Comparison of Australian rules football and Gaelic football
Encyclopedia
A Comparison of Australian rules football
and Gaelic football
is possible because of the games' similarities and the presence of International Rules Football
, a hybrid code developed to allow players from both codes to participate in tests.
A key difference between the codes is that the highest level Gaelic Football is strictly amateur, whereas Australian rules football offers professional (Australian Football League
) and semi-professional (VFL
, SANFL, WAFL
, etc) levels of competition. Players have successfully made the transition to top levels in both codes, and because Australian rules football is played at the professional level, there is a strong financial lure for players to switch from Gaelic to Australian football.
Both codes use grassed fields of similar length, however Australian rules football fields are oval shaped, slightly longer and wider, usually cricket field
s.
Another key difference is the score posts. Australian rules consists of four posts without a crossbar or net, whereas Gaelic football consists of two posts with crossbar and net.
The Gaelic football pitch is rectangular, stretching 130–145 metres long and 80–90 metres wide. There are H-shaped goalposts at each end with a net on the bottom section. Lines are marked at distances of 13 m, 20 m and 45 m from each end-line.
An Australian rules football playing field, is oval shaped, and may be 135–185 m long and 110–155 m wide. It has a centre circle, centre square to control player positioning at start of play, and superficial markings including the 50 metre lines and goal squares.
Goal posts are 6.4 metres wide for both codes.
Australian rules uses an oval ball (a prolate spheroid
), similar to a rugby ball. This makes a difference in the variety and style of kicking
. Whereas Australian rules is capable of producing a diverse range of kicking styles, the drop punt
is most commonly used in the modern game, more so at professional levels.
Gaelic football uses a round ball similar to a soccer
or volleyball
. The round ball in Gaelic football has the tendency for its flight to curve while in the air.
or rugby
tops.
Gaelic football matches go for 70 minutes consisting of two halves.
Unlike other forms of football, both games are notably distinct because of the absence of an offside rule.
In both games, a player must bounce
(or Solo in Gaelic) the ball while running.
Australian rules allows full tackling above the knees and below the shoulders, whereas Gaelic football explicitly disallows tackling.
Both sports allow "shepherding" or blocking, although in Australian rules, bumping is allowed on players not in possession of the ball, whereas in Gaelic it is limited to use on players in possession of the ball.
Both Gaelic football and Australian rules football are open contested and free flowing games.
The main difference is the awarding of a mark
for any clean catch of over 15 metres in Australian rules, which results in a free kick or possession of the ball. This rule has never existed in Gaelic and is a fundamental difference between the two games. High marking or speckies
are one of the most important spectator attributes of Australian rules. In Gaelic football, regardless of a clean catch, a player must play on.
In Australian rules, when a ball is kicked out of bounds on the full, it is a free kick to the opposite team to the player who kicked the ball.
Australian rules allows picking the ball up directly off the ground whereas Gaelic football does not (the ball must only be picked up by foot).
Another key difference is that in Australian rules, tackling
is allowed to either dispossess a player or cause the player to be caught holding the ball which results in a free kick. Gaelic football does not have such a rule.
Possession may change in different ways in both games:-
In both codes, tactical kicking is an important aspect of play.
In Gaelic football the penalties available (in increasing order of severity) are:
A goal is worth 3 points in Gaelic football and 6 points in Australian rules football.
In both games, a point may be awarded for missing the goal. In Gaelic football, this is scored above the crossbar (known simply as a point). In Australian rules, this is scored between the shorter post and the goal post (known as a behind).
There are usually many more goals scored in Australian rules, as there is no goalkeeper
position and the scoring area larger.
A maximum of 15 players can play Gaelic football on the field at any one time whereas Australian rules permits 18 players.
, History of Gaelic football and Relationship between Gaelic football and Australian rules football
.
The Australian game was codified first by the Melbourne Football Club
in 1859, whereas Gaelic Football was codified by the Gaelic Athletic Association
(GAA) in 1887. Gaelic football was not officially organised in Australia until 1956. The first compromise games between the two codes did not occur until 1967. Australian rules football was not officially played in Ireland until 2000.
The similarities of the two games have caused their respective origins to become subject to some study and debate. While it is clear even to casual observers that Australian rules football is similar to Gaelic football, the exact relationship is unclear.
Gaelic football is thought to have originated with the ancient Irish game of caid
.
Australian rules football was definitely influenced by rugby football
, as Tom Wills
— the founder of Australian rules — attended Rugby School
. Historians such as Martin Flanagan have also suggested that Wills was influenced by an Australian Aboriginal game, Marn Grook
, as Wills was known to associate and advocate for the indigenous people and grew up in the area of the tribes which played the game. However it has been argued by other historians of Australian rules, such as Geoffrey Blainey
, that the origins of Australian rules lie purely with rugby and other English public school football games
. A corollary of this argument is that the resemblances of Australian rules and Gaelic football to each other are coincidental and the result of something akin to parallel
or convergent evolution
.
However, many historians have argued otherwise. For example, the historian B. W. O'Dwyer points out that Australian football has always been differentiated from rugby football
by having no limitation on ball or player movement (in the absence of an offside rule), the need to bounce the ball (or toe-kick it, known as a solo in Gaelic football) while running, punching the ball (hand-passing) rather than throwing it, and other traditions. As O'Dwyer says:
O'Dwyer's argument relies heavily on the presence of Irish immigrants on the Victorian goldfields during the Victorian goldrushes
of the 1850s, and a comparison of the two modern games. While it is highly likely that Gaelic football was heavily influenced by the ancient Irish games of hurling and caid, his argument that elements of Irish football were present in early forms of Australian rules football have been disputed by other historians. For example, the 1859 Melbourne rules did not have a requirement for players to bounce the ball while running. On the other hand, this was not a requirement in caid either.
It is also possible that both Gaelic football and Australian rules shared other influences. Archbishop Thomas Croke
, one of the founders of the GAA, lived in New Zealand between 1870 to 1875. It is likely that the Melbourne rules were introduced to New Zealand by Victorians emigrating during the central Otago goldrush
of 1861. By 1863, the code played by the Christchurch Football Club in New Zealand (the Christchurch rules), required players to bounce the ball every few yards, at around the same time that the same rule was included in the Melbourne rules. It is possible that Croke had opportunities to witness the Melbourne and/or Christchurch rules being played.
Such claims are regarded by many people as purely circumstantial evidence
for a relationship between the two codes.
Like Australian rules, the Irish football games of the 1880s allowed players to grab or push each other. However the two games were soon developing and diverging, largely in isolation from each other.
Both games are immensely popular in their country of origin and International rules test between the two peak bodies of Australia and Ireland are popular and relatively evenly contested.
Both games are emerging from largely provincial backgrounds and are growing internationally, although the rate of growth of Australian football around the world has increased in recent decades. Gaelic Football has been played for longer outside of Ireland than Australian rules football outside of Oceania
, primarily in areas of the Irish Diaspora, the North American GAA
and Europe GAA
. In the 21st century Gaelic Football has increased in popularity in Asia.
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
and Gaelic football
Gaelic football
Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
is possible because of the games' similarities and the presence of International Rules Football
International rules football
International rules football is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed to facilitate international representative matches between Australian rules football players and Gaelic football players....
, a hybrid code developed to allow players from both codes to participate in tests.
A key difference between the codes is that the highest level Gaelic Football is strictly amateur, whereas Australian rules football offers professional (Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
) and semi-professional (VFL
VFL
VFL can refer to:Sport* Victorian Football League, an Australian rules football league formerly known as the Victorian Football Association prior to 1996....
, SANFL, WAFL
West Australian Football League
The West Australian Football League is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The WAFL is the second-most popular in the state, behind the nation-wide Australian Football League...
, etc) levels of competition. Players have successfully made the transition to top levels in both codes, and because Australian rules football is played at the professional level, there is a strong financial lure for players to switch from Gaelic to Australian football.
Table of Comparison
This list is incomplete| Rule or Term | Australian rules football | Gaelic football | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Length of Game | 4 quarters (4 x 20 minutes + time on) (total approx 100 minutes) | 2 halves (2 x 35 minutes + extra time) (total 70-80 minutes) | |
| Start of Game | Bounce and Ruck contest (one player from each side only) | Ball up and contest (between four midfielders) | |
| Equipment | |||
| Ball shape | oval (prolate spheroid Prolate spheroid A prolate spheroid is a spheroid in which the polar axis is greater than the equatorial diameter. Prolate spheroids stand in contrast to oblate spheroids... ) |
spherical | |
| Ball size | 720-735mm circumference, 545-555mm from end to end | 686mm-737mm in circumference | |
| Ball weight | 400–450 grams | 370–425 grams | |
| Uniform (jumper) | no or long sleeves | short or long sleeve | |
| Field | |||
| Shape | oval | rectangle | |
| Length | 135-185m | 130–145m | |
| Width | 135-185m | 80–90m | |
| Goal width | 6.4 m | 6.5 m | |
| Goal height | Unlimited | 2.5 m | |
| Point width | 19.2 m | 6.5 m | |
| Point height | Unlimited | Unlimited | |
| Advancing the ball | |||
| Methods of disposal | kick, handball (fist) | kick, handpass (open hand tap or fist) | |
| Maximum running distance allowed | Must bounce ball every 15 metres | Must bounce or solo (kick to self) every 4 steps (can't bounce twice consecutively) | |
| Ball goes out of bounds | throw-in; if out on full or ruled deliberate, free kick to opposite team | free kick to opposite team | |
| Contesting Possession | |||
| Tackling | full body tackling allowed above knees, below shoulders. free kick to tackler if player in possession does not dispose if ruled to have had prior opportunity. ball- up if ruled not to have had prior opportunity | wrestling or slapping the ball from the player in possession only | |
| Bumping (hip or shoulder charging) | any player within 5 metres of player in possession | player in possession only | |
| Catching the ball | free kick (mark) is paid if ball travels 15 metres or more if off a kick, play on if off a handpass irrespective of distance | play on | |
| Picking up ball | no restrictions | foot only (no restrictions in women's game) | |
| Scoring | |||
| Goal | 6 points | 3 points | |
| Point | 1 point (behind) | 1 point | |
| Score goals by | foot or shin only | foot or shin if ball is being carried, any part if ball if loose or from a pass | |
| Score points by | any part of body (rushed) | any part of body (usually foot) | |
| Goalkeeper | No | Yes | |
Field
Cricket field
A cricket field consists of a large circular or oval-shaped grassy ground on which the game of cricket is played. There are no fixed dimensions for the field but its diameter usually varies between 450 feet to 500 feet...
s.
Another key difference is the score posts. Australian rules consists of four posts without a crossbar or net, whereas Gaelic football consists of two posts with crossbar and net.
The Gaelic football pitch is rectangular, stretching 130–145 metres long and 80–90 metres wide. There are H-shaped goalposts at each end with a net on the bottom section. Lines are marked at distances of 13 m, 20 m and 45 m from each end-line.
An Australian rules football playing field, is oval shaped, and may be 135–185 m long and 110–155 m wide. It has a centre circle, centre square to control player positioning at start of play, and superficial markings including the 50 metre lines and goal squares.
Goal posts are 6.4 metres wide for both codes.
Equipment
Ball
The obvious difference is the ball used.Australian rules uses an oval ball (a prolate spheroid
Prolate spheroid
A prolate spheroid is a spheroid in which the polar axis is greater than the equatorial diameter. Prolate spheroids stand in contrast to oblate spheroids...
), similar to a rugby ball. This makes a difference in the variety and style of kicking
Kick (football)
Kicking is a method used by many types of football, including:* Association football* Australian rules football* International rules football* American football* Canadian football* Gaelic football* Rugby league* Rugby union...
. Whereas Australian rules is capable of producing a diverse range of kicking styles, the drop punt
Drop punt
A drop punt is a type of kick in various codes of football.It is the primary method of disposing the ball by foot in Australian rules football and the name describes its technique. The ball is held vertically, and dropped and kicked before it hits the ground, resulting in the ball spinning...
is most commonly used in the modern game, more so at professional levels.
Gaelic football uses a round ball similar to a soccer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
or volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
. The round ball in Gaelic football has the tendency for its flight to curve while in the air.
Attire
Australian rules has evolved to have sleeveless jumpers, similar to basketball tops, whereas Gaelic footballers wear short sleeved outfits similar to soccerFootball (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
or rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
tops.
Duration
Australian rules matches typically go for 80 minutes consisting of four 20 minute quarters (plus added time on) .Gaelic football matches go for 70 minutes consisting of two halves.
Advancing the ball
In both games, players must dispose of the ball correctly, by hand or by foot and the ball must not be thrown. Gaelic football deems the open hand tap to be legitimate disposal, whereas Australian rules enforces the handpass or disposal with a clenched fist.Unlike other forms of football, both games are notably distinct because of the absence of an offside rule.
In both games, a player must bounce
Running bounce
A running bounce, or simply bounce, is a skill in the sport of Australian rules football when a player, while running, bounces the ball on the ground and back to himself.-The Skill:...
(or Solo in Gaelic) the ball while running.
Tackles and blocks
- See also tackle (football move)Tackle (football move)Most forms of football have a move known as a tackle. The primary purposes of tackling is to disposses an opponent of the ball, to stop the player from gaining ground towards goal or to stop them from carrying out what they intend....
Australian rules allows full tackling above the knees and below the shoulders, whereas Gaelic football explicitly disallows tackling.
Both sports allow "shepherding" or blocking, although in Australian rules, bumping is allowed on players not in possession of the ball, whereas in Gaelic it is limited to use on players in possession of the ball.
Gaining Possession
Both games begin with the ball in the air, whereas Australian rules has a bounce down and allows only two players to contest the bounce.Both Gaelic football and Australian rules football are open contested and free flowing games.
The main difference is the awarding of a mark
Mark (Australian football)
A mark is a skill in Australian rules football where a player cleanly catches a kicked ball that has travelled more than 15 metres without anyone else touching it or the ball hitting the ground....
for any clean catch of over 15 metres in Australian rules, which results in a free kick or possession of the ball. This rule has never existed in Gaelic and is a fundamental difference between the two games. High marking or speckies
Specky
A spectacular mark is a term for a type of mark in Australian rules football...
are one of the most important spectator attributes of Australian rules. In Gaelic football, regardless of a clean catch, a player must play on.
In Australian rules, when a ball is kicked out of bounds on the full, it is a free kick to the opposite team to the player who kicked the ball.
Australian rules allows picking the ball up directly off the ground whereas Gaelic football does not (the ball must only be picked up by foot).
Another key difference is that in Australian rules, tackling
Tackle (football move)
Most forms of football have a move known as a tackle. The primary purposes of tackling is to disposses an opponent of the ball, to stop the player from gaining ground towards goal or to stop them from carrying out what they intend....
is allowed to either dispossess a player or cause the player to be caught holding the ball which results in a free kick. Gaelic football does not have such a rule.
Possession may change in different ways in both games:-
- When an umpire/referee awards a free kick to an opposition player
- Following an unsuccessful kick at goal.
- When an opposing player interceptsInterception (football)An interception, intercept or pick is a move in many forms of football, including Canadian and American football, as well as rugby league, rugby union, Australian rules football and Gaelic football, which involves a pass, either by foot or hand, being caught by an opposition player, who usually...
a pass. - When the player in possession drops the ball and it is recovered by an opposition player.
- When the ball is wrestled from a player's possession
In both codes, tactical kicking is an important aspect of play.
Penalties
In Australian rules penalties available (in increasing order of severity) are:- free kicks (loss of possession)
- distance penalties (often in multiples of 15, 25 or 50 metres)
- reporting (to be sent to a tribunal post-match for suspension from future matches and/or paying a fine)
- ordering off (similar to a red card in association football (soccer), not used in the Australian Football LeagueAustralian Football LeagueThe Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
)
In Gaelic football the penalties available (in increasing order of severity) are:
- free kicks (loss of possession)
- distance penalties (often in multiples of 13 metres)
- penalty kicks
- black card (also known as a tick, used to note an offence not serious enough for a yellow card)
- yellow card (cautioning a player, similar to association football (soccer))
- red card (player ejected from the game without replacement, similar to association football (soccer))
Scoring
In both codes goals can be kicked by foot or shin. Gaelic football does not enforce this, however and goals may also be scored by other parts of the body.A goal is worth 3 points in Gaelic football and 6 points in Australian rules football.
In both games, a point may be awarded for missing the goal. In Gaelic football, this is scored above the crossbar (known simply as a point). In Australian rules, this is scored between the shorter post and the goal post (known as a behind).
There are usually many more goals scored in Australian rules, as there is no goalkeeper
Goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, a goalkeeper is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by intercepting shots at goal...
position and the scoring area larger.
Players
Many of the positions have similar names and are very similar. There is no ruckman in Gaelic football and there is no goalkeeper in Australian rules, instead there is a fullback, although it must be said that the fullback In Australian rules is not required to guard a goal in the same way that a goalkeeper does.A maximum of 15 players can play Gaelic football on the field at any one time whereas Australian rules permits 18 players.
Origins
See also Origins of Australian rules footballOrigins of Australian rules football
The origins of Australian rules football are obscure and still the subject of much debate.The earliest accounts of "foot-ball" games in Australia date back to July 1829 and the earliest accounts of clubs formed to play football date to the late 1850s. Football in the early years was played by a...
, History of Gaelic football and Relationship between Gaelic football and Australian rules football
Relationship between Gaelic football and Australian rules football
The relationship between Gaelic and Australian football is the subject of a controversy among historians. The question of whether the two codes of football, from Ireland and Australia respectively, have shared origins arises because it is clear even to casual observers that the two games are similar...
.
The Australian game was codified first by the Melbourne Football Club
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
in 1859, whereas Gaelic Football was codified by the Gaelic Athletic Association
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...
(GAA) in 1887. Gaelic football was not officially organised in Australia until 1956. The first compromise games between the two codes did not occur until 1967. Australian rules football was not officially played in Ireland until 2000.
The similarities of the two games have caused their respective origins to become subject to some study and debate. While it is clear even to casual observers that Australian rules football is similar to Gaelic football, the exact relationship is unclear.
Gaelic football is thought to have originated with the ancient Irish game of caid
Caid (sport)
Caid is the name given to various ancient and traditional Irish football games. "Caid" is now used by people in some parts of Ireland to refer to modern Gaelic football.The word caid originally referred to the ball which was used...
.
Australian rules football was definitely influenced by rugby football
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
, as Tom Wills
Tom Wills
Thomas Wentworth "Tom" Wills was an Australian all-round sportsman, umpire, coach and administrator who is credited with being a catalyst towards the invention of Australian rules football....
— the founder of Australian rules — attended Rugby School
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
. Historians such as Martin Flanagan have also suggested that Wills was influenced by an Australian Aboriginal game, Marn Grook
Marn Grook
Marn Grook , literally meaning "Game ball", is a collective name given to a number of traditional Indigenous Australian recreational pastimes believed to have been played at gatherings and celebrations of up to 50 players. It is often confused with a separate indigenous game resembling Association...
, as Wills was known to associate and advocate for the indigenous people and grew up in the area of the tribes which played the game. However it has been argued by other historians of Australian rules, such as Geoffrey Blainey
Geoffrey Blainey
Geoffrey Norman Blainey AC , is a prominent Australian historian.Blainey was born in Melbourne and raised in a series of Victorian country towns before attending Wesley College and the University of Melbourne. While at university he was editor of Farrago, the newspaper of the University of...
, that the origins of Australian rules lie purely with rugby and other English public school football games
English public school football games
During the early modern era students, former students and teachers at English public schools developed and wrote down the first codes of football, most notably the Eton College...
. A corollary of this argument is that the resemblances of Australian rules and Gaelic football to each other are coincidental and the result of something akin to parallel
Parallel evolution
Parallel evolution is the development of a similar trait in related, but distinct, species descending from the same ancestor, but from different clades.-Parallel vs...
or convergent evolution
Convergent evolution
Convergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages.The wing is a classic example of convergent evolution in action. Although their last common ancestor did not have wings, both birds and bats do, and are capable of powered flight. The wings are...
.
However, many historians have argued otherwise. For example, the historian B. W. O'Dwyer points out that Australian football has always been differentiated from rugby football
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
by having no limitation on ball or player movement (in the absence of an offside rule), the need to bounce the ball (or toe-kick it, known as a solo in Gaelic football) while running, punching the ball (hand-passing) rather than throwing it, and other traditions. As O'Dwyer says:
O'Dwyer's argument relies heavily on the presence of Irish immigrants on the Victorian goldfields during the Victorian goldrushes
Victorian gold rush
The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. In 10 years the Australian population nearly tripled.- Overview :During this era Victoria dominated the world's gold output...
of the 1850s, and a comparison of the two modern games. While it is highly likely that Gaelic football was heavily influenced by the ancient Irish games of hurling and caid, his argument that elements of Irish football were present in early forms of Australian rules football have been disputed by other historians. For example, the 1859 Melbourne rules did not have a requirement for players to bounce the ball while running. On the other hand, this was not a requirement in caid either.
It is also possible that both Gaelic football and Australian rules shared other influences. Archbishop Thomas Croke
Thomas Croke
Thomas William Croke D.D. was the second Catholic Bishop of Auckland, New Zealand and later Archbishop of Cashel and Emly in Ireland...
, one of the founders of the GAA, lived in New Zealand between 1870 to 1875. It is likely that the Melbourne rules were introduced to New Zealand by Victorians emigrating during the central Otago goldrush
Central Otago Gold Rush
The Central Otago Gold Rush was a gold rush that occurred during the 1860s in Central Otago, New Zealand...
of 1861. By 1863, the code played by the Christchurch Football Club in New Zealand (the Christchurch rules), required players to bounce the ball every few yards, at around the same time that the same rule was included in the Melbourne rules. It is possible that Croke had opportunities to witness the Melbourne and/or Christchurch rules being played.
Such claims are regarded by many people as purely circumstantial evidence
Circumstantial evidence
Circumstantial evidence is evidence in which an inference is required to connect it to a conclusion of fact, like a fingerprint at the scene of a crime...
for a relationship between the two codes.
Like Australian rules, the Irish football games of the 1880s allowed players to grab or push each other. However the two games were soon developing and diverging, largely in isolation from each other.
Both games are immensely popular in their country of origin and International rules test between the two peak bodies of Australia and Ireland are popular and relatively evenly contested.
Both games are emerging from largely provincial backgrounds and are growing internationally, although the rate of growth of Australian football around the world has increased in recent decades. Gaelic Football has been played for longer outside of Ireland than Australian rules football outside of Oceania
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
, primarily in areas of the Irish Diaspora, the North American GAA
North American GAA
The North American County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or North American GAA is one of the boards of the GAA outside Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in the United States of America, excluding the New York metropolitan region, which is under the control of the New York GAA...
and Europe GAA
Europe GAA
The European Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Europe GAA is one of the boards of the GAA outside Ireland, and is responsible for organizaning Gaelic Games in continental Europe...
. In the 21st century Gaelic Football has increased in popularity in Asia.
See also
- Australian rules footballAustralian rules footballAustralian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
- Gaelic footballGaelic footballGaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
- International Rules FootballInternational rules footballInternational rules football is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed to facilitate international representative matches between Australian rules football players and Gaelic football players....
- Relationship between Gaelic football and Australian rules footballRelationship between Gaelic football and Australian rules footballThe relationship between Gaelic and Australian football is the subject of a controversy among historians. The question of whether the two codes of football, from Ireland and Australia respectively, have shared origins arises because it is clear even to casual observers that the two games are similar...
- Players who have converted from one football code to anotherPlayers who have converted from one football code to anotherThere are many players who have converted from one football code to another or even changed from other sports at a professional or representational level....