The 2020 VFL Women's season was meant to have been the fifth season of the VFL Women's (VFLW), the state-level senior women's Australian rules football competition in Victoria. However, the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Clubs Venues and affiliations Club Home venue(s) Capacity AFLW affiliation Ikon Park 24,500 Tony Sheehan Oval 1,110 Casey Fields 9,000 Victoria Park 10,000 Bill Lawry Oval 3,000 rowspan=2; Preston City Oval 5,000 Windy Hill 10,000 Colac Central Reserve 10,000 Deakin University 10,000 GMHBA Stadium 36,000 Box Hill City Oval 10,000 Arden Street Oval 4,000 Avalon Airport Oval 8,000 Swinburne Centre 2,800 RSEA Park 8,000 WS Trevor Barker Beach Oval 6,000 VU Whitten Oval 10,000 Downer Oval 6,000
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic Season suspension Preparations for the 2020 season featured twelve teams, eleven of which had participated in 2019. The changes in league membership came about after transferred its license to after ten years of partnership between the clubs, and folded in September 2019.
The 2020 fixture was released on 5 February 2020, with scheduled to play on 9 May in the season opener as part of a 14-match home-and-away season over 16 rounds, followed by a four-week finals series ending on 20 September.
The season was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which was formally declared a pandemic on 11 March 2020. The start of the VFLW season was suspended indefinitely on 16 March.
Cancellation and planned Super Series After months of uncertainty, it was announced on 16 June 2020 that the VFLW season would be cancelled. Instead, a four-team "Super Series" would be held in September 2020 to allow for 120 players to push for inclusion on an AFL Women's (AFLW) list in 2021.
On 7 July, the second wave of COVID-19 cases across Melbourne resulted in a new lockdown being imposed by the state government, which all but precluded organised sport in the state until at least 19 August (ultimately lasting several months beyond that). The 2020 VFL season was cancelled outright the following day, before the decision was made to cancel the planned VFLW Super Series one month later on 4 August.
See also 2020 VFL season
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