Who are the AFL Football Teams?

Colours and Mascots of the Australian Football League

During the AFL football season footy takes over Melbourne.

I came to Melbourne completely green and after passing by the Parade preceding the AFL Grand Final, I mentioned to my friends who had asked if I had seen the parade that I had seen a couple of ‘chickens’ (people dressed up as chickens) on the road.

This earned me roaring laughter. It was the final between the Sydney Swans and the West Coast Eagles and what I had in fact witnessed was the ‘dance’ of the Eagle and Swan mascot in front of their supporters.

Each of the 16 teams of the Australian Football League has a mascot that represents their team spirit. Besides the eagle and swan, there is a tiger, bulldog, magpie…

I am now learning and tagging along with my son to various footy games.

How AFL Supporters Choose their Teams

The way you traditionally choose your AFL football team in Melbourne is either by being born into a family that is supporting a team, or by choosing your team as you grow up. My son liked the colours of the Bulldogs when he saw them on TV – that was it for him.

Team support is to some extent generational. People choose the winning team of the time and then stick with them – so you get a many supporters belonging to a particular age group for each team.

Once you have a team it you expect to stay with it through rain and shine. Switching teams is almost sacrilege. Nevertheless, there are teams who have fallen out of favour, played unfairly or for decades not been near the top that loose their supporters. And team switching does happen.

AFL Football Teams

Here are the various teams and their mascots. Each team also has a tribal song. The winners song is played at the end of a game.

The Adelaide Crows
The Crows are a young club, established in 1990. However, they have the largest membership of any AFL football club.
They were named AFL football team of the decade in the nineties, winning 2 Premierships in the late nineties. However, they have been disappointing their supporters over the last few years.
The Brisbane Lions
The Lions are a new club, a merger of the Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Football Club. They are now based in Brisbane. They are so far the most successful club the 21st century, having won three successive Grand Finals.
The Carlton Blues
The Blues have had a hard time and have been famous for winning the ‘golden spoon awards’ – that is coming last in the competition. There were some financial irregularities, contributing to a trail of disappointed supporters left in that wake.
However, traditionally they are an old and powerful club. They have won (together with Essendon) the most Premierships in history. Lately, they have recruited some key players and are working on cleaning up their recent reputation.
Their mascot is ‘Captain Carlton’, a superhero dressed in blue.
The Collingwood Magpies
The black and white Magpies are another old, traditionally a working class club. They have won the second-most premierships after Essendon and Carlton.
They are famous for their passionate supporter base, and also known as the ‘team that people either love or hate’
The Essendon Bombers
The Bombers are another old, 1870s, club. They have, together with Carlton, won most football Grand Finals.
Their club is one of the most supported in AFL football. They play the traditional Anzac Day match against Collingwood in the MCG, - the match with the highest attendance after the Grand Final.
The Freemantle Dockers
The Dockers are a young Western Australian club, bearing the Italian colours: green, red and white.
They won the ‘golden spoon’ award once, and made it into one Grand Final without final success.
The Geelong Cats
The Cats are the second oldest and a powerful founding club. They have been very successful, with their 2007 Premiership win being their seventh.
It looks like they have ended a dry spell and are bringing back their most successful time, which was in the fifties.
The Hawthorn Hawks
They won four grand finals in the 1980s and played in seven. However, their win in the 1991 Grand Final ended being their last.
They have strong support throughout Australia and are one of the old established clubs.
The North Melbourne Kangaroos
The ‘Roos’ are another old club. They are unofficially known as the ‘Shinboners’, a term originating in the 19th century abattoirs of North Melbourne.
They have won Premierships, and have battled at the bottom. There have been speculations of moving to the Gold Coast throughout 2007, but in the end decided to stay in Melbourne.
The Melbourne Demons
The Melbourne Football Club was founded in 1859 and is the oldest in Australia. Some claim that it is the oldest sporting club in the world. They were foundations members of the AFL and the football codes.
They had their heydays in the 1950s and 60s, but have of late been disappointing – collecting wooden spoons and financial troubles, and are struggling to win a game.
The Port (Adelaide) Power
Port is an old club from Adelaide. They managed to beat Brisbane in 2004 in the Grand Final.
They also made the Grand Final in 2007, but were beaten badly by Geelong.
The Richmond Tigers
The Tigers are one of the four old AFL football clubs. They won five premierships between the 1960s and 80s, but hit the bottom in the 19902 due to financial difficulties. They have recovered as a club, but have failed to reach their former glory.
Their supporter base is large but has been dormant. They have been seen as arrogant (or the ‘tigers that eat their own young’), but the royalty of their supporters has kept their club together despite winning the wooden spoon in 2007.
The St Kilda Saints
The Saints were formed in the late 1880s in St Kilda, but have moved around since and are now based in Frankston.
They have won one Premiership in the 1960s.
The Sydney Swans
The Swans used to be the South Melbourne Football Club but moved to Sydney in the 1980s. It has won four Grand Finals, and played again for the Premiership in 2006, but was defeated by the West Coast Eagles.
They are now the only AFL club in NSW and draw on this large supporter base, and they still have a support base in Melbourne as well.
The Westcoast Eagles
The Eagles are a young club, formed in the 1980s in Perth. They have been one of the most successful clubs with three premiership wins and two runners up positions since 1992.
They lost their captain to Carlton in 2008, which was a big blow to their club.
The Western Bulldogs
The Dogs used to be the Footscray Football Club, based in the inner West of Melbourne. They are one of the least successful clubs, but have developed a strong support base to dispel that stigma.
They have been playing well and are believed to have the skill to win a Premiership but have not been able to carry this through.

Here is the official AFL website.

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