History
Collingwood originally joined the Victorian Football Association (which later became the modern day VFL in 1996) in 1892. In 1897, Collingwood was one of the eight breakaway clubs to form the Victorian Football League (which later became the modern day AFL in 1990), and has fielded its senior team in that competition every year since.
The VFL/AFL operated a reserves competition from 1919–1991, and a de facto AFL reserves competition known as the Victorian State Football League operated from 1992–1999. The Collingwood Football Club fielded a reserves team in both of these competitions, allowing players who were not selected for the senior team to play for Collingwood in the lower grade.
In 2000, the VSFL merged with the modern day Victorian Football League. Since the merge, the senior grade of the VFL has accommodated senior teams from the VFL, reserves teams from the AFL, and affiliations between VFL and AFL clubs, in which VFL senior players and AFL reserves players compete in the same team.
Collingwood fielded a stand alone reserves team in the VFL in the 2000 VFL season. It finished 11th on the ladder, and the side at times included the likes of Gavin Brown, Gavin Crosisca, Shane Watson, Stephen Patterson, Ben Johnson, Rhyce Shaw and Ricky Olarenshaw. It played its home games at Victoria Park, with a handful of curtain raisers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
In 2001, Collingwood entered into an affiliation with the VFL's Williamstown Football Club, which meant there was no separate Collingwood VFL team or reserves team for the first time since 1918. Collingwood ended its affiliation with Williamstown after the 2007 season, and re-established a stand-alone reserves team in the VFL in 2008. The reserves team has competed in the VFL since 2008.
Geelong and Essendon are currently the only other AFL clubs to field reserves teams in the VFL.
The Collingwood VFL team is composed of both reserves players from the club's primary and rookie AFL lists, and a separately maintained list of players eligible only for VFL matches.
Read more about this topic: Collingwood Football Club (VFL)
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