Rivalries in theVictorian Football League (VFL) exist between many teams. The competition was founded in1877 as theVictorian Football Association (VFA), and as of 2025, several rivalries have been ongoing for more than 100 seasons.
An official VFL Rivalry Round was held in2008 alongside the same themed round in theAustralian Football League (AFL).[1][2]
The rivalry betweenPort Melbourne andWilliamstown has existed since1886, making it the oldest in the VFL and possibly the oldest inAustralian rules football.[3][4]
In the 1950s, Port Melbourne played in eight grand finals (winning the premiership in1953), while Williamstown won the grand finals in1954,1955 and1956, defeating Port Melbourne in all three matches.[5] Williamstown also won the VFA premiership in1958 and1959.[6] The clubs also played each other in the2011 VFL Grand Final, with Port Melbourne winning by 56 points.[7][8]
Port Melbourne andSandringham are considered some of the strongest VFA/VFL clubs, and were the only two teams to never berelegated to Division 2 of the VFA between1961 and1988.[9][10] The clubs played against each other in grand finals in1947,1977 and2004.[11][12]
TheCoburg Football Club and theNorthern Bullants (formerly known asPreston) are closely located, with their respective home grounds ofCoburg City Oval andPreston City Oval divided by Bell Street inPreston, giving the rivalry the name of the "Battle of Bell Street".[13][14]
Although the VFL has predominantly featured clubs from the state ofVictoria, the competition has included some non-Victorian clubs, including several fromNew South Wales andQueensland that joined after theNorth East Australian Football League (NEAFL) merged with the VFL ahead of the2021 season.
Gold Coast andSouthport are both based on theGold Coast in Queensland, and have played matches against each other since the2011 NEAFL season, with the rivalry known as the "Coast Clash".[15] The clubs met in a preliminary final in2022, with Southport winning and proceeding into the grand final (which it lost toCasey the following week).[16][17]
Brunswick (which folded in1991) andCoburg had a rivalry as two clubs based inMelbourne's northern suburbs, playing each other 104 times between1925 and1990.[18]