HISTORY will be made on Saturday 29 June, when Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs go head to head on the MCG in the first AFL women’s game.

Melbourne is extremely proud to be the first AFL club to have a women’s team – a natural fit for the club that founded the game.

The Club has an ongoing, genuine investment in women’s football, which is demonstrated in community programs such as the Trident’s High Performance Academy and Dare to Dream programs and as the only AFL club to be the major sponsor of a women’s football league – the Victorian Women’s Football League (VWFL).

Community Manager, Debbie Lee said, “It’s an absolute credit to the Club that we’re not only backing this initiative but also conceptualized it. It’s another example of the Melbourne Football Club’s genuine commitment to women in football.

Female participation is the fastest growth area for the AFL so it’s important that the wider football community not only acknowledges this but activity supports women in football.

Women and girls will now have the opportunity to play in an AFL team and this game is an important step towards implementing an elite National competition.

Other sports have successfully developed elite female competitions and our sport should be no different.”

The first women’s game will act as a pilot to support the AFL’s vision of a nationally televised female competition by 2020.

It is hoped that this game brings to life the notion to all girls that, one day, they could play footy for their AFL club in a female division.

The match will be a feature of Women's Round (Round 14), and will be played before the Melbourne vs Western Bulldogs match.