This page is a complete chronological listing of the premiers of the Australian rules football competition known as the Victorian Football Association until 1995 and as the Victorian Football League since 1996. The Victorian Football Association was the top Victorian competition in Australian rules football from 1877 until 1896, and has been the second-tier Victorian competition since.
Each year, the premiership is awarded to the club which wins the VFL Grand Final. The grand final has been an annual tradition in its current format since 1933, and some form of grand final has been scheduled in each season since 1903 VFA season.
List of premiers
Premiership systems Premierships are recognised for all seasons of VFA/VFL competition. Several different methods have existed to determine the premiers: From 1877 until 1887, the premiership was a title given to the best performing team, determined largely by press consensus. These premierships, as well as premierships between 1870 and 1876 decided in the same manner prior to the foundation of the VFA, were at the time an informal title, but have since been considered official. In 1888, the premiership became a formal competition controlled by the VFA. From 1888 until 1902, the premiership was determined based on win–loss record, with a playoff match played only in the event of teams finishing with equal records From 1903 until 1932, the Argus system was in place, and the circumstances of the Grand Final could vary; in those years, the minor premiers had the right to challenge the winner of the finals series for the premiership, so the Grand Finals of this era are a mixture of challenge matches and non-challenge matches which would have been followed by challenge matches had the minor premier been defeated. Since 1933, the premiership has been determined by a conventional Grand Final at the end of a finals series.
VFA/VFL premiers
Year Premiers Runners-up Score Venue Crowd Date Report 1877 1878 (2) Melbourne Cricket Ground 7,500 1879 (2) 1880 (3) 1881 1882 (4) 1883 (5) (2) 1884 (6) (2) 1885 (2) (3) 1886 (7) (3) 1887 (2) (2) Victorian Football Association premiership officially established 1888 (3) (3) 1889 (4) (2) 1890 (5) (3) 1891 (4) 1892 (2) 1893 (3) (3) 1894 (4) (4) 1895 (4) (5) 1896 (4) East Melbourne Cricket Ground 12,000 Victorian Football League (now Australian Football League) established 1897 Port Melbourne 1898 (2) 1899 (2) (3) 1900 (3) Williamstown 1901 Port Melbourne (2) 1902 Port Melbourne 1903 (2) East Melbourne Cricket Ground 19,000 1904 (2) (3) East Melbourne Cricket Ground N/A 1905 (2) (4) East Melbourne Cricket Ground 17,500 1906 West Melbourne East Melbourne Cricket Ground 20,000 1907 Williamstown West Melbourne East Melbourne Cricket Ground 25,000 1908 (4) Brunswick Melbourne Cricket Ground 40,000 1909 Brunswick Prahran North Melbourne Recreation Reserve 20,000 1910 (3) Brunswick (2) North Melbourne Recreation Reserve 25,000 1911 Essendon (A.) Brunswick (3) North Melbourne Recreation Reserve 30,000 1912 Essendon (A.) (2) (2) North Melbourne Recreation Reserve 25,000 1913 (5) (5) East Melbourne Cricket Ground 20,000 1914 (4) (3) East Melbourne Cricket Ground 10,000 1915 (5) Brunswick (4) North Melbourne Recreation Reserve 8,000 1916 Season not contested due to World War I 1917 Season not contested due to World War I 1918 (6) Prahran (2) North Melbourne Recreation Reserve 7,000 1919 (6) (6) East Melbourne Cricket Ground 20,000 1920 (7) Brunswick (5) East Melbourne Cricket Ground 18,000 1921 Williamstown (2) (4) Fitzroy Cricket Ground 20,000 1922 Port Melbourne (3) (5) North Melbourne Recreation Reserve 20,000 1923 (8) Port Melbourne (2) North Melbourne Recreation Reserve 18,000 1924 (9) Williamstown (2) North Melbourne Recreation Reserve 15,000 1925 Brunswick (2) Port Melbourne (3) Motordrome 15,000 1926 Coburg Brighton Motordrome 15,000 1927 Coburg (2) Brighton (2) Motordrome 20,000 1928 Coburg (3) Port Melbourne (4) Brunswick Cricket Ground 10.854 1929 Northcote Port Melbourne (5) Melbourne Cricket Ground 17,304 1930 Oakleigh Northcote North Melbourne Recreation Reserve 8,000 1931 Oakleigh (2) Northcote (2) North Port Oval 10,000 1932 Northcote (2) Coburg Coburg Cricket Ground 9,000 1933 Northcote (3) Coburg (2) Olympic Park 12,000 1934 Northcote (4) Coburg (3) Showgrounds 2,300 1935 Yarraville Camberwell Toorak Park 14,600 1936 Northcote (5) Prahran (3) Toorak Park 12,000 1937 Prahran Brunswick (6) Toorak Park 9,000 Beginning of throw-pass era 1938 Brunswick (3) Brighton (3) Toorak Park 20,000 1939 Williamstown (3) Brunswick (7) Melbourne Cricket Ground 47,098 1940 Port Melbourne (4) Prahran (4) Melbourne Cricket Ground 30,882 1941 Port Melbourne (5) Coburg (4) Melbourne Cricket Ground 36,289 1942 Season not contested due to World War II 1943 Season not contested due to World War II 1944 Season not contested due to World War II 1945 Williamstown (4) Port Melbourne (6) St Kilda Cricket Ground 39,000 1946 Sandringham Camberwell (2) St Kilda Cricket Ground 30,000 1947 Port Melbourne (6) Sandringham St Kilda Cricket Ground 24,000 1948 Brighton Williamstown (3) St Kilda Cricket Ground 18,000 1949 Williamstown (5) Oakleigh St Kilda Cricket Ground 40,000 End of the throw-pass era 1950 Oakleigh (3) Port Melbourne (7) St Kilda Cricket Ground 38,000 1951 Prahran (2) Port Melbourne (8) St Kilda Cricket Ground 32,500 1952 Oakleigh (4) Port Melbourne (9) St Kilda Cricket Ground 39,500 1953 Port Melbourne (7) Yarraville St Kilda Cricket Ground 40,000 1954 Williamstown (6) Port Melbourne (10) St Kilda Cricket Ground 30,000 1955 Williamstown (7) Port Melbourne (11) St Kilda Cricket Ground 30,000 1956 Williamstown (8) Port Melbourne (12) St Kilda Cricket Ground 28,000 1957 Moorabbin Port Melbourne (13) St Kilda Cricket Ground 26,000 1958 Williamstown Moorabbin St Kilda Cricket Ground 20,000 Williamstown (9) Moorabbin St Kilda Cricket Ground 22,000 1959 Williamstown (10) Coburg (5) St Kilda Cricket Ground 26,000 1960 Oakleigh (5) Sandringham (2) St Kilda Cricket Ground 30,000 Competition partitioned into two divisions; Division 1 premiers follow 1961 Yarraville (2) Williamstown (4) St Kilda Cricket Ground 20,000 1962 Sandringham (2) Moorabbin (2) St Kilda Cricket Ground 11,000 1963 Moorabbin (2) Sandringham (3) North Port Oval 15,000 1964 Port Melbourne (8) Williamstown (5) North Port Oval 26,000 1965 Waverley Port Melbourne (14) North Port Oval 25,000 1966 Port Melbourne (9) Waverley St Kilda Cricket Ground 25,000 1967 Dandenong Port Melbourne (15) Punt Road Oval 25,000 1968 Preston Prahran Punt Road Oval 18,000 1969 Preston (2) Dandenong Punt Road Oval 10,000 1970 Prahran (3) Williamstown (6) St Kilda Cricket Ground 26,000 1971 Dandenong (2) Preston St Kilda Cricket Ground 14,529 1972 Oakleigh (6) Dandenong (2) St Kilda Cricket Ground 22,400 1973 Prahran (4) Oakleigh (2) St Kilda Cricket Ground 21,200 1974 Port Melbourne (10) Oakleigh (3) St Kilda Cricket Ground 23,936 1975 Geelong West Dandenong (3) St Kilda Cricket Ground 27,582 1976 Port Melbourne (11) Dandenong (4) St Kilda Cricket Ground 32,137 1977 Port Melbourne (12) Sandringham (4) St Kilda Cricket Ground 29,664 1978 Prahran (5) Preston (2) St Kilda Cricket Ground 29,595 1979 Coburg (4) Geelong West St Kilda Cricket Ground 17,947 1980 Port Melbourne (13) Coburg (6) St Kilda Cricket Ground 22,010 1981 Port Melbourne (14) Preston (3) St Kilda Cricket Ground 20,180 1982 Port Melbourne (15) Preston (4) St Kilda Cricket Ground 20,732 1983 Preston (3) Geelong West (2) St Kilda Cricket Ground 14,719 1984 Preston (4) Frankston St Kilda Cricket Ground 8,664 1985 Sandringham (3) Williamstown (7) St Kilda Cricket Ground 22,341 1986 Williamstown (11) Coburg (7) St Kilda Cricket Ground 20,146 1987 Springvale Port Melbourne (16) St Kilda Cricket Ground 19,620 1988 Coburg (5) Williamstown (8) Windy Hill 22,034 Competition recombined to a single division 1989 Coburg (6) Williamstown (9) Windy Hill 23,272 1990 Williamstown (12) Springvale Princes Park 18,634 1991 Dandenong (3) Werribee Princes Park 13,565 1992 Sandringham (4) Williamstown (10) Princes Park 20,847 1993 Werribee Port Melbourne (17) Princes Park 14,389 1994 Sandringham (5) Box Hill Victoria Park 13,168 1995 Springvale (2) Sandringham (5) Victoria Park 6,445 Victorian Football Association renamed to the Victorian Football League 1996 Springvale (3) Frankston (2) Princes Park 8,183 1997 Sandringham (6) Frankston (3) North Port Oval 10,000 1998 Springvale (4) Werribee (2) North Port Oval 8,672 1999 Springvale (5) North Ballarat North Port Oval 6,212 2000 Sandringham (7) North Ballarat (2) Waverley Park 8,652 2001 Box Hill Werribee (3) Princes Park 11,500 2002 Geelong reserves Port Melbourne (18) Princes Park 11,500 2003 Williamstown (13) Box Hill (2) Princes Park 10,500 2004 Sandringham (8) Port Melbourne (19) Princes Park 8,196 2005 Sandringham (9) Werribee (4) Princes Park 9,000 2006 Sandringham (10) Geelong reserves Princes Park 6,000 2007 Geelong reserves (2) Coburg (8) Princes Park 13,842 2008 North Ballarat Port Melbourne (20) Docklands Stadium 11,641 2009 North Ballarat (2) Northern Bullants (5) Docklands Stadium 14,026 2010 North Ballarat (3) Northern Bullants (6) Docklands Stadium 11,000 2011 Port Melbourne (16) Williamstown (11) Docklands Stadium 11,804 2012 Geelong reserves (3) Port Melbourne (21) Docklands Stadium 14,536 2013 Box Hill (2) Geelong reserves (2) Docklands Stadium 15,199 2014 Footscray reserves Box Hill (3) Docklands Stadium 23,816 2015 Williamstown (14) Box Hill (4) Docklands Stadium 12,900 2016 Footscray reserves (2) Casey (2) Docklands Stadium 17,348 2017 Port Melbourne (17) Richmond reserves Docklands Stadium 17,159 2018 Box Hill (3) Casey (3) Docklands Stadium 12,884 2019 Richmond reservesWilliamstown (12) Princes Park 13,165 2020 Season not contested due to COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria 2021 Finals series not contested and premiership not awarded due to COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria 2022 Casey (6)Southport Princes Park 4,500 2023 Gold Coast reservesWerribee (5) Princes Park 7,148 2024 Werribee (2) Southport (2) Princes Park 4,500 2025 (3) Southport (3) Princes Park 8,818 2026 (4) (3) Princes Park 12,941
Division 2 premiers Year Premiers Runners-up Score Venue Crowd Date Report 1961 Northcote Dandenong Toorak Park 10,000 1962 Dandenong Prahran Toorak Park 12,000 1963 Preston Waverley Toorak Park 15,000 1964 Geelong West Sunshine Toorak Park 10,000 1965 Preston (2) Mordialloc Toorak Park 10,000 1966 Prahran Geelong West Toorak Park 10,000 1967 Oakleigh Geelong West (2) Coburg Oval 4,000 1968 Geelong West (2) Williamstown Toorak Park 6,000 1969 Williamstown Sunshine (2) Toorak Park 6,000 1970 Coburg Box Hill Toorak Park 8,000 1971 Sunshine Brunswick Toorak Park 10,000 1972 Geelong West (3) Caulfield Toorak Park 10,000 1973 Caulfield Brunswick (2) Toorak Park 8,000 1974 Coburg (2) Brunswick (3) Toorak Park 11,000 1975 Brunswick Camberwell Toorak Park 9,000 1976 Williamstown (2) Mordialloc (2) Toorak Park 10,000 1977 Mordialloc Yarraville Toorak Park 7,300 1978 Frankston Camberwell Toorak Park 8,000 1979 Camberwell Oakleigh Toorak Park 12,023 1980 Brunswick (2) Yarraville Toorak Park 5,243 1981 Camberwell (2) Waverley (2) Toorak Park 8,250 1982 Northcote (2) Caulfield (2) Toorak Park 6,000 1983 Springvale Brunswick (4) Toorak Park 4,000 1984 Box Hill Oakleigh (2) Toorak Park 10,735 1985 Brunswick (3) Oakleigh (3) St Kilda Cricket Ground 22,341 (C-R) 1986 Box Hill (2) Sunshine (3) St Kilda Cricket Ground 20,146 (C-R) 1987 Prahran (2) Waverley (3) St Kilda Cricket Ground 19,620 (C-R) 1988 Oakleigh (2) Sunshine (4) Windy Hill 22,034 (C-R)
Premierships by team These tables summarise all senior premierships won by each team. The "Grand Final Matches" column includes all Grand Finals and Grand Final Replays listed in the previous section (including the forfeiture in 1904), and because of this, the column will not necessary equal the sum of the premierships and runners-up columns.