The 2021 Victorian Football League season was the 139th season of the Victorian Football Association/Victorian Football League Australian rules football competition. The season commenced on 16 April was curtailed without a premiership awarded on 1 September 2021, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 season saw significant transition in the composition of the league, with the amalgamation of the North East Australian Football League into the VFL and resulting expansion interstate into New South Wales and Queensland. The league also underwent some shifts as a result of the financial fall-out from the first year of the pandemic, which had seen the 2020 season cancelled without a match played; and, a transition in league rules to strengthen its position as a pathway between underage and professional leagues. The season was played during and disrupted by the ongoing pandemic, with several rounds of play cancelled owing to restrictions sporadically in place across the three states. The health-related restrictions imposed by the Victoria and New South Wales governments forced the league abandon the season before a finals series could be completed. was recognised as the minor premier, but no premiership was awarded. League membership Amalgamation with the NEAFL The North East Australian Football League had served as the top state-level league in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Queensland (and previously for the Northern Territory) since 2011. Throughout its existence, the NEAFL had accommodated the reserves teams of the states' four AFL clubs – , , and – and several stand-alone senior clubs from the regions. The NEAFL's utility as a development league and talent pathway had long suffered as a result of the substantial gap in standard between its weakest teams and players, its strongest teams and players, and AFL level – gaps which had been far more pronounced than in the VFL. The AFL clubs had long been keen for a higher quality league for their reserves teams to contest, and the AFL had been keen to improve the senior development pathways. The high costs of running the NEAFL also became acutely problematic due to the massive financial losses suffered by the football industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. As was the case for the VFL, the 2020 NEAFL season was cancelled due to the pandemic. In August 2020, it was announced that the NEAFL would amalgamate into the VFL, with all of its clubs afforded the opportunity