Geelong president Colin Carter has continued his push for founding clubs in the VFA era to have their premierships included prior to the VFL commencing in 1897.
Carter believes flags won between 1870-1896 should be added to the official record books, meaning certain clubs will be awarded premierships that were abolished by VFL founders in the 1920s.
A proposal was put forward to the AFL commission, which is considering the idea of rewriting the game’s history books.
“Our records at the moment start in 1897 when the VFL started and our records are silent on what happened before that,” Carter told SEN Breakfast.
“But the truth is that 11 of our 12 traditional AFL teams were competing with each other before that.
“If you look at what the VFL founders said in 1897, it’s clear that for the following 30 years that they regarded the years before 1897 as part of their history.
“If you go through all the VFL footy records, for example up until 1925, they ran their list of their competition back to 1870, not 1897, and then suddenly because of football politics between the VFL and the VFA, they wiped out that earlier history.
“So all we’re saying is, let’s re-embrace it; a period which is absolutely where all our clubs were born, and embrace it as in fact the VFL founders did themselves.”
As things stand, Essendon and Carlton have the most VFL/AFL premierships with 16 apiece since the inauguration of the VFL in 1897.
If Carter’s proposal is granted, Carlton would be the outright leader with 22 premierships, followed by Essendon with 20, Geelong and Collingwood with 16 and Melbourne with 15.
South Melbourne (Sydney) (five) and Fitzroy (one) would also have their records boosted.
Listen to Colin Carter’s chat on SEN Breakfast with Garry Lyon and Tim Watson in the player below