AFL Ontario

AFL Ontario is the largest Australian football league in North America. It is currently composed of teams from the Greater Toronto Area, Southwestern Ontario and the National Capital Region, who play off for the Conacher Cup (named after Lionel Conacher), presently awarded to the winner of the annual AFL Ontario Grand Final.

AFL Ontario, along with the North West Pacific Football League is a member of AFL Canada, the governing body for the sport in Canada.

History AFL Ontario which was originally known as the Canadian Australian Football League (CAFA) and more recently as the Ontario Australian Football League (OAFL), was established in 1989. Two teams were formed that year - the Toronto Panthers and the Mississauga Mustangs, with a draft of interested players prior to a three-game season and Grand Final. The coaches of those inaugural teams – John Pearson (Toronto Panthers) and Terence Wallis (Mississauga Mustangs) brought a significant amount of experience from playing at a high level in Australia. An interesting fact is that the first Grand Final was attended by a number of AFL executives including Ron Barrassi and members of the Geelong Cats and Melbourne Demons.

Founding members of the original competition include: Kingsley Ellis (ex-Fitzroy VFL - lead central Umpire, founder of the Hamilton Tigers), Terence Wallis (founded & coached the Mississauga then Toronto Dingos), Wild Bill Fampton (Mississauga then founded the Brampton Bulldogs), Sandro Mancino (Toronto Eagles, Scarborough Rebels and then founded the Balmy Beach Saints). These pioneers set the foundation for the current competition. During the early years CAFA played a number of International games against visiting teams from Australia (Balmain FC, Golden Oldies touring team) as well as the team representing the Australian Rules league in England. The Canadian team narrowly missed beating the touring Australian teams over the years, but soundly defeated England on the four occasions that it played them (1990–1996) culminating in a strong win by the touring Canadian team in London (1996) coached by Terence Wallis.

In 2011, with the increased interest in women's football, AFL Ontario established their Women's League with great success. With the help of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, 2011 also saw the development of AFL Ontario's junior competition. 2012 saw the women's division double in size to 6 teams competing, and the junior competition continued over the summer holidays.

Division 2 In 2009, AFL Ontario launched a second division originally consisting of six founding teams. London (Ontario) AFC withdrew before the official start to the season and the team's players were absorbed into the Quebec Saints. Along with the Saints, the Toronto Central Blues, Broadview Hawks, Etobicoke 'Old Boys' Roos and Toronto Eagles made up the founding five teams of the new OAFL Division 2 competition. In honour of the first Canadian to ever play in the AFL the competition's premiership cup was named the Mike Pyke Cup (named after Mike Pyke).

The OAFL Division 2 season was traditionally shorter than that of the OAFL. In 2009 due to teams playing different numbers of matches the ladder was determined by 'Match Ratio' rather than premiership points. In 2010 all teams competed in 8 rounds and thus the ladder reverted to determining positions by premiership points.

2010 also saw the introduction of hybrid teams. New team the Toronto Rebel Dogs (a partnership between the Toronto Downtown Dingos and the Toronto Rebels) and the 'DevilRoos' (a partnership between the Etobicoke Roos and High Park Demons). The Toronto Eagles withdrew their team from the 2010 season.

Current Clubs

Locations

Men ClubColoursNicknameHome GroundEst.Years in OAFLPremierships Total Years Grand River Gargoyles Margaret Greene Park, Guelph 2001 2001- 0 - Hamilton Wildcats Mohawk Sports Oval, Hamilton 1990 1990-1 2022 High Park Humber College Australian Football Field, Toronto 1989 1989- 1 1994 Ottawa Swans Manotick Polo Field, Kars 2007 2008- 2 2018, 2019 Toronto Dingos Dingos Humber College Australian Football Field, Toronto 1996 1996- 4 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005 Toronto Eagles Humber College Australian Football Field, Toronto 1989 1989- 12 1989, 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2017 Toronto Rebels Rebels Humber College Australian Football Field, Toronto 1990 1990- 71992, 1993, 2001, 2016, 2023, 2024, 2025

Women ClubColoursNicknameLocation/Home GroundEst.Years in OAFLPremierships TotalMost recent Etobicoke Kangaroos Humber College Australian Football Field, Toronto 2003 2011- 52015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022 Hamilton Wildcats Mohawk Sports Oval, Hamilton 1990 2012- 22021, 2023 High Park Demons Humber College Australian Football Field, Toronto 1989 2012- 22012, 2013 Ottawa Swans Manotick Polo Field, Kars 2007 2012-2014, 2018- 32014, 2024, 2025 Toronto Central Blues Humber College Australian Football Field, Toronto 20062011- 0 -

Affiliated (non-league) clubs

Club ColoursNickname Location Formed Barrie Giants Barrie 2017 Kingston Kingston 2018 Forest City Crows London 2018 Aussie X Ontario 2008 (junior development)

Former clubs

Men ClubColoursNicknameLocation/Home GroundEst.Years in OAFLPremiershipsFateTotalYears Balmy Beach SaintsToronto1992-19970 -Folded at beginning of 1997 season BramptonWolverinesBrampton1993-19990 -Folded after 1999 seasonBroadview HawksHumber College Australian Football Field, Toronto1989-201722013, 2014Folded after 2017 seasonCentral BluesBluesHumber College Australian Football Field, Toronto20052006-202312010In recess since 2023 seasonEtobicoke KangaroosHumber College Australian Football Field, Toronto20032003-201842008, 2011, 2012, 2015In recess since 2018 season LondonMagpiesLondon2003-20050 -Folded after 2005 seasonQuebec SaintsMontreal2009-20100 -Withdrew from OAFL after 2010 season due to long travel times WindsorMarinersWindsor2002-20050 -Folded after 2005 season

Women ClubColoursNicknameLocation/Home GroundEst.Years in OAFLPremierships TotalMost recent Toronto Eagles Eagles Humber College Australian Football Field, Toronto 1989 2011 12011

Past champions Year Premier Runner-up 1989Toronto Panthers Mississauga Mustangs 1990Toronto Panthers Mississauga Mustangs 1991Toronto Panthers Scarborough Rebels 1992Scarborough Rebels Mississauga Mustangs 1993Lawrence Park Rebels Toronto Panthers 1994Mississauga Mustangs Lawrence Park Rebels 1995Toronto Eagles Broadview Hawks 1996Toronto Eagles Hamilton Wildcats 1997Toronto Eagles Lawrence Park Rebels 1998Toronto Eagles Lawrence Park Rebels 1999Toronto Eagles Broadview Hawks 2000Toronto Dingos Toronto Eagles 2001Lakeshore Rebels Toronto Eagles 2002Toronto Eagles Toronto Dingos 2003Toronto Dingos Etobicoke Kangaroos 2004Toronto Dingos Toronto Eagles 2005Toronto Dingos Lakeshore Rebels 2006Toronto Eagles Broadview Hawks 2007Toronto Eagles Etobicoke Kangaroos 2008Etobicoke Kangaroos Toronto Eagles Year Premier Runner-up Division 2 Premier Division 2 Runner-up Women's League Women's League Runner-up2009Toronto EaglesEtobicoke KangaroosQuebec SaintsBroadview HawksNot contested2010Central BluesToronto DingosQuebec SaintsCentral Blues2011Etobicoke KangaroosHigh Park DemonsEtobicoke KangaroosBroadview HawksToronto EaglesEtobicoke Lady Roos2012Etobicoke KangaroosBroadview HawksBroadview HawksHigh Park DemonsHigh Park DemonsHamilton Wildcats2013Broadview HawksToronto DingosToronto DingosBroadview HawksHigh Park DemonsHamilton Wildcats2014Broadview HawksCentral BluesToronto RebelsToronto DingosOttawa SwansHamilton Wildcats2015Etobicoke KangaroosToronto EaglesToronto DingosToronto RebelsEtobicoke KangaroosHamilton Wildcats2016Toronto RebelsOttawa Swans Not contestedEtobicoke KangaroosHamilton Wildcats2017Toronto EaglesToronto RebelsEtobicoke KangaroosCentral Blues2018Ottawa SwansToronto EaglesEtobicoke KangaroosOttawa Swans2019Ottawa SwansHamilton WildcatsHamilton WildcatsEtobicoke Kangaroos2022Hamilton WildcatsToronto RebelsEtobicoke KangaroosHamilton Wildcats2023Toronto RebelsToronto DingosHamilton WildcatsEtobicoke Kangaroos2024Toronto RebelsToronto DingosOttawa SwansHamilton Wildcats2025Toronto RebelsToronto DingosOttawa SwansHamilton Wildcats2026Toronto DingosToronto RebelsHigh Park DemonsOttawa Swans

Principal venues Margaret Green Park, Guelph: Grand River Gargoyles Mohawk Sports Park, Hamilton: Hamilton Wildcats Manotick Polo Club, Ottawa: Ottawa Swans Humber College South, Toronto: Etobicoke Kangaroos, Toronto Dingos, High Park Demons, Toronto Rebels, Toronto Eagles and Central Blues

Participation In 2006, AFL Ontario had around 330 senior players consisting of over 170 Canadian nationals. With the rapid increase in awareness and interest in Australian football in Ontario, this has increased in 2012 with almost 650 senior men and women members.

AFL Ontario

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