Which club won the first VFL premiership in 1897?

Essendon won the first VFL premiership in 1897.

The Victorian Football League began in 1897 after eight clubs broke away from the Victorian Football Association. The inaugural VFL season used a round-robin finals system rather than the modern single Grand Final format. Essendon finished the finals series as premier after defeating Melbourne, Geelong and Collingwood in the deciding stage.

The eight inaugural VFL clubs were Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne. Several of these clubs remain in the modern AFL, although South Melbourne later became the Sydney Swans. The VFL was renamed the Australian Football League in 1990 as clubs from outside Victoria joined the national competition.

The 1897 premiership is sometimes confused with the first VFL Grand Final. Essendon’s title came in the league’s first season, but the competition’s finals structure and terminology were different from those used today.