The West Australian Football League (WAFL "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
ClubColoursNicknameHome groundCapacityFormer leagueEst.Joined WAFLPremierships Total Most Recent Claremont*TigersClaremont Oval, Claremont5,0001906 * 12 2012 East FremantleSharksEast Fremantle Oval,East Fremantle20,000–1898 1898- 30 2023 East PerthRoyalsLeederville Oval, Leederville 18,0001906 1906- 17 2002 Peel ThunderRushton Park, Mandurah10,000–1996 1997- 4 2026 PerthDemonsLathlain Park,Lathlain6,5001899 1899- 7 1977 South FremantleBulldogsFremantle Oval, Fremantle17,000–1900 1900- 15 2025 SubiacoLionsLeederville Oval, Leederville18,0001896 1901- 16 2021 Swan DistrictsSwansBassendean Oval, Bassendean22,000–1934 1934- 8 2010 West Coast EaglesLathlain Park,Lathlain6,500– 2019 2019- 0 - West PerthArena Joondalup, Joondalup16,000–1891 1891-Cowan, Sean (18 April 2015). "Historian debunks West Perth claim". The West Australian. 20 2022 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. 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. 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. Played at the WACA Ground from 1899 to 1958, and during 1987 and 1988. Played at Shenton Park from 1901 to 1905, at Mueller Park in 1906 and 1907, and at Subiaco Oval from 1908 to 2003. Played at Leederville Oval from 1915 to 1993. 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
Former clubs Eleven other clubs formerly competed in the league.
ClubColoursNickname(s)Home ground(s)Former LeagueEst.Years in WAFLWAFL PremiershipsFate TotalMost Recent Centrals None/Unknown–1891 1891–1891 0 -Folded after 1891 season East Perth (I) None/Unknown–1891 1891–1892 0 -Folded after 1892 season Fremantle (I) Fremantleites Barrack Green, Fremantle–1882 1885–1886 11886Folded 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,Fremantle1892 1895–1897 0 -Replaced by East Fremantle after the 1897 seasonMetropolitan–18891889-18900 -Replaced by West Perth after the 1890 season Midland Junction Midlanders, Railways Midland Junction Oval, Midland 1905–19101914–1917 0 -Folded after the 1917 season North Fremantle Magpies North Fremantle Oval, North Fremantle19th century 1901–1915 0 -Folded after the 1915 season; reformed in 1921, now in the Perth Football League Rovers Rovers, Tigers None/Unknown–1882 1885–1899 21891Folded after the first 8 rounds of the 1899 season Unions/Fremantle (II)* Ports, Fremantleites Fremantle Park and Fremantle Oval, Fremantle–1882 1886–1899 101898Folded after 1899 seasonVictorian–18851885-18880 -Merged with West Australian to form Metropolitan after 1888 season West Australian Wests New Recreation Ground, Perth–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 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. Rovers were a "wandering" team; they had no home ground, and drew players from throughout the metropolitan area.
Former-club uniforms
Competition timeline
Venues
BassendeanEast FremantleBassendean OvalEast Fremantle OvalCapacity: 22,000Capacity: 20,000LathlainLeedervilleLathlain ParkLeederville OvalCapacity: 20,000Capacity: 18,000FremantleClaremontFremantle OvalClaremont OvalCapacity: 17,000Capacity: 5,000MandurahJoondalupRushton ParkArena JoondalupCapacity: 10,000Capacity: 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 . 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 per player per season; however, some players may be paid much more than this.
Year TPP (AFL aligned clubs) 2023 245,000WAFL Clubs Advocate Salary Cap Boost Amid Talent Drain Ministry of Sport 10 November 2023 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 averageTotal Average Grand Final202490151,0601,67846,6207,770197,6802,05925,481202390142,1201,51943,7377,290185,8571,93627,104202296141,1761,56934,9325,822176,1081,83416,791202196143,4541,59450,2048,367193,6582,01729,87920204072,3012,00822,0385,51094,3392,55810,179201996148,2811,64832,6775,446180,9581,88518,941 2018 87139,673 1,724 42,128 7,021 181,801 2,09025,064 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 19,541Australian Stadiums :: WAFL GF: Claremont v Subiaco 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 41,011 202,797News – WAFL 2,157 21,507 2003 35,871 17,750 200247,58231,382 *Includes finals games Source(s):WAFL Fixtures & Results
History
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