Tony Liberatore of Footscray won the Brownlow Medal in 1990. This was the first year of the national competition - the AFL - Australian Football League.
Edward Greeves of Geelong won the very first Brownlow ever awarded in the VFL - Victorian Football League: in those days, the competitions were run state by state, separately. The AFL is the national competition.
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The first AFL (meaning Australian Football League) season was in 1990 and the premiership was won by Collingwood.
Before the competition became national in 1990, states ran their own separate competitions: what became the AFL was previously, largely, the VFL - the Victorian Football League.
The winning team of the very first VFL season, in 1897, was Essendon.
The first premiership under the name 'AFL' was won by Collingwood in 1990.
However, prior to that the competition was known as the 'VFL' (Victorian Football League). Introduction of teams in Perth and Brisbane in 1987 (combined with the relocation of South Melbourne to Sydney in 1982) lead to the name VFL being unsuitable so the name was changed to AFL (Australian Football League) to better reflect the national reach of the competition.
The first premiership overall (under the VFL name) was won by Essendon in 1897.
The first VFL/AFL Grand Final was in 1898 when Fitzroydefeated Essendon 5.8 (38) to 3.5 (23) at the St Kilda Cricket Ground.
Depends. The AFL derived from the VFL. The VFL started in 1897 and that premiership won by Essendon. The VFL was renamed AFL in 1990 and that premiership won by Collingwood.