The 2025 start dates for the VFL and VFLW competitions have been confirmed.
The Men's season will commence the weekend of March 22-23, aligning with Round 2 of the AFL campaign.
The final home and away round will be scheduled for the weekend of August 16-17.
As introduced in 2024, the seven VFL standalone clubs will play 10 home games from their 18 matches during the 2025 season.
The top ten teams on the ladder after the home and away season will qualify for the finals, with clubs ranked 7th to 10th playing off in a 'Wildcard Round'.
The 2025 VFL Grand Final is scheduled to be played on Sunday, September 21, the weekend before the 2025 Toyota AFL Grand Final.
As for the Women's competition, it will be played in a new window, moving from the original March to July stretch to the April to August period.
The change was motivated by positioning the reserves women's campaign closer to the AFLW start date, which will kick off the week beginning August 11 next year.
The season was brought back by two weeks, considering the increase in games and the removal of the condensed fixture.
This will allow players from the AFLW to compete in the VFLW as part of their preparations.
The opening round of the 2025 VFLW season will begin the weekend of April 19-20, while the final round will be played the weekend of August 2-3.
AFL Head of State League Competitions Jennie Loughnan said there was a focus on "elevating the standards" of the competition and continuing the development of the Women's pathways.
"The decision to shift the rebel VFLW season dates followed a review of the women's football calendar and creates more alignment with the updated NAB AFLW season timing," Loughnan said.
"The new rebel VFLW season dates will provide great benefits for clubs and players, with more opportunities now available for AFLW-listed players to compete in rebel VFLW matches as they prepare for the upcoming AFLW season.
"This will further elevate the standard of the rebel VFLW and help to continue the development of the women's football talent pool.
"The Smithy's VFL has enjoyed stability in recent years, and we are pleased to have the same 21 teams who have featured in the competition for the past three seasons again competing in 2025.
"Season dates for the Smithy's VFL will remain consistent with 2024, with the season to commence in late March and conclude with the Smithy's VFL Grand Final, which will again be played on the AFL preliminary final weekend."
With season dates confirmed, the fixture for the 2025 VFL and VFLW seasons will be announced early in 2025.