AFL under-19s

The AFL under-19s was an Australian rules football competition that operated as a junior competition to the Australian Football League (AFL) from 1946 until the end of 1991.

Prior to 1990, it was known as the VFL thirds or VFL under-19s.

History
In 1946, the Victorian Football League (VFL) introduced a thirds competition for under-19s players. Initially, only 7 clubs competed − Carlton, Essendon, Hawthorn, Melbourne, North Melbourne, Richmond and St Kilda. Several VFL clubs already operated thirds teams in local competitions, while others were affiliated with existing junior clubs.

In 1947, the VFL invited the Doutta Stars Football Club (which competed in the Essendon District Football League) to field a side in the Thirds; the team was known as North Essendon. The side was unsuccessful, and after two seasons a team representing Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) took its place. However, were beaten  too heavily, and withdrew from the competition following round 4 of the 1949 season.

By 1950, all VFL clubs (bar Collingwood) were now in the thirds competition. Richmond chose to enter a second team − known as Richmond Juniors. The new side competed for a single season, and Collingwood joined the competition in 1951.

The competition became known as the VFL under-19s beginning in 1960 − a name that continued until the VFL was renamed to the AFL in 1990.

With the focus of the VFL/AFL moving rapidly towards a national competition, the former metropolitan and country zoning recruitment system for the Victorian VFL/AFL clubs was abolished, and the league's under-19 competition was shut down at the end of 1991. A new competition, called the TAC Cup, began in 1992 with teams that were not linked to AFL clubs.

Clubs
12 clubs competed in the competition's final season. No teams from Queensland, South Australia or Western Australia ever competed in the VFL/AFL under-19s.

Premiers
Richmond won the most under-19s premierships, with a total of 11.