Summary

Alternative Name: Button
Fan badge featuring Tayla Stahl, playing for new AFL Women's competition club Richmond, number 24. Badge was collected by the curator at Princes Park Football Oval, before the Richmond versus North Melbourne match, 23 February 2020.

Physical Description

Round metal button with pin at back, picture of player, name and number on front.

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. The league has continued to grow, with the 2020 season fielding 14 teams, with four new teams: Richmond, Gold Coast, St Kilda and West Coast Eagles. It was organised into what were called A and B conferences, which proved controversial as it meant not every team played every other team and only the top 4 teams from each 'conference' progressed resulting in a unfair result. The year 2020 was also notable for the season being cancelled just prior to the grand final due to the COVID-19 lockdowns so that there was no premiership awarded that year.

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