The
Victorian Football League (VFL) which evolved from the former
Victorian Football Association (VFA), taking its new name as from the 1996 season, is the major state-level
Australian rules football league in
Victoria. For historical purposes, the present VFL is sometimes referred to as the
VFA/VFL, to distinguish it from the present day
Australian Football League (AFL), which was known until 1990 as the Victorian Football League. The VFA was formed in 1877, immediately after the foundation of a similar body in
South Australia and is the second-oldest
Australian rules football league, replacing the loose affiliation of clubs that had been the hallmark of the
early years of a game which was first played as early as the 1850s.