The popularity of AFL in Queensland continues to grow with AFL Queensland today announcing 2018 participation grew by 5.2%.

Overall all competitions and programs grew to 265,760 participants.

Community Club participation continued to show healthy growth, with participation in club footy growing 3.5% to 30,351 participants.

AFL Queensland CEO, Dean Warren, said he was pleased with the continued growth of AFL across the state.

“I’m delighted with the continued growth of AFL in Queensland, in particular our key areas of clubs, schools and female football.”

"AFL Queensland is committed to our vision of ensuring AFL is the most progressive and accessible team sport in Queensland, our 2018 participation results are a positive sign that we are on our way to achieving that vision."

“I’d like to thank the wonderful Queensland footy community across our state. The ongoing dedication of our Leagues, Coaches, Administrators and Volunteers is outstanding and vital to nurturing growth across all our regions ”

AFL school competition participation grew a further 4% in 2018 to almost 50,000 participants, making the AFL school community in Queensland the third largest school participation base in the country behind only Victoria and Western Australia. 

Female participation in Queensland also grew by an impressive 18.85%, recording over 110,000 total participants. Queensland sees females account for the greatest proportion of total participants in the country, with women representing 42.06% of all participants in the state.

AFL General Manager of Game Development, Andrew Dillon, was at an Open Skills AFL Wheelchair session on Sunday to announce the 2018 participation figures.

“Participation in Australian Football is continuing to increase year on year as a result of the hard work and commitment of our dedicated volunteers in conjunction with the AFL’s commitment to increase inclusion and diversity in our game through the introduction of new AFL inclusion programs,” Mr Dillon said.

“The NAB AFL Women’s Competition has played a key role in contributing to an outstanding increase in football participation, growing by 14.42 per cent to reach a figure of 530,166, reflecting 32 per cent of all participation.

The AFL announced that national participation in AFL competitions and programs grew to an impressive 1,649,178, up 6.54 per cent. All states and territories once again saw an increase in overall participation in areas including NAB AFL Auskick, female football and community football.

Key AFL Queensland statistics for 2018:

  • Total participation- 265,760 (up 5.2 per cent)
  • Community Club participation- 30,531 (up 3.5 per cent)
  • NAB AFL Auskick participation- 29,116 (up 1.81 per cent) across 966 Auskick centres
  • AFL 9's participation- 3,504
  • School programs and competition participation- 202,609 (third highest participation behind Victoria and WA)
  • Female participation- 111,642 (up 18.85 per cent)
  • Accredited coaches- 4,088
  • Accredited umpires- 1,271 (up 6.6 per cent)
  • Regions with the greatest level of participation were;
    • ​Moreton Bay North
    • Brisbane Inner West
    • North West Brisbane
    • Moreton Bay South
    • Gold Coast North