Australian rules football in Western Australia (WA) is the most popular sport in the state and Western Australia has the second highest number of Australian rules football participants of any state. Western Australia was the last Australian colony to adopt Australian rules in 1881, however it managed to overtake Rugby union in Western Australia as the most popular code in 1885, and following the Federation of Australia, courtesy of pioneering junior and schools programs, grew faster than any other state. For much of the 20th Century the West Australian Football League was the third strongest state competition in the country. In 1967 the WAFL set a record season attendance of 960,169 and the 1981 WAFL Grand Final was attended by 55,517. While it is now a feeder competition for the more popular Australian Football League, the semi-professional WAFL still attracts around 200,000 fans through the gates each year. The sport in Western Australia is governed by the West Australian Football Commission which also runs the WAFL and owns the state's two AFL clubs. The state team (the "Sandgropers") has defeated every state including Victoria and were declared national champions in 1921, 1961 and 1979 (the second most national titles after Victoria) and underage national champions in 1999, 2007 and 2019. The state is home to two fully professional clubs: West Coast Eagles (1986) and Fremantle Football Club (1994), the former having the distinction of being the first non-Victorian team to compete in and win an AFL Grand Final in 1992. In 2021 it also had the highest membership of any club in the AFL. The combined membership of these two clubs is more than 150,000, making Western Australia second only to Victoria in terms of support for the national club competition. These two teams compete against each other in the Western Derby. Three West Australians have been named Australian Football Hall of Fame legends: Graham 'Polly' Farmer, Barry Cable and Merv McIntosh. Lance Franklin holds the AFL games and goals records for a Western Australian, with 338 and 1045 respectively. History Early Beginnings Organised football in the Perth/Fremantle region of Western Australia dates back to 1881. Back then though rugby union was the dominant football code. Only one senior club, "Unions", played Australian Rules. In 1883 a second club, "Swans", emerged, but Australian Rules' growth remained much subdued compared to that of Victoria and South Australia. However, in those days