Australian Rules Football - Structure and Competitions

Structure and Competitions

The football season, proper, is from March to August (early autumn to late winter in Australia) with finals being held in September and October. In the tropics, the game is sometimes played in the wet season (October to March). Pre-season competitions in southern Australia usually begin in late February.

The AFL is recognised by the Australian Sports Commission as being the National Sporting Organisation for Australian Football. There are also seven state/territory-based organisations in Australia, most of which are now either owned by or affiliated to the AFL.

Most of these hold annual semi-professional club competitions while the others oversee more than one league. Local semi-professional or amateur organisations and competitions are often affiliated to their state organisations.

The AFL is the de facto world governing body for Australian Football. There are also a number of affiliated organisations governing amateur clubs and competitions around the world.

For almost all Australian rules club competitions the aim is to win the Premiership. The premiership is always decided by a finals series. The teams that occupy the highest positions on the ladder play off in a "semi-knockout" finals series. From the 1930s the finals series was usually contested by the top four teams (3rd versus 4th (First semifinal); 1st versus 2nd (Second semifinal); winner of First versus loser of Second (Preliminary final); the winner of Second versus winner of Preliminary playing in the Grand Final for the premiership). Many leagues have adopted a final series involving five, six or eight teams with a variety of methods used to determine the winner. The AFL finals system is contested by the top eight teams.

Unlike many association football competitions there are usually no separate "league" and "cup" trophies. The team finishing first on the ladder is often referred to as a "minor premier", although this bears little or no significance. In the AFL, this is the McClelland Trophy and is considered a consolation prize. The team that finishes at the bottom of the ladder at the end of the season receives "the wooden spoon".

It is uncommon for promotion and relegation to occur in Australian football state level competitions although it is common among suburban leagues (such as the Eastern Football League and Victorian Amateur Football Association in Melbourne).