The Western Australian Football League was formed in 1885 with three foundation clubs - Rovers, Victorians and Fremantle (no relation to the current AFL club).
History[]
Unions joined the next year, but then Fremantle folded prior to the 1887 season. They were replaced by the West Australian Football Club. In 1889 the WAFC and Victorians merged to form Metropolitans. West Perth joined the competition in 1890 and then absorbed Metropolitans for the 1891 season, while Unions in 1890 adopted Fremantle as their name. In 1895 Imperials joined the competition. In 1898 Imperials folded and reformed as East Fremantle. In 1900 Rovers folded and were replaced by Perth while at the same time Fremantle also folded and were replaced by South Fremantle.
Finals were introduced in 1901 along with two new clubs in North Fremantle and Subiaco. In 1906 Midland Junction and East Perth were added, but Junction were demoted in 1911 and were only re-admitted in 1914. North Fremantle were hit hard by World War 1 and left after the 1915 never to return (this club is apparently not the same one as the one presently playing in the Perth Football League). Midland Junction went the same way after the 1917 season bringing the competition back to six clubs. Claremont arrived in 1926, and then Swan Districts joined in 1934 forming the eight club base that would serve the league for decades. Swan Districts didn't play in 1942 due to World War 2 but aside from that the league stayed stable.
The final five was introduced in 1991 but only lasted until 1994 before going back to the final four. In 1997 the league changed it's name to Westar Rules and admitted the first new club for 63 years in Peel. The name change was reversed for the 2001 season, and the final five was brought back in 2015. In 2019 the competition expanded to ten clubs with the admission of the reserves of the West Coast Eagles, but in 2020 the team dropped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The finals went back to a four for that season.
Ladders (recent)[]
| 1990 | SWND | CLAR | SFRE | EFRE | EPER | PERT | SUBI | WPER | ||
| 1991 | CLAR | SUBI | SWND | PERT | EPER | EFRE | SFRE | WPER | ||
| 1992 | EFRE | SFRE | EPER | SWND | SUBI | PERT | CLAR | WPER | ||
| 1993 | CLAR | WPER | SUBI | SWND | SFRE | EFRE | EPER | PERT | ||
| 1994 | EFRE | CLAR | WPER | SUBI | SWND | SFRE | EPER | PERT | ||
| 1995 | WPER | SUBI | EFRE | SFRE | CLAR | EPER | PERT | SWND | ||
| 1996 | CLAR | EPER | EFRE | WPER | SWND | SFRE | PERT | SUBI | ||
| 1997 | SFRE | EFRE | PERT | EPER | SWND | WPER | SUBI | CLAR | PEEL | |
| 1998 | EFRE | WPER | SUBI | EPER | CLAR | SFRE | SWND | PERT | PEEL | |
| 1999 | WPER | SFRE | SUBI | EFRE | CLAR | PERT | SWND | EPER | PEEL | |
| 2000 | EPER | EFRE | SUBI | CLAR | WPER | SWND | SFRE | PEEL | PERT | |
| 2001 | EPER | SFRE | CLAR | SUBI | WPER | PEEL | PERT | EFRE | SWND | |
| 2002 | EPER | WPER | SUBI | EFRE | PERT | SFRE | CLAR | PEEL | SWND | |
| 2003 | WPER | SUBI | EPER | CLAR | SWND | SFRE | EFRE | PERT | PEEL | |
| 2004 | SUBI | CLAR | SWND | SFRE | EPER | PERT | WPER | PEEL | EFRE | |
| 2005 | SFRE | CLAR | SUBI | SWND | WPER | EPER | EFRE | PERT | PEEL | |
| 2006 | SUBI | SFRE | CLAR | WPER | EPER | SWND | PERT | PEEL | EFRE | |
| 2007 | SUBI | CLAR | SFRE | EPER | WPER | EFRE | SWND | PEEL | PERT | |
| 2008 | SUBI | SWND | WPER | SFRE | EFRE | PEEL | PERT | CLAR | EPER | |
| 2009 | SFRE | SUBI | SWND | WPER | EPER | PERT | EFRE | CLAR | PEEL | |
| 2010 | SWND | CLAR | EPER | EFRE | WPER | SUBI | SFRE | PEEL | PERT | |
| 2011 | CLAR | SUBI | WPER | SFRE | EFRE | PERT | EPER | SWND | PEEL | |
| 2012 | CLAR | EFRE | SWND | EPER | WPER | SFRE | SUBI | PERT | PEEL | |
| 2013 | WPER | EPER | CLAR | SWND | EFRE | PERT | SFRE | SUBI | PEEL | |
| 2014 | SUBI | EPER | EFRE | SWND | CLAR | WPER | SFRE | PEEL | PERT | |
| 2015 | SUBI | WPER | EPER | PEEL | CLAR | SWND | SFRE | EFRE | PERT | |
| 2016 | PEEL | SUBI | SFRE | WPER | EPER | EFRE | CLAR | PERT | SWND | |
| 2017 | PEEL | SUBI | SFRE | SWND | WPER | EPER | CLAR | EFRE | PERT | |
| 2018 | SUBI | WPER | SFRE | CLAR | EPER | PERT | PEEL | SWND | EFRE | |
| 2019 | SUBI | SFRE | CLAR | WCOA | WPER | PERT | PEEL | EFRE | EPER | SWND |
| 2020 | SFRE | CLAR | WPER | PERT | EPER | SUBI | SWND | EFRE | PEEL | |
| 2021 | SUBI | SFRE | CLAR | WPER | SWND | EFRE | PEEL | EPER | PERT | WCOA |
| 2022 | WPER | CLAR | EFRE | PEEL | SFRE | SWND | SUBI | EPER | PERT | WCOA |
| 2023 | EFRE | PEEL | SUBI | CLAR | EPER | WPER | SWND | SFRE | PERT | WCOA |
Abbreviations[]
CLAR - Claremont; EFRE - East Fremantle; EPER - East Perth; PEEL - Peel; PERT - Perth; SFRE - South Fremantle; SUBI - Subiaco; SWND - Swan Districts; WCOA - West Coast; WPER - West Perth
Colour Coding[]
GREY SHADING - Teams that made the finals
| Seasons in the WAFL |
|---|
| 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 • 2019 • 2020 • 2021 |