The 2013 AFL season was the 117th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured eighteen clubs, ran from 22 March until 28 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs. The premiership was won by the Hawthorn Football Club for the eleventh time, after it defeated Fremantle by 15 points in the 2013 AFL Grand Final.