Summary

Football record for the AFL Women's competition which ran from 2 February until 30 March 2019.
The record documents the entry into the competition of two new teams North Melbourne and Geelong and records all the competition teams and players. The record was collected by the curator at Princes Park Football Oval, before the Carlton versus Brisbane Lions match, 11 March 2019.

Physical Description

Glossy soft cover full colour booklet, 58 pages plus cover. Photograph of three female football players wearing Western Bulldogs Football Club guernsey.

Significance

Statement of Historical Significance:
This collection documents the Australian Football League Women's competition, which was launched on 3 February 2017. This was an event of enormous historical significance - while women have been recorded as playing competition Australian Rules football since the early 20th century, and the AFL supported the introduction of two demonstration matches (Melbourne and Western Bulldogs) in 2015-16, the 2017 competition marked the first offically recognised and supported competition by the AFL. It involved eight teams from five states, playing eachother once over seven rounds around Australia, culminating in a top of the table grand final match (won by the Adelaide Crows). Matches were televised and the first match between Collingwood and Carlton at Princes Park on 3 February which saw a crowd 'lockout' (some 27,000 people attended) demonstrated the community interest and support in a women's competition as well as the historical import of the event. A State of Origin match between Victoria and the Allies was also played on 2 September 2017. The 2018 season also featured Collingwood versus Carlton as the season opener; the competition continuing with the same teams and the competition premiers were the Western Bulldogs. The 2019 season saw the entry of two new teams, Geelong and North Melbourne.

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