In 1896, Carlton joined the breakaway Victorian Football League (since renamed the AFL), and alongside rivals Collingwood, Essendon, and Richmond.

In 1877, Carlton was one of the foundation clubs of the Victorian Football Association, and was a comfortable winner of the premiership in the competition's inaugural season.

[15] Carlton fell out of the finals in 1913, but returned in 1914 under coach Norm Clark, and with many inexperienced players, to win back-to-back premierships in 1914 and 1915 VFL seasons.

Most football around the country was suspended during the height of World War I, but Carlton continued to compete in a VFL which featured, at its fewest, only four clubs.

Under Barassi, Carlton reached three consecutive Grand Finals between 1968 and 1970, resulting in two premierships: 1968 against Essendon and 1970 against traditional rivals Collingwood.

Played in front of an enduring record crowd of 121,696, Collingwood dominated early to lead by 44 points at half time, but Carlton kicked seven goals in fifteen minutes after half time to narrow the margin to only three points; after a close final quarter, Carlton won its tenth VFL premiership with a ten-point victory.

[19] Midfielders Sergio Silvagni and Adrian Gallagher, half-forward Robert Walls, and ruckman Percy Jones were also prominent throughout the Barassi era, and in 1970, Alex Jesaulenko became the first (and to date, only) Carlton forward to kick 100 goals in a season.

[18] It was not until 1979 that Carlton again reached the Grand Final, defeating Collingwood by five points in a close match best remembered for the late goal kicked by Ken Sheldon, after Wayne Harmes tapped the ball into the goalsquare from the boundary line.

[18] Despite the off-field troubles, Carlton continued to thrive on-field, and Parkin led the team to back-to-back premierships in 1981 and 1982, with victories in the Grand Finals against Collingwood and Richmond respectively.

Wayne Johnston was a prominent centreman/forward, and Carlton had great success recruiting high-profile Western Australian footballers to the club, including Mike Fitzpatrick, Ken Hunter and Peter Bosustow.

Also in 1986, Carlton lured three of South Australia's top young players to the club: Stephen Kernahan, Craig Bradley and Peter Motley.

Carlton had also recruited Stephen Silvagni (son of Sergio) in 1985, who is now recognised as one of the greatest fullbacks of all-time, and secured the league's star player Greg Williams in a trade in 1992.

In 1995, Carlton became the first team to win twenty matches in a home-and-away season (finishing with a record of 20–2), and won the Grand Final against Geelong to claim its sixteenth premiership.

The scandal resulted in the loss of draft picks and a fine of $930,000, which exacerbated the club's poor on-field and off-field positions.

[21] In the immediate fall-out from 2002, president John Elliott was voted out by the members, and was replaced with Docklands Stadium CEO Ian Collins.

[16] Carlton's overall position began to improve in 2007, when businessman Richard Pratt,[22] Steven Icke[23] and Collingwood's Greg Swann[24] came to the club as president, general manager of football operations, and CEO respectively; although Pratt's presidency lasted only sixteen months, after which he was replaced by Stephen Kernahan,[25] the new personnel stabilised the club's off-field position.

Then, prior to the 2008 season, Carlton was able to secure a trade for West Coast's Chris Judd, one of the league's best midfielders, to join the club as captain.

1 draft picks – Marc Murphy, Bryce Gibbs and Matthew Kreuzer – who helped the club's on-field position.

Bolton's replacement, David Teague, helped the club avoid the 2019 wooden spoon, but lasted only two years into a three-year contract without a finals appearance.

The lyrics are believed to have been written in around 1930 by cousins Irene McEldrew and Agnes Wright, who ran a boarding house for several club players and the latter of whom was the niece of then-coach Dan Minogue.

[54] The two teams contested four grand finals between 1969 and 1982,[55] and since 2008 have met annually on a Thursday night in round 1 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, usually as the opening game of the season.

As of 2023, there are 16 Legends in the Hall of Fame: Craig Bradley, Bert Deacon, Bruce Doull, Alex Jesaulenko, Wayne Johnston, Stephen Kernahan, John Nicholls, Stephen Silvagni and Harry Vallence (all elevated in 1997); Ken Hands (2006); Robert Walls (2011);[57] Geoff Southby (2013);[58] Sergio Silvagni (2016);[59] David McKay (2021); and Horrie Clover and Ian Collins (2023).

Ron Barassi, Alex Jesaulenko, John Nicholls Peter Bedford, Craig Bradley, Horrie Clover, George Coulthard, Bruce Doull, Ken Hands, Ern Henfry, Ken Hunter, Wayne Johnston, Chris Judd, Stephen Kernahan, Anthony Koutoufides, Rod McGregor, Peter McKenna, Stephen Silvagni, Geoff Southby, Harry Vallence, Robert Walls, Greg Williams.

Mick Malthouse, David Parkin, Jack Worrall Mike Fitzpatrick, Sir Kenneth Luke {{Rls |squadname=Carlton Football Club

[49] President – Robert Priestley Board members – David Campbell, Patty Kinnersly, Greg Williams, Lahra Carey, Tim Lincoln and Helen Kurincic.

Carlton terminated the affiliation with the Northern Blues in early 2020, as a cost saving measure during the COVID-19 pandemic, and re-established a dedicated reserves team in the VFL for the 2021 season.

In August 1933 the club hosted the first ever VFL sanctioned match between women's teams, with sides representing Carlton and Richmond.

The match, played at Carlton's home Princes Park drew an estimated crowd of 10,000 and raised funds as part of a VFL bye-week carnival for The Royal Melbourne Hospital.

[71] The club next fielded a women's team more than a decade later when it competed in a 1947 charity exhibition series raising funds in support of food shortages in post-war Commonwealth countries.

[77] In 2018, the Western Bulldogs and Carlton women's teams held the first Pride game in the AFLW, to celebrate gender diversity, promote inclusion for LGBTIQA+ players, and to help stamp out homophobia.