Updated VFL/AFL premiership tally

[Dan26]

League: VFL/AFL

• Competition start date: 1897
• Last year completed 2024
• Seasons completed 128

Joined 1897: Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, St.Kilda, Geelong, Melbourne, South Melbourne, Fitzroy
Joined 1908: Richmond, University
Left competition 1914: University
Joined 1925: Hawthorn, Nth.Melb, Western Bulldogs
Joined 1987: West Coast, Brisbane Bears
Joined 1991: Adelaide
Joined 1995: Fremantle
Left competition 1996: Fitzroy, Brisbane Bears
Joined 1997: Brisbane Lions, Port Adelaide
Joined 2011: Gold Coast
Joined 2012: GWS Giants


Order of premiership success (as a percentage of time in the competition)
1. Brisbane Lions 4 (28 years).............one every 7.0 years
2. Hawthorn 13 (100 years)................one every 7.69 years
3. Essendon 16 (126 years)................ one every 7.88 years
4. Collingwood 16 (128 years)...................one every 8.0 years
5. Carlton 16 (128 years)...................one every 8.0 years
6. Richmond 13 (117 years).................one every 9.0 years
7. West Coast 4 (38 years)................one every 9.5 years
8. Melbourne 13 (125 years)...............one every 9.61 years
9. Geelong 10 (125 years)...................one every 12.5 years
10. Fitzroy 8 (100 years 1897-1996)....one every 12.5 years
11. Adelaide 2 (34 years).....................one every 17 years
12. North Melbourne 4 (100 years).................one every 25 years
13. Sydney/Sth.Melb 5 (127 years).......one every 25.4 years
14. Port Adelaide 1 (28 years)...............one every 28 years
15. Western Bulldogs 2 (100 years)........one every 50 years
16. St.Kilda 1 (126 years)...................one every 126 years
17. University 0 (7 years 1908-14)..............NEVER WON
18. Brisbane Bears 0 (10 years 1987-1996).... NEVER WON
19. GWS Giants 0 (13 years)........................NEVER WON
20. Gold Coast 0 (14 years)........................NEVER WON
21. Fremantle 0 (30 years)....... ..................NEVER WON

 

[Bunk Moreland]

The Brisbane Bears are the Brisbane Lions.

Knocks them well down the order.

You didn’t reset any other clubs when they changed nicknames or colours.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

By the same token that Sydney and South are joined so should Fitzroy and Brisbane.
They still trade under those names

Current details for ABN 43 054 263 473 | ABN Lookup

abr.business.gov.au

 

[Meteoric Rise]

Interesting, those recent 3 flags by the Tigers took them from above Geelong to further above Geelong.

 

[Roylion]

By the same token that Sydney and South are joined so should Fitzroy and Brisbane.
They still trade under those names

Current details for ABN 43 054 263 473 | ABN Lookup

abr.business.gov.au

Fitzroy and the Brisbane Bears / Lions are two different clubs.

Name:	BRISBANE BEARS-FITZROY FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED
ACN:	054 263 473
ABN:	43 054 263 473 (External Link)
Registration date:	16/12/1991
Next review date:	16/12/2023
Former name(s):	BRISBANE BEARS FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED, NEW BEARS LIMITED
Status:	Registered
Type:	Australian Public Company, Limited By Guarantee
Locality of registered office:	SPRINGFIELD CENTRAL QLD 4300
Regulator:	Australian Securities & Investments Commission

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Fitzroy and the Brisbane Bears / Lions are two different clubs.

Were.

I would argue two clubs that merge become 1 club.

 

[Cyclops]

Great thread Dan, I agree there might be some tweaking needed with your definitions but this is meat and potatoes footy analysis and provokes a lot of great ideas.

You (or other posters less lazy than me) could use this as a basis for further analysis, you could add weighting for size of comp, tampering (eg draft, fs, academies, COLA etc) lms travelled per flag etc.

Were.

I would argue two clubs that merge become 1 club.

You'd be correct. However, Brisbane did not merge with Fitzroy.

You gon get Roylion 'd.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Great thread Dan, I agree there might be some tweaking needed with your definitions but this is meat and potatoes footy analysis and provokes a lot of great ideas.

You (or other posters less lazy than me) could use this as a basis for further analysis, you could add weighting for size of comp, tampering (eg draft, fs, academies, COLA etc) lms travelled per flag etc.


You'd be correct. However, Brisbane did not merge with Fitzroy.

You gon get Roylion 'd.

Lions no. But the bears did. There's even an extremely long article on the lion's website that goes through every last detail, including the North Melbourne attempt.

 

[Roylion]

Were.

I would argue two clubs that merge become 1 club.

We've gone through this ad nauseum. Brisbane rebranded from the Bears to the Lions at the end of 1996. Therefore the Brisbane Lions Football Club have 4 premierships (2001, 2002, 2003, 2024). Fitzroy have eight VFL-AFL premierships (1898, 1899, 1904, 1905, 1913, 1916, 1922, 1944)

 

[Roylion]

Lions no. But the bears did. There's even an extremely long article on the lion's website that goes through every last detail, including the North Melbourne attempt.

I'm a current shareholder of the Fitzroy Football Club and have been since the 80s. The club still exists in its own right, fully independent of the Brisbane Bears/Lions.

 

[Roylion]

You'd be correct. However, Brisbane did not merge with Fitzroy.

You gon get Roylion 'd.

Nearly 30 years after the event there is still a misconception about what actually happened in 1996. AFL marketing has been very effective.

 

[Cyclops]

Nearly 30 years after the event there is still a misconception about what actually happened in 1996. AFL marketing has been very effective.

Yep, you're doing your bit.

Hope Dan tidies that bit up because its a riipping idea.

Hawks can make a case for their excellent strike rate. Ditto Essendon over the truly long haul (I rate this).

There's aspects like "firemen and policeman's flags" which was a derogatory term thrown at Melbourne Richmond and Essendon for winning some flags during WWII (I think this is unfair, Richmond didn't recruit cops to avoid conscription), and the extremely corrupt country zones era 1960's-1980's (where Carlton wangled extremely favourable zones, and then refused to rotate once it became clear they hit the jackpot): Hawthorn and St Kilda did well too, although their success seems to have been incidental to Sir Kenneth Luke's amazing rort.

I'd argue #VICBIAS can be thrown in, how hard was it for Brisbane to succeed, even when they had a mini-COLA? I think Sydney, despite having loads of help, still faces a massive hurdle to win a flag, and for Port, Freo etc its many times harder.