Perth Football League
Rovers		Rovers, Tigers	None/Unknown[h][i]	–	1882	1885–1899	2	1891	Folded after the first 8 rounds of the 1899 season
Unions/ Fremantle (II)*		Ports, Fremantleites	Fremantle Park and Fremantle Oval, Fremantle	–	1882	1886–1899	10	1898	Folded after 1899 season
Victorian				–	1885	1885-1888	0	-	Merged with West Australian to form Metropolitan after 1888 season
West Australian		Wests	New Recreation Ground, Perth [h]	–	1886	1887–1888	0	-	Merged with Victorian to form Metropolitan after 1888 season

^* Fremantle Football Club (II) was known as Unions Football Club from 1886 to 1889.

^* 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

^h Until the turn of the century, there were a limited number of grounds available for the clubs; all clubs shared the different grounds. Esplanade Park and Fremantle Park in Fremantle, and the Old Recreation Ground (Wellington Square) and New Recreation Ground (Esplanade Reserve) in Perth were used as "home" grounds by the above teams.

ⁱ Rovers were a "wandering" team; they had no home ground, and drew players from throughout the metropolitan area.

Former-club uniforms

Centrals	East Perth (I)	Fremantle (I)	High School	Imperials	Metropolitan
Midland Junction	North Fremantle	Rovers	Unions/Fremantle	Victorian	West Australian

Competition timeline

Venues

Bassendean	Bassendean Oval East Fremantle Oval Lathlain Park Leederville Oval Fremantle Oval Claremont Oval Rushton Park Arena Joondalup		East Fremantle
Bassendean Oval			East Fremantle Oval
Capacity: 22,000			Capacity: 20,000
Lathlain			Leederville
Lathlain Park			Leederville Oval
Capacity: 20,000			Capacity: 18,000
Fremantle			Claremont
Fremantle Oval			Claremont Oval
Capacity: 17,000			Capacity: 5,000
Mandurah			Joondalup
Rushton Park			Arena Joondalup
Capacity: 10,000			Capacity: 10,000

Salary cap

Although players are paid, the WAFL is considered a semi-professional league with a salary cap in place and Total Player Payments (TPP) of about A$245,000. This is the third-highest Australian rules football salary cap, after the AFL and SANFL. Each WAFL club has two squads of 22 players. In 2023, this averaged about A$5,000 per player per season; however, some players may be paid much more than this.

Year	TPP	(AFL aligned clubs)
2023	245,000
2016	294,000	191,000
2012	217,000	-

Audience

Media

Television

The WAFL signed a 2022 agreement to broadcast 26 games (including all finals matches) on the Seven Network, with the remaining 72 matches available for streaming on the AFL's app and AFL On Demand service. In January 2015, the league announced a three-year agreement with the Seven Network for the telecast of 18 home and away matches and all finals matches throughout Western Australia. Before this, the WAFL match of the round was broadcast on ABC in Western Australia every Saturday afternoon during the regular home-and-away season. Matches were replayed nationwide on demand by the ABC iView service and re-broadcast on the ABC2 channel on early Friday mornings.

Radio

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

Sponsorship

The WAFL is sponsored by Western Australia-based Sullivan Logistics, who signed a four-year naming-rights deal in 2025. This ended a three-year period with no naming-rights sponsor; previous sponsors were Optus (2019–2021), McDonald's (2015–2018) and AAMI (2010–2014).

Attendance

Attendance at WAFL matches dropped when each of the two Western Australian-based AFL teams entered the league. Attendance has increased slightly, with 2009 recording the first combined annual attendance of more than 200,000 since 1994.

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.

Year	# Games played*	H & A total	H & A average	Finals total	Finals average	Total	Average	Grand Final
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		24,399				15,459
2010		201,225		46,861		249,269		24,638
2009				37,365		245,289		22,738
2008	94			38,673		219,205	2,332	23,199
2007	94			32301		207,304	2,205	19,541
2006	94	173,768		34,488		208,347	2,216	21,287
2005		164,822		37,889		198,000	2,106	22,570
2004		163,140		41,011		202,797	2,157	21,507
2003				35,871				17,750
2002				47,582				31,382

*Includes finals games Source(s):

History

See also: Australian rules football in Western Australia

Before 1900: Formation and early years

During the 1880s, the discovery of gold in the Kimberley, Pilbara and Murchison regions led to an increase in Western Australia's population; this included players and supporters of Australian Rules from the eastern colonies. In 1887 Fremantle left the WAFA and the West Australian Football Club joined, but they only played two seasons before they disappeared. Three years later, Unions renamed themselves Fremantle. 1891 saw two new clubs (Centrals and East Perth) for one and two seasons, respectively. In 1898, East Fremantle joined the league. The following season was Fremantle's last. Unions were the WAFA's top club, winning 10 championships in their 13 years of existence, but debt was a problem and some personnel formed South Fremantle Football Club in its place. Despite many involved with Fremantle moving to South Fremantle, the new club is not a continuation of the old and did not claim its records.

That season was also the Rovers' last. The regionalisation which saw Unions take on the old Fremantle's name and colours made it difficult for a club which did not represent a particular area to attract players. They were replaced by the Perth Football Club, who were promoted from the Perth First Rate Association.

Early 1900s

Gold discoveries at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie in 1892, coupled with an international economic depression, increased immigration from the eastern colonies to the Goldfields and Perth. The migrants came from where Australian rules football was more popular and included a number of players.

The Goldfields Football League was comparable in status and standard to the Perth league for a number of years, and had a seat on the Australian National Football Council until 1919. The higher standard of play helped increase the game's popularity and improved the WAFA's professionalism.

In 1901, the WAFA had six teams. By 1906, there were eight teams:

• West Perth
• East Perth
• East Fremantle
• South Fremantle
• North Fremantle
• Subiaco
• Perth
• Midland Junction

On 27 March 1907, the WAFA was renamed the West Australian Football League (WAFL). East Fremantle was the league's dominant force, winning 11 premierships between 1900 and 1918. The West Australian State Premiership was awarded to the winner of a game between the Goldfields premiers and the WAFL premiers. The championship was played intermittently between 1903 and 1924, and the winning team were Champions of Western Australia. The WAFL continued playing during World War I, although two teams (North Fremantle and Midland Junction) competed for the last time in 1915 and 1917 respectively.

Interwar period and World War II

In 1919, East Perth won their first of five consecutive premierships. In 1921, The WAFL, emulating the SANFL's Magarey Medal, introduced the Sandover Medal in 1921 for the season's fairest and best player according to the field umpires. The medal has been awarded annually ever since.

Claremont-Cottesloe entered the league in 1926, bringing the number of teams back up to seven. The club was renamed Claremont several few years later.

On 12 October 1927, the WAFL was renamed the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL). The "national" concept in the name was adopted by the SANFL, the TANFL and other leagues when the Australian Football Council became the Australian National Football Council earlier in the year. Swan Districts entered the league in 1934.

Because of World War II, the league only operated "under age" between 1942 and 1944. The three premierships won during this period have equal status in official records, but East Perth do not give their 1944 premiership win equal status. All clubs competed except for Swan Districts, who could not form a team in 1942 but returned in 1943.

Post-war period

Statue of the 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 after World War II. The state side had unparalleled success, downing Victoria in each of the first three post-war meetings as well and defeating South Australia.

Several attempts were made to expand the league during the late 1940s and early 1950s, and WANFL secretary Billy Orr supported the admission of teams from Inglewood and South Perth. In 1951, the league established a recruiting district in Inglewood in anticipation of a new club at Inglewood Oval. The Inglewood Football Club was established in 1953 with support from three local amateur clubs and former East Perth player Herbie Screaigh. That year, it applied for admission to the WANFL reserves league for the following season. By 1954, however, the league had announced that it would expand East Perth's zone to include the Inglewood district.

South Fremantle were one of Australia's strongest teams during much of the period from 1947 to 1954, winning six premierships and defeating a number of touring sides from Victoria and South Australia. In 1952, the Avon Valley Football Association applied to enter the WANFL in the wake of concerns about its players being poached by Perth-based teams. The club would have been based at Northam's Jubilee Oval. The proposal was raised again in 1954, but it did not proceed. East Perth dominated the WAFL from 1956 to 1961, winning three of their six Grand Final appearances. The team featured Graham Farmer, who left at the end of the 1961 season for the VFL and carved out a reputation as one of the game's greatest-ever players.

East Perth's 1961 loss to Swan Districts gave the latter its first-ever premiership. Captained and coached by Haydn Bunton Jr., they followed up in 1962 and 1963 for three in a row. Attendance increased during the 1960s, but more star WAFL players wanted to move to the Victorian Football League (VFL) for more money and greater prestige. In 1977, however (when the first state-of-origin match was played), Western Australia defeated Victoria.

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; West Perth won in 1969 and 1971, captained and coached by Graham Farmer. All five of grand-final wins were against East Perth, who finally won in 1972.

Competition was more evenly matched after 1972, with every team winning a grand final over the next 10 years. The 1979 grand final, played before a record crowd of 52,781, saw East Fremantle defeat South Fremantle.

1980s

In 1980, the WANFL dropped the "N (National)" and the "ern" from "West" and became the WAFL. At the end of the season, East Perth put in an application to join the VFL which it later withdrew.

By 1983, the WAFL management acknowledged that an economic crisis loomed. They approached the state government for financial aid and received a grant of A$1.9 million, equivalent to A$6.8 million in 2022. In response, the government wanted an investigation of the probable future financial demands of football. This led to the formation of the West Australian Football Commission, who were independent of the WAFL.

In 1986 it was decided that the WAFL needed to become involved in helping the VFL, where several clubs were also struggling financially, to become national. The league decided to hastily form a new club to enter the VFL and retain a West Australian presence.

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. The following year, Subiaco was the last club to win the premiership before Western Australia's participation in the national league.

VFL expansion and the AFL

South Fremantle Football Club celebrate with flag and 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 on a team representing Western Australia on a national scale, attention focused on the "national" league. In 1990, the league was renamed the Western Australian State Football League; it returned to WAFL the following season.

Another locally-based AFL team, the Fremantle Football Club, were formed in 1994. The 1991 introduction of the Adelaide Crows to the AFL indicated that SANFL was experiencing a similar decline.

In 1997, Peel Thunder became the ninth WAFL club. Throughout their brief history, they struggled to compete with the traditional eight clubs; having an odd number of teams forced one team to have a bye each week. That year, the league was renamed Westar Rules in an attempt to revamp its image. The name again reverted to WAFL in 2001, when the Fong Report called "Westar Rules" a painfully-contrived name.

Attendance has recovered slightly, and in 2004 the league had a total attendance of 202,797. Total attendance, including AFL games, was a record 1,030,000.

Future

The most hoped-for expansion team was to be from Darwin, Northern Territory, formed as a representative club of the Northern Territory Football League, but the NT team opted to join the Queensland Australian Football League for the 2009 season and moved to the new 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 WAFL Women's. The league is run adjacent to the WAFL premiership.

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 league's fairest and best player(s)
• The Simpson Medal for the best players in the Grand Final
• The Bernie Naylor Medal for the leading goal-kicker during the home-and-away season
• The JJ Leonard Medal to the best coach
• The Montgomery Medal, to the best field umpire
• The RP Rodriguez Shield for the best overall team, combining league, reserves and colts games
• The Prendergast Medal for the fairest and best reserves player(s)
• The Jack Clarke Medal for the fairest and best colts player(s)
• The WA State Premiership (1903–1924), awarded to the winner of a match between the WAFA/WAFL premiers and the GFA/GFL premiers

Premierships

Main article: List of West Australian Football League premiers

East Fremantle has won the most premierships (30), most recently in 2023. West Perth rank second with 20 premierships, their most recent in 2022. The first premiership was awarded in 1885 to the Rovers Football Club, which disbanded in 1899.

Wooden spoons

Main article: List of WAFL wooden spoons

Subiaco and Swan Districts are tied for the most wooden spoons with 21. Swan Districts' most-recent wooden spoon was in 2019, and Subiaco had their most recent in 1996. The most recent team to receive the wooden spoon (2026) is West Perth, with their first wooden spoon since 1992.

Records

See also: List of WAFL records

Team records

• Highest score: 40.18 (258) – South Fremantle v West Perth 12.6 (78) at Fremantle Oval, Round 21, 1981
• Lowest score (since 1898):
  • 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, 2004
• 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 WANFL Grand Final (East Fremantle v South Fremantle)

Individual records

• Most games: 367 – Mel Whinnen (West Perth)
• Most consecutive games: 218 – Joel Cornelius (Swan Districts), 1995–2006
• Most goals: 1,211 – Austin Robertson, Jr. (Subiaco)
• Most goals in a season: 167 – Bernie Naylor (South Fremantle), 1953
• Most goals in a game: 23 – Bernie Naylor (South Fremantle) v Subiaco, 1953
• Most Sandover Medals (player): 4 – Bill Walker (Swan Districts), 1965–1967, 1970
• Most Bernie Naylor Medals/Leading Goalkicker Awards (player): 8 – Austin Robertson Jr. (Subiaco), 1962; 1964–1965; 1968–1972
• Oldest player: Age 44
• Youngest player: Age 14 years, 25 days – Stan Hussey (Centrals), 1891

West Australian Football Hall of Fame

Main article: West Australian Football Hall of Fame

On 12 March 2004, the 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.

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. Judges were The West Australian sports reporter Ross Lewis, Football Budget editor Tracey Lewis, Claremont CEO Todd Shimmon, former players Clint Roberts, Bill Monaghan and Todd Ridley, and historians Greg Wardell-Johnson and Steve Davies.

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

See also: List of West Australian Football League premiers § Minor grades, and List of WAFL Women's premiers

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. A senior women's competition began in 2019.

See also

• Australian rules football in Western Australia
• West Australian State Premiership

External links

• Official website
• WAFL FootyFacts
• Video of 2006 WAFL Highlights from the WAFL