AE Ferris, artist and lithographer, Victorian Footballers 1884, coloured chalk lithograph, Gift of Troedel & Cooper, 1968, H2000.212/16

The Melbourne Football Club (established in 1858) and the Geelong Football Club (1859) are the league's two oldest clubs. Clubs rapidly formed throughout Victoria and included: South Yarra (1860), Richmond (1860), Carlton (1864), Albert Park (1864, later to become South Melbourne), Royal Park (1864), University and Warehouseman's Clubs (1866), Hotham (1869, now North Melbourne), Essendon (1873), St Kilda (1873), Fitzroy (1882), Footscray (1883) and Collingwood (1892, after merging with Britannia).