AFLW expansion provides new opportunities in women's football

The AFL has announced that it will field an 18-team NAB AFLW competition from the 2022-2023 season onwards, with four clubs - Essendon, Hawthorn, Port Adelaide and Sydney - all granted AFLW licenses to enter in season seven.

The expansion comes at an exciting time for women’s football, as the success of the NAB AFLW competition and other women’s competitions has seen female participation numbers grow to over 600,000 nationally.

In Victoria, there are around 1100 women and girls community football teams compared to 355 in 2016.

The strength of the female football talent pool across Victoria was on show at the recent NAB AFLW Draft, with 28 players drafted from Victoria out of a total of 59 players, and representing community clubs right across the state.

The inclusion of new teams at the elite level, including two from Victoria, is important for community leagues and female footballers, as it creates more opportunities for those aspiring to compete at the elite level.

AFL General Manager Women’s Football Nicole Livingstone said that allowing all four remaining clubs to enter the NAB AFL Women’s competition by season seven, would provide further opportunities for women in our game.

“Our primary objective is to provide women and girls with an equal opportunity to play elite Australian Football and to increase the female participation and interest in our game,” said Livingstone.

CLICK HERE to read the full announcement at womens.afl.