West Australian Football League

West Australian Football League

Upcoming season or competition: 2024 WAFL season
Formerly	West Australian Football Association (1885–1907) Western Australian National Football League (1931–1979) Western Australia State Football League (1990–1996) Westar Rules (1997–2000)
Sport	Australian rules football
Founded	1885; 139 years ago (1885)
First season	1885; 139 years ago (1885)
Owner(s)	West Australian Football Commission
No. of teams	10
Country	Australia
Venue(s)	various
Most recent champion(s)	East Fremantle (30th premiership)
Most titles	East Fremantle (30)
TV partner(s)	Seven Network
Sponsor(s)	None
Official website	wafl.com.au

The West Australian Football League (WAFL /ˈwɒfəl/ "waffle" or "W-A-F-L") is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from April to September, with the top five teams playing off in a finals series, culminating in a Grand Final. The league also runs reserves, colts (under-19^[1]) and women's competitions.

The WAFL was founded in 1885 as the West Australian Football Association (WAFA), and has undergone a variety of name changes since then, re-adopting its current name in 2001. For most of its existence, the league was considered one of the traditional "big three" Australian rules football leagues, along with the Victorian Football League and South Australian National Football League. However, since the introduction of two Western Australia-based clubs into the Victorian Football League (later renamed the Australian Football League) – the West Coast Eagles in 1987 and the Fremantle Dockers in 1995 – the popularity and standard of the league has decreased to the point where it is considered a feeder competition to the Australian Football League.^{[citation needed]}

Although payments are made to players, it is generally considered to be a semi-professional competition, with a salary cap of A$245,000 per club. The league is currently affiliated with the two Western Australia-based AFL clubs. The competition is governed by the West Australian Football Commission, and is based at Subiaco Oval.