Editing Australian rules football (section)

===Emergence of the VFL===
In 1896, delegates from six of the wealthiest VFA clubs—[[Carlton Football Club|Carlton]], [[Essendon Football Club|Essendon]], [[Fitzroy Football Club|Fitzroy]], Geelong, Melbourne and [[Sydney Swans|South Melbourne]]—met to discuss the formation of a breakaway professional competition.{{sfn|Nauright|Parrish|2012|p=351}} Later joined by [[Collingwood Football Club|Collingwood]] and [[St Kilda Football Club|St Kilda]], the clubs formed the [[Victorian Football League (1897–1989)|Victorian Football League]] (VFL), which held [[1897 VFL season|its inaugural season in 1897]]. The VFL's popularity grew rapidly as it made several innovations, such as instituting a finals system, reducing teams from 20 to 18 players, and introducing the [[Laws of Australian rules football#Scoring|behind]] as a score.{{sfn|Nauright|Parrish|2012|p=351–352}} [[Richmond Football Club|Richmond]] and University joined the VFL in 1908, and by 1925, with the addition of [[Hawthorn Football Club|Hawthorn]], [[Footscray Football Club|Footscray]] and [[North Melbourne Football Club|North Melbourne]], it had become the preeminent league in the country and would take a leading role in many aspects of the sport.