AFL under-19s

AFL under-19s

Formerly	VFL thirds VFL under-19s
Sport	Australian rules football
Founded	1946
First season	1946
Ceased	1991
No. of teams	12 (final season)
Country	Australia
Most titles	Richmond (11)
Related competitions	AFL AFL reserves

The AFL under-19s was an Australian rules football competition that operated as a junior competition to the Australian Football League (AFL) from 1946 until the end of 1991.

Prior to 1990, it was known as the VFL thirds or VFL under-19s.

History

In 1946, the Victorian Football League (VFL) introduced a thirds competition for under-19s players. Initially, only 7 clubs competed − Carlton, Essendon, Hawthorn, Melbourne, North Melbourne, Richmond and St Kilda. Several VFL clubs already operated thirds teams in local competitions, while others were affiliated with existing junior clubs.

In 1947, the VFL invited the Doutta Stars Football Club (which competed in the Essendon District Football League) to field a side in the Thirds; the team was known as North Essendon. The side was unsuccessful, and after two seasons a team representing Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) took its place. However, TAA were beaten too heavily, and withdrew from the competition following round 4 of the 1949 season.

By 1950, all VFL clubs (bar Collingwood) were now in the thirds competition. Richmond chose to enter a second team − known as Richmond Juniors. The new side competed for a single season, and Collingwood joined the competition in 1951.

The competition became known as the VFL under-19s beginning in 1960 − a name that continued until the VFL was renamed to the AFL in 1990.

With the focus of the VFL/AFL moving rapidly towards a national competition, the former metropolitan and country zoning recruitment system for the Victorian VFL/AFL clubs was abolished, and the league's under-19 competition was shut down at the end of 1991. A new competition, called the TAC Cup, began in 1992 with teams that were not linked to AFL clubs.

Clubs

Club	Colours	Moniker	First season	Last season	Premierships	Year(s) of premierships
							Carlton		Blues	1946	1991	6	1948, 1949, 1951, 1963, 1978, 1979
Collingwood		Magpies	1951	1991	4	1960, 1965, 1974, 1986
Essendon		Bombers	1946	1991	5	1950, 1952, 1959, 1961, 1966
Fitzroy		Lions	1947	1991	2	1955, 1982
Footscray		Bulldogs	1948	1991	1	1954
Geelong		Cats	1947	1991	1	1962
Hawthorn		Hawks	1946	1991	1	1972
Melbourne		Demons	1946	1991	6	1947, 1953, 1964, 1971, 1981, 1983
North Essendon		Stars	1947	1948	0	−
North Melbourne		Kangaroos	1946	1991	7	1946, 1976, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991
Richmond		Tigers	1946	1991	11	1958, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1985, 1989
Richmond Juniors		Tigers	1950	1950	0	−
St Kilda		Saints	1946	1991	1	1957
Sydney (South Melbourne)		Swans	1947	1991	1	1956
TAA		None	1949	1949	0	−

Premiers

Main article: List of VFL/AFL premiers § VFL/AFL Thirds/Under-19s premierships

Richmond won the most under-19s premierships, with a total of 11.