Page "Australian rules football" Paragraph 7

The ANFC ran the Championship of Australia, the first national club competition, which commenced in 1888 and saw clubs from different states compete on an even playing field.

During this time, the Port Adelaide won a record four national club championships.

Although clubs from other states were at times invited, the final was almost always between the premiers from the two strongest state competitions of the time — South Australia and Victoria — and the majority of matches were played in Adelaide at the request of the SAFA / SAFL.

By the 1960s, as VFL clubs increasingly recruited the best players from other states, they began to dominate the competition and the last match was played in 1976, with North Adelaide being the last non-Victorian winner in 1972.

Between 1977 and 1987, the Australian Football Council ( AFC ) in conjunction with the VFL ran a night series, which invited clubs and representative sides from around the country to participate in the " National Football League " for the Wills Cup, however Victorian sides still dominated.