To every player in the AFL, next to the ultimate goal of winning a premiership, is the dream of one day being awarded the Brownlow medal. The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as “Charlie”), is acknowledged as the highest individual honour in the sport of Australian rules football. It is awarded to the “fairest and best” player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season. Voting for the Brownlow Medal is conducted by field umpires, immediately after each home-and-away match, with three votes awarded for the player they believed to have been the best on the ground, two votes for the second-best player and one vote for the third-best player on the day, in their opinion.
Charles Brownlow was an esteemed Geelong Football Club player, club secretary, and VFL president. In 1924 Brownlow passed away following a prolonged illness; that same year, the VFL created the medal in his honour. The medal has been awarded every year since 1924, except for a brief break from 1942-1945 due to World War II.
The blue and gold medal with bold text stating “CHAS BROWNLOW TROPHY” is instantly recognisable, and has remained almost the same in shape, size, and design since its creation, except for the change in monogram from VFL to AFL in 1990.
Brownlow Medal Winners
| Year | Player | Team | Votes |
| 1924 | Edward Greeves Jr. | Geelong | 7 |
| 1925 | Colin Watson | St Kilda | 9 |
| 1926 | Ivor Warne-Smith | Melbourne | 9 |
| 1927 | Syd Coventry | Collingwood | 7 |
| 1928 | Ivor Warne-Smith | Melbourne | 8 |
| 1929 | Albert Collier | Collingwood | 6 |
| 1930 | Harry Collier | Collingwood | 4 |
| Allan Hopkins | Footscray | 4 | |
| Stan Judkins | Richmond | 4 | |
| 1931 | Haydn Bunton Sr. | Fitzroy | 26 |
| 1932 | Haydn Bunton Sr. | Fitzroy | 23 |
| 1933 | Wilfred “Chicken” Smallhorn | Fitzroy | 18 |
| 1934 | Dick Reynolds | Essendon | 19 |
| 1935 | Haydn Bunton Sr. | Fitzroy | 24 |
| 1936 | Denis Ryan | Fitzroy | 26 |
| 1937 | Dick Reynolds | Essendon | 27 |
| 1938 | Dick Reynolds | Essendon | 18 |
| 1939 | Marcus Whelan | Collingwood | 23 |
| 1940 | Des Fothergill | Collingwood | 32 |
| Herbie Matthews | South Melbourne | 32 | |
| 1941 | Norman Ware | Footscray | 23 |
| 1946 | Don Cordner | Melbourne | 20 |
| 1947 | Bert Deacon | Carlton | 20 |
| 1948 | Bill Morris | Richmond | 24 |
| 1949 | Col Austen[i] | Hawthorn | 23 |
| Ron Clegg | South Melbourne | 23 | |
| 1950 | Allan Ruthven | Fitzroy | 21 |
| 1951 | Bernie Smith | Geelong | 23 |
| 1952 | Roy Wright | Richmond | 21 |
| Bill Hutchison | Essendon | 21 | |
| 1953 | Bill Hutchison | Essendon | 26 |
| 1954 | Roy Wright | Richmond | 29 |
| 1955 | Fred Goldsmith | South Melbourne | 21 |
| 1956 | Peter Box | Footscray | 22 |
| 1957 | Brian Gleeson | St Kilda | 24 |
| 1958 | Neil Roberts | St Kilda | 20 |
| 1959 | Verdun Howell | St Kilda | 20 |
| Bob Skilton | South Melbourne | 20 | |
| 1960 | John Schultz | Footscray | 20 |
| 1961 | John James | Carlton | 21 |
| 1962 | Alistair Lord | Geelong | 28 |
| 1963 | Bob Skilton | South Melbourne | 20 |
| 1964 | Gordon Collis | Carlton | 27 |
| 1965 | Noel Teasdale | North Melbourne | 20 |
| Ian Stewart | St Kilda | 20 | |
| 1966 | Ian Stewart | St Kilda | 21 |
| 1967 | Ross Smith | St Kilda | 24 |
| 1968 | Bob Skilton | South Melbourne | 24 |
| 1969 | Kevin Murray | Fitzroy | 19 |
| 1970 | Peter Bedford | South Melbourne | 25 |
| 1971 | Ian Stewart | Richmond | 21 |
| 1972 | Len Thompson | Collingwood | 25 |
| 1973 | Keith Greig | North Melbourne | 27 |
| 1974 | Keith Greig | North Melbourne | 27 |
| 1975 | Gary Dempsey | Footscray | 20 |
| 1976 | Graham Moss | Essendon | 48 |
| 1977 | Graham Teasdale | South Melbourne | 59 |
| 1978 | Malcolm Blight | North Melbourne | 22 |
| 1979 | Peter Moore | Collingwood | 22 |
| 1980 | Kelvin Templeton | Footscray | 23 |
| 1981 | Bernie Quinlan | Fitzroy | 22 |
| Barry Round | South Melbourne | 22 | |
| 1982 | Brian Wilson | Melbourne | 23 |
| 1983 | Ross Glendinning | North Melbourne | 24 |
| 1984 | Peter Moore | Melbourne | 24 |
| 1985 | Brad Hardie | Footscray | 22 |
| 1986 | Robert DiPierdomenico | Hawthorn | 17 |
| Greg Williams | Sydney | 17 | |
| 1987 | John Platten | Hawthorn | 20 |
| Tony Lockett | St Kilda | 20 | |
| 1988 | Gerard Healy | Sydney | 20 |
| 1989 | Paul Couch | Geelong | 22 |
| 1990 | Tony Liberatore | Footscray | 18 |
| 1991 | Jim Stynes | Melbourne | 25 |
| 1992 | Scott Wynd | Footscray | 20 |
| 1993 | Gavin Wanganeen | Essendon | 18 |
| 1994 | Greg Williams | Carlton | 30 |
| 1995 | Paul Kelly | Sydney | 21 |
| 1996 | James Hird | Essendon | 21 |
| Michael Voss | Brisbane Bears | 21 | |
| 1997 | Robert Harvey | St Kilda | 26 |
| 1998 | Robert Harvey | St Kilda | 32 |
| 1999 | Shane Crawford | Hawthorn | 28 |
| 2000 | Shane Woewodin | Melbourne | 24 |
| 2001 | Jason Akermanis | Brisbane Lions | 23 |
| 2002 | Simon Black | Brisbane Lions | 25 |
| 2003 | Mark Ricciuto | Adelaide | 22 |
| Nathan Buckley | Collingwood | 22 | |
| Adam Goodes | Sydney | 22 | |
| 2004 | Chris Judd | West Coast | 30 |
| 2005 | Ben Cousins | West Coast | 20 |
| 2006 | Adam Goodes | Sydney | 26 |
| 2007 | Jimmy Bartel | Geelong | 29 |
| 2008 | Adam Cooney | Western Bulldogs | 24 |
| 2009 | Gary Ablett Jr. | Geelong | 30 |
| 2010 | Chris Judd | Carlton | 30 |
| 2011 | Dane Swan | Collingwood | 34 |
| 2012 | Sam Mitchell | Hawthorn | 26 |
| Trent Cotchin | Richmond | 26 | |
| 2013 | Gary Ablett Jr. | Gold Coast | 28 |
| 2014 | Matt Priddis | West Coast | 26 |
| 2015 | Nat Fyfe | Fremantle | 31 |
| 2016 | Patrick Dangerfield | Geelong | 35 |
| 2017 | Dustin Martin | Richmond | 36 |
| 2018 | Tom Mitchell | Hawthorn | 28 |
| 2019 | Nat Fyfe | Fremantle | 33 |
| 2020 | Lachie Neale | Brisbane Lions | 31 |
| 2021 | Ollie Wines | Port Adelaide | 36 |
