List of Australian rules football clubs by date of establishment
This is a chronological list of Australian rules football clubs since their formation.
Note that some of these football clubs that formed before 1866 may not have originally played the game known today as Australian rules football. It is more than likely that most of these clubs were influenced the Melbourne Rules of 1859 which were the dominant rules of the day. However many played by their own rules and often compromised rules when playing against other clubs.
Australian rules football clubs by date of establishment
| Founding Date | Football Club | City | State | Senior Team | Note | |
| 1858 | Melbourne | Melbourne | Victoria |  | Australian Football League | Origins can be traced to an 1858 letter in which Tom Wills calls for the formation of a "foot-ball club" with the need of a "code of laws". |
| 1858 | South Yarra† | Melbourne | Victoria | | Defunct | Played it first game against Melbourne on 25 September 1858. Was joined by players of St Kilda in 1865. Merged with the St Kilda Cricketers' Club in 1873 to form the present-day St Kilda Football Club. |
| 1859 | Melbourne University | Melbourne | Victoria | | VAFA | First recorded game was on 28 May 1859 against the original St Kilda Football Club. Disbanded for some time after World War I, leaving the VFL, then reformed with multiple teams in the VAFA. |
| 1859 | St Kilda† | Melbourne | Victoria | | Defunct | First recorded game was on 28 May 1859 against Melbourne University. Played at Alpaca Park until council bailiff did not allow them in 1865. Money from the club went to the cricket club. Most players went to South Yarra, others may of formed the bowls club. In 1872 when a ground was found the club stated again with players returning from South Yarra. Not related to the current St Kilda Football Club. |
| 1859 | Castlemaine* | Castlemaine | Victoria | | Bendigo Football League | Possibly dormant for periods. |
| 1859 | Geelong | Geelong | Victoria | | Australian Football League | One of the founding members of both the VFA and VFL. |
| 1860 April 25 | Richmond† | Melbourne | Victoria | | Defunct | Formed at the Royal Hotel in Melbourne on 25 April 1860. Not related to the Richmond Football Club that formed in 1885 and participates in the Australian Football League. Club dissolved in 1861. |
| 1860 | Old Adelaide† | Adelaide | South Australia | | Defunct | Staged games in the Adelaide Parklands between sides from North and South of the River Torrens. Disbanded in 1893. Not to be confused with the present Adelaide Football Club. |
| 1860 | Ballarat | Ballarat | Victoria | | Ballarat Football League | Established as junior club. Senior club established in 1862 |
| 1861 | Warrnambool | Warrnambool | Victoria | | Hampden FNL | On 28 May 1861, the Warrnambool Examiner published an advertisement of a "foot-ball" game. |
| 1861 | Sandhurst | Bendigo | Victoria | | Bendigo Football League | Alleged to have been founded by J.B. Thompson, one of the inventors of Australian rules football. |
| 1862 | Modbury and Teatree Gully | Adelaide | South Australia | | South Australian Amateur Football League | Accepted an invitation to play the Old Adelaide Football Club on 24 July 1862. Later split into two clubs being the current Modbury Football Club and Tea Tree Gully Football Club. |
| 1862 | Williamstown Club† | Melbourne | Victoria | | Defunct | The first of two Williamstown clubs |
| 1864 | Williamstown | Melbourne | Victoria | | Victorian Football League | |
| 1864 July | Carlton | Melbourne | Victoria | | Australian Football League | Founding member of the VFA and VFL. |
| 1864 | New Town† | Hobart | Tasmania | | Defunct | |
| 1865 August 12 | St Peter's College† | Adelaide | South Australia | | Defunct | St Peter's College Football Club founded in 1865. Played the Adelaide Educational Institute Football Club in 1865 under the Old Adelaide Football Club rules. An external St Peter's Old Collegians Football Club was established in 1928. |
| 1865 August 12 | Adelaide Educational Institute† | Adelaide | South Australia | | Defunct | Played the St Peter's Collegiate Football Club in 1865 under the Old Adelaide Football Club rules. Adelaide Educational Institute closed in 1880. |
| 1865 | Penola | Penola | South Australia | | Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara Football League | Claims that the club was founded in 1865. Meeting held on 25 July 1868. Confirmed to have been challenged by the Mount Gambier Football Club in 1869. |
| 1866 | Kapunda | Kapunda | South Australia | | Barossa Light & Gawler Football Association | Formed by Kapunda copper miners on 18 April 1866 in the North Kapunda Hotel. |
| 1866 May 12 | Hobart Town† | Hobart | Tasmania | | Defunct | |
| 1866 May 22 | Brisbane† | Brisbane | Queensland | | Defunct | Club disbanded in the late 1880s. No connection to Brisbane Bears or Brisbane Lions |
| 1867 August 31 | Mount Gambier† | Mount Gambier | South Australia | | Defunct | Club formed in 1867 and adopted the rules of Australian rules football The club dissolved around 1897. |
| 1868 May 23 | Woodville† | Adelaide | South Australia | | Defunct | Dissolved at the end of the 1877 SAFA season with the majority of the clubs players joining the newly established Norwood Football Club. Not affiliated with the club of the same name that formed in 1938. Referred to as Port Suburban Football Club in its early years. |
| 1868 August 21 | Gawler† | Gawler | South Australia | | Defunct | Founded in 1868. Disbanded in 1890 to form the precursor to the Barossa Light & Gawler Football Association. |
| 1868 | Wharehousemen† | Melbourne | Victoria | | Defunct | |
| 1869 May | Tradesmen† | Mount Gambier | South Australia | | Defunct | |
| 1869 July 24 | Creswick | Creswick | Victoria | | Central Highlands Football League | First game against Kingston on 24 July 1869. |
| 1869 | North Melbourne | Melbourne | Victoria | | Australian Football League | Founded as the "North Melbourne Football Club" in 1869. Amalgamated with "Albert Park" to form "Albert Park-North Melbourne" in 1876. Reformed as the "Hotham Football Club" in 1877. Reverted to the name "North Melbourne Football Club" in 1888. |
| 1870 May 11 | Young Australian† | Adelaide | South Australia | | Defunct | Founded at the Royal Oak Hotel in Adelaide on 11 May 1870. |
| 1870 May 12 | Port Adelaide | Adelaide | South Australia | | Australian Football League | Fielding teams in the SANFL since foundation and in the AFL since 1997. Only pre-existing non-Victorian club to be competing in the Australian Football League. |
| 1870 | Volunteer Artillery† | Brisbane | Queensland | | Defunct | |
| 1870 | Brisbane Grammar School | Brisbane | Queensland | | Defunct | New junior club established in 2005 to participate in Queensland Independent Schools Australian Football League |
| 1870 | Civil Service† | Brisbane | Queensland | | Defunct | |
| 1870 | Ipswich† | Ipswich | Queensland | | Defunct | |
| 1871 | Kensington† | Adelaide | South Australia | | Defunct | Integral club to the codification of Australian rules in South Australia. Folded in 1881 |
| 1871 | Ararat* | Ararat | Victoria | | Wimmera Football League | |
| 1872 | Lilydale | Lilydale | Victoria | | 1st Div Eastern Football League | Formerly Yarra Valley Football League, Mountain District Football League, Eastern Districts Football League |
| 1872, 26 April | Kent Terrace | Adelaide | South Australia | | Defunct | |
| 1873 | Essendon | Melbourne | Victoria | | Australian Football League | Founding member of the VFL. |
| 1873 April 2 | St Kilda | Melbourne | Victoria | | Australian Football League | Founding member of the VFA and VFL. |
| 1873 | Hawthorn† | Melbourne | Victoria | | Defunct | The continuity of clubs with this name is disputed. The existing Hawthorn Football Club is purported to have formed in 1901. |
| 1873 | Port District | Adelaide | South Australia | | SAAFL | Founded as the LeFevre Peninsula Football Club in 1873. Later renamed Semaphore Central in 1898. In 1979 absorbed the Exeter Football Club and renamed as the Port District Football Club. |
| 1874 May 29 | Willunga | Willunga | South Australia | | Great Southern Football League | 1877 foundation member of SAFA – which became SANFL. |
| 1874 June 8 | Rochester | Rochester | Victoria | | Goulburn Valley Football League | |
| 1874 | South Melbourne | South Melbourne | Victoria | | Australian Football League | Relocated to Sydney in 1982. |
| 1874 | Port Melbourne | Melbourne | Victoria | | Victorian Football League | |
| 1874 | Penshurst | Penshurst | Victoria | | Mininera & District Football League | |
| 1875 May 22 | Casterton | Casterton | Victoria | | Western Border Football League | |
| 1875 | Victorian† | Adelaide | South Australia | | Defunct | Folded in 1884. In its final year of existence it was referred to as the North Adelaide Football Club. It is no relation to the present North Adelaide Football Club. |
| 1875 July 16 | Launceston | Launceston | Tasmania | | Tasmanian Football League | |
| 1876 | South Adelaide | Adelaide | South Australia | | SANFL | Merged with a club of the same name to form the modern club in 1876 |
| 1876 | Inglewood | Inglewood | Victoria | | Loddon Valley Football League | |
| 1876 | Heidelberg | Melbourne | Victoria | | Northern Football League | |
| 1876 | Winchelsea | Winchelsea | Victoria | | Geelong & District Football League | |
| 1876 | Portland FNCC | Portland | Victoria | | Hampden FNL | |
| 1877 April 7 | South Park† | Adelaide | South Australia | | Defunct | At the end of the 1884 season South Park disbanded, with many of its better players transferring to South Adelaide. |
| 1877 | Britannia† | Collingwood | Victoria | | Defunct | Colours were blue, red and white. Played their first games in 1878. Played out of Victoria Park from 1882 and were a precursor to the Collingwood Football Club's formation in 1892. |
| 1877 | Camperdown | Camperdown | Victoria | | Hampden FNL | |
| 1877 | Bankers† | Adelaide | South Australia | | Defunct | Weak fledgling club that was a founding member of the SAFA. Folded at the end of 1877. |
| 1877 | Footscray | Melbourne | Victoria | | Australian Football League | The clubs name remains the Footscray Football Club Pty Ltd but now trades & is known as "Western Bulldogs". The letter FFC can still be located near the neck on the back of the jumpers identifying the clubs true name. In 1879 Prince Eugene Louis Napoleon, the 'Prince Imperial' and heir to the French throne, was ambushed and killed by Zulu warriors during the Anglo-Zulu war in Africa. Out of respect to him, the Footscray Football Club changed their name to the prince Imperials Football Club. In 1882 it decided to revert to the name 'Footscray' and therefore 1883 can not have been its formation date. |
| 1877 | Beechworth | Beechworth | Victoria | | Tallangatta & District Football League | |
| 1878 | Norwood | Adelaide | South Australia | | SANFL | |
| 1878 | West Melbourne† | Melbourne | Victoria | | Defunct | merged with North Melbourne Football Club |
| 1878 | New Norfolk District | New Norfolk | Tasmania | | Southern Football League | |
| 1879 March 27 | Reform† | Wellington | New Zealand |  | Defunct | |
| 1879 July 12 | Angaston | Angaston | South Australia | | Barossa Light & Gawler Football Association | |
| 1879 | Cobden | Cobden | Victoria | | Hampden FNL | |
| 1879 | Aldinga | Aldinga | South Australia | | Southern Football League | One of four teams that founded what is now known as the Southern Football League in 1879. |
| 1880 March 25 | Royal Park† | Adelaide | South Australia | | Defunct | |
| 1880 | Macclesfield | Adelaide | South Australia | | Hills Football League | |
| 1880 | East Sydney† | Sydney | New South Wales | | Defunct | Formed in 1880 as the first Australian Rules club in New South Wales, participating in the NSWAFA in 1881. In 1926, it merged with Paddington AFC to become the Eastern Suburbs AFC. This club again merged with the University club to become the Uni-NSW Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs AFC in 1999. |
| 1881 | Murchison | Murchison | Victoria | | Kyabram District Football League | |
| 1881 | North Hobart | Hobart | Tasmania | | Tasmanian Football League | |
| 1881 | Sydney† | Sydney | New South Wales | | Defunct | Disbanded in 1954. |
| 1882 April | Rovers† | Perth | Western Australia | | Defunct | Started as a rugby club but switched to Australian rules in 1885. Inaugural premiers of the WA competition in 1885 and again in 1891. Disbanded in 1899. |
| 1882 April | Fremantle*† | Fremantle | Western Australia | | Defunct | No relation to the present-day club by the same name. Formed as a rugby club but switched to Australian rules in 1885. Disbanded at the end of 1886. |
| 1882 | Unions*† | Fremantle | Western Australia | | Defunct | Formed as a rugby club in 1882, Unions switched to Australian rules in 1885. Its remnants were eventually folded into South Fremantle. |
| 1883 September 26 | Fitzroy | Melbourne | Victoria | | VAFA | Playing operations merged with the Brisbane Bears in 1996, but the club continues to trade as standalone entity, |
| 1885 | Day Dream | Silverton | New South Wales | | ||
| 1885 | Silverton | Silverton | New South Wales | | ||
| 1885 | Brighton† | Adelaide | South Australia | | Defunct | In 1938 Brighton amalgamated with the Seacliff Football Club to form the Brighton and Seacliff Football Club. At the end of the 1990 season the BSFC merged with Brighton High Old Scholars to form the Brighton Bombers. |
| 1885 | Richmond | Melbourne | Victoria | | Australian Football League | Joined the VFL in 1908. |
| 1885 | Victorians | Perth | Western Australia | | West Australian Football League | In 1889, the club merged with the West Australian Football Club and became Metropolitans. In 1891 it became West Perth, the name by which it is still known. |
| 1885 | Rosewater | Adelaide | South Australia | | South Australian Amateur Football League | |
| 1886 | Koroit | Koroit | Victoria | | Hampden FNL | |
| 1887 | Kermandie | Geeveston | Tasmania | | Defunct | - |
| 1887 | Sydney University ANFC | Sydney | New South Wales | | NEAFL | SUANFC claims to be a spin-off of Australia's oldest rugby union club, Sydney University Football Club founded in 1865, which experimented with Australian rules in its early years. If the claim is accepted, this would make SUANFC the oldest Australian rules football club in NSW. However it did not play an Australian rules fixture until 1887. |
| 1888 | Healesville | Healesville | Victoria | | Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League | |
| 1889 March 21 | South Gawler | Gawler | South Australia | | Barossa Light & Gawler Football Association | |
| 1889 | Yankalilla | Yankalilla | South Australia | | Great Southern Football Association | |
| 1889 | Cranbourne | Cranbourne | Victoria | | Casey Cardinia Football League | |
| 1891 | Marion | Adelaide | South Australia | | SAAFL | |
| 1891 | Centrals† | Perth | Western Australia | | Defunct | |
| 1891 | Cheltenham | Cheltenham | Victoria | | Southern Football Netball League | |
| 1892 February 12 | Collingwood | Melbourne | Victoria | | Australian Football League | A meeting was held at the Collingwood town hall on Friday 12 February 1892 to announce the foundation of the Collingwood Football Club. |
| 1892 | Imperials† | Perth | Western Australia | | Defunct | |
| 1892 | Corryong FNC* | Corryong | Victoria | | Upper Murray Football Netball League | |
| 1892 | Cudgewa FNC* | Cudgewa | Victoria | | Upper Murray Football Netball League | |
| 1892 | Federal FNC* | Corryong | Victoria | | Upper Murray Football Netball League | Founded as the "Mount Elliot Football Club" in 1892 before being renamed to "Federal Football Club" in 1901. |
| 1893 | North Adelaide | Adelaide | South Australia | | SANFL | Originally known as the Medindie Football Club. |
| 1896 | Albury | Albury | New South Wales | | Ovens and Murray League | |
| 1897 | South Bunbury | Bunbury | Western Australia | | SWFL | South West Football League |
| 1898 | East Fremantle* | Fremantle | Western Australia | | West Australian Football League | |
| 1899 | Henley | Adelaide | South Australia | | SAAFL | |
| 1899 | North Broken Hill | Broken Hill | New South Wales | | Broken Hill Football League | |
| 1900 April 20 | South Fremantle | Fremantle | Western Australia | | West Australian Football League | |
| 1900 | South Broken Hill | Broken Hill | New South Wales | | Broken Hill Football League | |
| 1901 | Sturt | Adelaide | South Australia | | SANFL | |
| 1901 | Kangarilla | Adelaide | South Australia | | Hills Football League | |
| 1901 | Walkerville | Adelaide | South Australia | | South Australian Amateur Football League | |
| 1901 | Hawthorn | Melbourne | Victoria | | Australian Football League | |
| 1902 | Kalkee | Kalkee | Victoria | | Horsham & District Football League | |
| 1903 | Echunga | Adelaide | South Australia | | Hills Football League | |
| 1903 | Balaklava | Balaklava | South Australia | | Adelaide Plains Football League | |
| 1903 | North Shore | Sydney | New South Wales | | Sydney Australian Football League | |
| 1905 | Wynnum† | Brisbane | Queensland | | Defunct | Unrelated to the present day Wynnum Football Club that plays in the QAFL. |
| 1905 | Locomotives† | Brisbane | Queensland | | Defunct | |
| 1906 March 26 | Adelaide University | Adelaide | South Australia | | SAAFL | |
| 1906 | Koonibba | Koonibba | South Australia | | The oldest surviving Aboriginal football club in Australia. | |
| 1906 | Langhorne Creek | Langhorne Creek | South Australia | | Great Southern Football League | |
| 1907 | Hamley Bridge | Hamley Bridge | South Australia | | Adelaide Plains Football League | |
| 1908 | Loxton | Loxton | South Australia | | Riverland Football League | |
| 1908 | Clayton | Melbourne | Victoria | | Southern Football League | Have been known as the Magpies, currently known as The Clays. |
| 1909 | Berri | Berri | South Australia | | Riverland Football League | |
| 1910 | Yeronga | Brisbane | Queensland | | AFLQ State Association | Originally known as South Brisbane |
| 1911 | Carrum† | Carrum | Victoria | | Defunct | Went into recess in 1996. Reformed in 2013 as the Carrum Patterson Lakes Football Club |
| 1912 | Melbourne | Victoria | | Victorian Amateur Football League | ||
| 1913 | Heatherton | Heatherton | Victoria | | Southern Football League | Originally named the Heatherton Freighters they are now known as the Tunners |
| 1918 | Murrumbeena | Melbourne | Victoria | | Southern Football League | The club began as an Under 18 team in 1918, playing in the Caulfield-Oakleigh-Dandenong Junior Football League. |
| 1919 | Edwardstown | Adelaide | South Australia | | SAAFL | |
| 1920 | Glenelg | Adelaide | South Australia | | South Australian National Football League | |
| 1921 | Encounter Bay | Encounter Bay | South Australia | | Great Southern Football League | |
| 1921 | Oxford University | Oxford | United Kingdom |  | ||
| 1924 | Mayne | Everton Hills | Queensland | | AFLQ State Association | formed as a junior club and became senior club in 1925 |
| 1926 | Colonel Light Gardens | Mortlock Park Colonel Light Gardens | South Australia | | SAAFL | |
| 1931 | Imperial | Murray Bridge | South Australia | | River Murray Football League | |
| 1935 April | Coorparoo | Brisbane | Queensland | | QANFL, QAFL | Seniors folded in 1995 but the Junior club still operate out of Giffin Park. |
| 1947 | Morningside | Brisbane | Queensland | | AFLQ State League | |
| 1956 | University of Queensland | Brisbane | Queensland | | AFLQ State Association | |
| 1961 | Southport | Southport | Queensland | | AFLQ State League | |
| 1963 | Christies Beach | Adelaide | South Australia | | Southern Football League | |
| 1970 October 4 | Coolaroo | Toowoomba | Queensland | | AFL Darling Downs | |
| 1970 | Broadbeach | Broadbeach | Queensland | | AFLQ State League | |
| 1970 | Mount Gravatt | Brisbane | Queensland | | AFLQ State League | |
| 1971 | Dysart* | Dysart | Queensland | | Central Queensland Highlands AFL Defunct League | Club still continues but has no league to play in. |
| 1972 | West Bundaberg | Bundaberg | Queensland | | AFL Wide Bay | Now known as Brothers Bulldogs Bundaberg |
| 1974 | North Shore Tigers | Auckland | New Zealand | | Auckland AFL | |
| 1977 | Hervey Bay | Hervey Bay | Queensland | | AFL Wide Bay | Started as Seahawks – now Bombers |
| 1977 | Maryborough | Maryborough | Queensland | | AFL Wide Bay | Started as Tigers – now Bears |
| 1981 | University Blues | Auckland | New Zealand | | Auckland AFL | |
| 1981 | Brothers Rockhampton | Rockhampton | Queensland | | AFL Capricornia | |
| 1986 | Brisbane Bears† | Brisbane | Queensland | | Defunct | Participated in the VFL/AFL from 1987 until 1996, then merged with Fitzroy to form the Brisbane Lions. |
| 1986 | West Coast Eagles | Perth | Western Australia | | Australian Football League | Participant in the VFL/AFL since the 1987 VFL season. |
| 1989 | Hong Kong Dragons | Hong Kong | China |  | South China AFL | |
| 1990 February 14 | Wandsworth Demons | London | England | | AFL London | |
| 1990 September 12 | Adelaide Crows | Adelaide | South Australia | | Australian Football League | Participant in the Australian Football League since the 1991 AFL season. |
| 1991 November | Tokyo Goannas | Tokyo | Japan |  | Japan AFL Top League | |
| 1993 April 24 | Singapore Wombats | Singapore | Singapore |  | AFL Asian Championships | |
| 1995 | Fremantle | Fremantle | Western Australia | | Australian Football League | Participant in the Australian Football League since the 1995 AFL season. |
| 1995 | Frankfurt Redbacks | Frankfurt | Germany |  | Australian Football League Germany | |
| 1996 | Brisbane Lions | Brisbane | Queensland | | Australian Football League | Merger of Fitzroy and the Brisbane Bears. Participating in the Australian Football League since the 1997 AFL season. |
| 1996 | Cincinnati Dockers | Cincinnati | United States |  | United States Australian Football League | |
| 1996 | Louisville Kings | Louisville | United States | | United States Australian Football League | |
| 1996 | Peel Thunder | Mandurah | Western Australia | | West Australian Football League | Participant in the West Australian Football League since the 1997 WAFL season. |
| 1997 | Across The Waves Bundaberg Eagles | Bundaberg | Queensland | | AFL Wide Bay | Merger of Norths and Souths |
| 1997 | Boston Demons | Boston | United States | | United States Australian Football League | |
| 1997 | Nashville Kangaroos | Nashville | United States | | United States Australian Football League | |
| 1997 | North Carolina Tigers | Raleigh | United States | | United States Australian Football League | |
| 1997 | St. Louis Blues | St. Louis | United States | | United States Australian Football League | |
| 1997 | Denver Bulldogs | Denver | United States | | United States Australian Football League | |
| 1997 | San Diego Lions | San Diego | United States | | United States Australian Football League | |
| 1998 | Atlanta Kookaburras | Atlanta | United States | | United States Australian Football League | |
| 1998 | Chicago Swans | Chicago | United States | | United States Australian Football League | |
| 1998 | Paris Cockerels | Paris | France |  | Championnat de France de Football Australien | |
| 2001 January | Vancouver Cougars | Vancouver | Canada |  | British Columbia Australian Football League | |
| 2001 | Belfast Redbacks | Belfast | Northern Ireland |  | Australian Rules Football League of Ireland | |
| 2002 | Austin Crows | Austin | United States | | United States Australian Football League | |
| 2004 | Bay Power | Hervey Bay | Queensland | | AFL Wide Bay | Replacement Club for Fraser Coast |
| 2009 | Gold Coast Suns | Gold Coast | Queensland | | Australian Football League | Participant in the Australian Football League since the 2011 AFL season. |
| 2009 | Greater Western Sydney Giants | Sydney | New South Wales | | Australian Football League | Participant in the Australian Football League since the 2012 AFL season. |
| 2010 | Los Angeles Dragons | Los Angeles | United States | | United States Australian Football League | |
| 2013 | Carrum Patterson Lakes | Carrum | Victoria | | Southern Football League | Takes on the history of the Carrum Football Club Est. 1911. Now named 'Carrum Patterson Lakes' to incorporate the suburb of Patterson Lakes which was developed adjacent to Carrum in the 1970s |