AFLW 2020 season fixture

Collective Bargaining Agreement differences have been resolved, enabling the announcement of the fixture for the 2020 season to be announced. Debutantes Richmond will play the season opener against Carlton on February 7th. Though listed as a Richmond home game, it will be played at Ikon Park.

 

The upcoming season will feature four new clubs – Richmond, St Kilda, West Coast and Gold Coast.

 

The home and away season will be 8 rounds (an addition of 1 round), followed by a 3 week finals period.

 

The finals system will run as follows:

Week one, April 4-5
Semi-final one: A2 v B3
Semi-final two: B2 v A3
Byes: A1, B1

Week two, April 11-12
Preliminary final one: A1 v winner of B2/A3
Preliminary final two: B1 v winner of A2/B3

Grand Final, April 18
Winners of preliminary finals

 

The AFL has resolved to stick with it’s contentious conference system for the next three seasons (the length of the CBA).

 

The conferences are composed of the following sides:

Conference A
Adelaide (first in A in 2019, premiers)
North Melbourne (third in A in 2019)
Geelong (second in B in 2019)
Greater Western Sydney (third in B in 2019)
Brisbane (fourth in B in 2019)
Gold Coast (new team)
Richmond (new team)

 

Conference B
Fremantle (second in A in 2019)
Melbourne (fourth in A in 2019)
Western Bulldogs (fifth in A in 2019)
Carlton (first in B in 2019)
Collingwood (fifth in B in 2019)
St Kilda (new team)
West Coast (new team)

 

A full fixture can be viewed on the AFLW website.

 

Having published two editions of the Women’s Footy Almanac to cover the opening seasons of AFLW, The Footy Almanac will continue to cover this competition as it enters a significant new stage of its expansion.

 

What are your thoughts on the 2020 scheduling? Are supporters of the new teams excited? Let us know what you’re thinking.

 

Copies of the both Women’s Footy Almanacs can be purchased here.

 

 

 

Comments

  1. Mark 'Swish' Schwerdt says

    From a selfish standpoint, unless I go to Geelong for a late Sunday game, I won’t be seeing the Crows in person this season. However, the Saints will be playing at nearby Moorabbin, so they might become my second team.

  2. Daryl Schramm says

    It certainly looks a more equitable program when compared to last years fiasco. Are Adelaide the only team not playing in Melbourne Swish?

  3. John Butler says

    I’m happy about all the games at Princes Park (sorry, Ikon Park).

    Collingwood demoted from season opener for the first time. But they’ve stuck with the theory of ‘big’ Melbourne clubs. We’ll see if it produces a better game this time.

    Will discussion of conferences dominate like last season? With 4 new teams, there is even more guesswork involved trying to balance 2 conferences.

    Much to look forward to. And write about.

  4. Mark 'Swish' Schwerdt says

    Yes, DS, Crows are the only ones not to play in Metro Melbourne. Not that it affects me, but is there a worse place to watch footy than Richmond Oval?

  5. As a St Kilda supporter, 2020 would be the unarguable year for the club as the first year of AFLW. I can’t wait!

    It’s sad that conference system is applied to the women’s league. I want gender equal in the footy.

    Saints girls only need two interstate trips that is good but playing Carlton at Princess Park would be hard because of lighting issues…

  6. Daryl Schramm says

    Swish. Dare I say it, the Ponderosa!? When was the last time you went to Richmond? I think the surrounds have improved in the Industrial West of Adelaide and, to me, the oval is ideal in shape and size. Larger than Glenelg, Unley and Norwood. Straight CW boundaries unlike Prospect, Thebby and Alberton and not as big as Woodville or Elizabeth.
    JB Relying on memory, the conference system (and derivatives thereof) only work when all teams play each other within their group. I don’t think that happened last year. Someone should have lost their job over that one.

  7. John Butler says

    Daryl, everyone in each conference played each other last season. The problem was that the the arbitrary way they selected the two conferences left them unbalanced. That was pretty obvious after the first round.

    It will only take a couple of teams to significantly over or under perform against expectations and similar problems will reoccur. With four teams completely untested at this stage, there’d be a high risk of that.

    But the die is cast, at least for the next 3 years. The moment the AFL allowed licenses to expand beyond the length of the season they were happy to contemplate, it was the only way they could make things fit.

    Cheers

  8. Not a fan of Richmond Oval for this purpose (the Ponderosa has easy, close car parking which gives it a boost but I can’t imagine a 16 v 16 contest on those wide open spaces). Not enough seats in the shade for the time of year (it appears the Crows are selling a membership level that gives access to seating) and Norwood’s facilities struggled with a decent crowd despite having four canteens and six bars. Not sure how Richmond Oval will manage. It’s always going to be difficult in Adelaide but hopefully the next stage of the AFLW will see them picking one venue in each city and investing to make it fit for purpose.

    Nonetheless, it’s a comparatively minor gripe on my part – weather permitting will pack an (appropriate) esky and happily set up a camping chair on the outer wing.

  9. Mark 'Swish' Schwerdt says

    It was Sunday September 10th 2006 DS, I was one of the 1,847 that lobbed at the ground formerly sponsored by the multi-national that profited out of the Pacific Solution. The factories that dominate the eastern background may have been painted since.

    I’ll just have to make do with the updated Moorabbin.

    DB – is The Parade being upgraded now with the AFLW in mind for future years?

  10. Mark Duffett says

    Adelaide at North Hobart, you beauty! Also happens to be good dimensions for AFLW IMHO, and the odds of pleasant weather in Hobart don’t get much better than a late afternoon in early autumn timeslot.

  11. Dave Brown says

    I don’t know the extent to which that is explicitly the case, Swish, new clubrooms have been on the wish list for a fair amount longer than the AFLW. That the rooms will have new changerooms and they are upgrading the rooms under the western stand along with all the grandstand seating replaced will make Norwood even more so the most suitable venue in Adelaide.

    The issues with a decent AFLW crowd at Norwood are women’s toilets, the lack of queueing space for the canteens/bars, car parking, and the heat radiating off the ground in the outer on a hot early autumn afternoon. The new clubrooms will help with a couple of those presumably.

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