The 2025 VFL season is the upcoming 143rd season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), a second-tier Australian rules football competition played in the states of Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland.
[2][3] On 4 February 2025, Essendon coach Dale Tapping died, two years after he was diagnosed with myeloma, an aggressive form of blood cancer.
[4][5] Essendon had appointed Tapping as its VFL coach for the 2025 season only several months prior on 11 October 2024.
[10][11] There was speculation that the Tasmania Football Club would enter the VFL in 2025, but it is expected that they will instead join the competition in 2026.
[12][13] Instead, AFL Tasmania will manage a Senior Talent Academy, which will include representative games against Frankston and Sandringham on 22 March 2025 and 4 May 2025 respectively.