Which club won the first VFL Grand Final, played in 1898?

Fitzroy won the first VFL Grand Final, played in 1898.

The Victorian Football League began its premiership competition in 1897, but that season used a finals tournament whose deciding match was not formally called a Grand Final. In 1898, the league introduced the term and staged the first match officially designated as the VFL Grand Final.

Fitzroy defeated Essendon in the deciding match at Brunswick Street Oval. The result gave Fitzroy its second consecutive VFL premiership and established the club as one of the competition’s early powers.

The historical distinction between the 1897 premiership decider and the 1898 Grand Final causes occasional confusion. The first VFL premiers were Essendon in 1897, while Fitzroy were the winners of the first officially named VFL Grand Final. The VFL later became the AFL, but its historical records remain part of the modern competition’s lineage.