Collingwood s Quest for More: Can They Add to Their Premiership Title Collection?

With 16 Premierships each, Collingwood, Carlton and Essendon jointly hold the record for most titles in the Australian Football League. 2 min By Anjishnu Roy 22 April 2024 15:20 GMT+1 Collingwood players lift the Premiership Cup. (Getty Images) The Australian Football League (AFL), the premier competition of Australian rules football, has seen 16 winners since its inception in 1897. Known as the Victorian Football League till 1989, the AFL currently features 18 teams with each of Australia’s five mainland states having representations. Currently, the season runs from March to September and the side that finishes on top with the most points wins the minor Premiership. The top eight teams qualify for a four-round finals series and the Premiership is decided through the AFL Grand Final. Reigning champions Collingwood secured their 16th Premiership after a close victory over the three-time winners Brisbane Lions in the 2023 AFL Grand Final in Melbourne. The win saw them join Carlton and Essendon in the record books as the teams with the most Premiership wins in the AFL. Based in Melbourne, Collingwood boast another remarkable record of winning the most consecutive Premierships, a feat achieved with four titles from 1927 to 1930. Additionally, the club has reached the Grand Finals a record 45 times. However, they also bear the distinction of enduring the most losses in the Grand Finals, with 29 defeats. Essendon were the inaugural champions in 1897 but the record 16-time champions have made the Grand Final only three times since 1990. They last won the Premiership in 2000 and finished runners-up in 2001 in their last appearance at the Grand Finals. Joint record-holders Carlton last won a title in 1995. As a result of several equalisation policies added to the league in the 1980s, the AFL has seen much more even competition amongst teams. This is proven by the fact that the league has witnessed 13 different Premiers since 1990, compared to only five teams that won the Premiership between 1967 and 1989. Greater Western Sydney was the latest addition to the league in 2012 and Tasmania will join the AFL in 2028. Besides Gold Coast, Fremantle and Greater Western Sydney, every team currently competing in the AFL has won the Premiership. Gold Coast, founded in 2009, is the only team that has yet to have played in the Grand Final. AFL Premiership winners AFL Premiership winners list AFL Club Years AFL Premierships Won AFL Premiership-winning season(s) Collingwood 1897–present 16 1902, 1903, 1910, 1917, 1919, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1935, 1936, 1953, 1958, 1990, 2010, 2023 Essendon 1897–present 16 1897, 1901, 1911, 1912, 1923, 1924, 1942, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1962, 1965, 1984, 1985, 1993, 2000 Carlton 1897–present 16 1906, 1907, 1908, 1914, 1915, 1938, 1945, 1947, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1995 Richmond 1908–present 13 1920, 1921, 1932, 1934, 1943, 1967, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1980, 2017, 2019, 2020 Hawthorn 1925–present 13 1961, 1971, 1976, 1978, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015 Melbourne 1897–present 13 1900, 1926, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1948, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1964, 2021 Geelong 1897–present 10 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2022 Fitzroy 1897–1996 8 1898, 1899, 1904, 1905, 1913, 1916, 1922, 1944 South Melbourne/Sydney 1897–present 5 1909, 1918, 1933, 2005, 2012 North Melbourne/Kangaroos 1925–present 4 1975, 1977, 1996, 1999 West Coast 1987–present 4 1992, 1994, 2006, 2018 Brisbane Lions 1997–present 3 2001, 2002, 2003 Footscray/Western Bulldog 1925–present 2 1954, 2016 Adelaide 1991–present 2 1997, 1998 St Kilda 1897–present 1 1966 Port Adelaide 1997–present 1 2004