Gridiron in Australia
Encyclopedia
American football
, known locally as "gridiron
", is a participation and spectator sport in Australia
. The sport is governed by Gridiron Australia
, a member of the International Federation of American Football
(IFAF).
The sport has been played in six Australian states and territories across the country since World War II
, but has only had regular league play since 1983. There is no uniform gridiron season in Australia. The various state and territory bodies play at different times of the year. There are currently 73 junior and senior teams playing gridiron in Australia. The national team
has competed in the IFAF World Cup and other international competitions.
American football has an increasing media profile in Australia. The National Football League
is broadcast on both free-to-air
television
through One HD and subscription television through the Fox Sports and ESPN channels available on Foxtel
and Austar
, including the Super Bowl
live. Due to interest in converts from Australian rules football
, particularly Ben Graham and Saverio Rocca
, the game is also regularly covered by Sports Tonight
as well as the Herald Sun
and other newspapers.
The first games of gridiron football in Australia occurred during World War II
. Exhibition matches featuring American servicemen were played in the major cities and attracted interest and crowds.
A high profile match in Adelaide
played on American Independence Day (4 July) 1942 by American servicemen attracted a crowd of 25,000.
Several matches were played in Sydney
in 1943 and another high profile match was played in Brisbane
in 1944, all featuring American servicemen. Another match was held in Melbourne
at an unknown date during the war.
Matches of Austus
were also played against Australian rules football
ers featuring a set of compromise rules.
However the game did not take hold in Australia after the war.
, Victoria
.
Further north, an ad was placed over a Sydney
radio station advertising for American football enthusiasts to assemble in early 1984. The response was remarkable and several teams comprising enthusiastic amateurs who had been throwing the ball around on Sunday afternoons
were formed.
The first season saw all games being played at a disused rubbish tip. There were no goal posts,no medical supervision and no insurance. The early pioneers did not wear helmets but found kick boxing protective headgear useful.
1984 saw the first interstate clash when a team from Melbourne travelled to Sydney to play. NSW won the match 30-7. American Football had arrived in Australia.
Soon football equipment began to be imported into Australia. Coaches came from the University of Hawaii
for clinics and to help train players. These efforts helped lay the foundation for the sport to develop in Australia so that other leagues could start up around the country.
Also in 1984 the Australian American Football Conference was founded (later renamed the Australian American Football League). It was a high profile team which the media and sponsors would see as a positive entity to promote the sport back home. The first Kookaburras embarked on an extensive tour to the USA, training at US Colleges. The LA Rams assisted in hosting the Kookaburras. The Kookaburras would tour the USA and Europe annually until 1992.
In 1985 the first organised competition was played in Queensland. The 1st year of competition of the Queensland Gridiron Football League was contested by four clubs, the Brisbane Bulldogs, the Mitchelton Warriors, the Pine Grove Steelers, and the Kenmore Centurions. Unable to gain access to the usual equipment of the game, the teams took the field in the 1st year in makeshift padding and uniforms (without helmets) while still utilising all the normal rules of the games. In the Championship game, SUNBOWL I, the Brisbane Bulldogs defeated the Mitchelton Warriors 5-2.
In November 1989 the Grand Prix Challenge was held in Adelaide, a four way competition involving Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales. New South Wales went on to win the Challenge.
In 1990 the Down Under Bowl
tournament commenced in Australia and is still going strong. Each year individual American States are invited to field High School all-star teams, travel to Australia and
spread the growth of the game down under. Games are played against local Australian teams and between US teams. 1998 saw the most successful year yet with 36 teams travelling to the Gold Coast in Queensland to compete in the Down Under Bowl.
Trans Tasman competition came to Melbourne in January 1991 when Victoria played the visiting South Auckland Raiders from New Zealand
, finishing in a 19-19 draw.
A series of interstate Bowl games were to be played between all major States in October/November 1991. The Victorians were rewarded with a good win. The following week saw the NSW state team go down to the Victorian Eagles at Olympic Park
. This left Victoria as the National State Champions for 1991.
The National Gridiron League of Australia (NGLA) was formed in January 1991 "to govern and promote American football on the national level and to represent Australian gridiron on the international scene."
Gridiron Australia
(GA) was formed in 1994, with the aim of replacing the old National Gridiron League of Australia. By 1995 American football was being played in every State and Territory in Australia, a total of approximately 100 teams.
In 1995 Darren Bennett became the third Australian to play in the NFL when he was selected as the punter for the San Diego Chargers
. The first Australian to play in the NFL was Colin Ridgeway
, who played Aussie Rules for Carlton in the 1960’s before being picked up by the Dallas Cowboys as a punter. After him came Colin Scotts, who went to college in Hawaii before being drafted to play with the Phoenix Cardinals and then the Houston Oilers in the middle to late 1980s.
Gridiron Australia's First National Championships were held in the nation's capital, Canberra
, in January 1996. Both senior and junior teams from New South Wales
, the ACT
, Victoria
and South Australia attended. South Australia won the Senior Championship 34-0 and New South Wales won the Junior Championship 12-8.
In 1996, 24 US teams toured Australia and New Zealand as part of Down Under Bowl VIII. Both Victoria and South Australia recorded wins over US teams.
In 1997 the Australia Day Championships were held in Sydney, with Queensland taking the Championship.
In 1997 Australia resumed its international campaign, against New Zealand. On 1 August 1997 the Australian Bushrangers played the New Zealand Haka
in Auckland
, New Zealand
. The game, the inaugural Anzac Bowl, was a great success.
On 7 January the Australian American Football League (AAFL) was formed.
On 31 January 1998 the Bushrangers played Team Hawaii in Honolulu during the National Football League's Pro Bowl week. Trips to Europe and Japan are also planned. Australia has participated in the Gridiron World Cup since 1999.
In May 1998 the AAFL was dissolved, with Gridiron Australia becoming the only National body involved in the management of Gridiron matters in Australia.
On August 7, 1999, the first American Bowl
in Australia was played in Sydney between the Denver Broncos
and San Diego Chargers
at Stadium Australia
, the first American pro football game to be held in the Southern Hemisphere. The game attendance was announced at 73,811 spectators.
In 2008, Ten HD
announced it would televise the NFL season on free-to-air television
, including the Super Bowl
live.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, known locally as "gridiron
Gridiron football
Gridiron football , sometimes known as North American football, is an umbrella term for related codes of football primarily played in the United States and Canada. The predominant forms of gridiron football are American football and Canadian football...
", is a participation and spectator sport in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The sport is governed by Gridiron Australia
Gridiron Australia
Gridiron Australia is the governing body of American football in Australia. It is an approved sporting association under federal government regulations and is a member of the International Federation of American Football . The organisation was formed in 1996.Gridiron Australia oversees the...
, a member of the International Federation of American Football
International Federation of American Football
International Federation of American Football is the international governing body of American football associations. Its headquarters are in La Courneuve, France, and its current president is Tommy Wiking...
(IFAF).
The sport has been played in six Australian states and territories across the country since World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, but has only had regular league play since 1983. There is no uniform gridiron season in Australia. The various state and territory bodies play at different times of the year. There are currently 73 junior and senior teams playing gridiron in Australia. The national team
Australia national American football team
The Australia national American football team, nicknamed the Australian Outbacks, represent Australia in international American football competitions...
has competed in the IFAF World Cup and other international competitions.
American football has an increasing media profile in Australia. The National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
is broadcast on both free-to-air
Free-to-air
Free-to-air describes television and radio services broadcast in clear form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscription or one-off fee...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
through One HD and subscription television through the Fox Sports and ESPN channels available on Foxtel
Foxtel
Foxtel is an Australian pay television company, operating cable, direct broadcast satellite television and IPTV services. It was formed in 1995 through a joint venture established between Telstra and News Corporation....
and Austar
Austar
Austar is an Australian telecommunications company. Its main business activity is Subscription Television but it is also involved with internet access and mobile phones...
, including the Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
live. Due to interest in converts from Australian rules football
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...
, particularly Ben Graham and Saverio Rocca
Saverio Rocca
Saverio "Sav" Giovanni Rocca is a punter for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League and former Australian rules footballer for both and in the Australian Football League. He has also played for the Philadelphia Eagles.He is one of a few players who have converted from...
, the game is also regularly covered by Sports Tonight
Sports Tonight
Sports Tonight was an Australian sports information program broadcast on Network Ten . The program was broadcast on Weeknights at 10.30 pm; at 11.00pm , Fridays at 12.00am , and on Sunday from 7:30pm AEDT Sports Tonight was an Australian sports information program broadcast on Network Ten (and on...
as well as the Herald Sun
Herald Sun
The Herald Sun is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia. It is published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Limited, itself a subsidiary of News Corporation. It is available for purchase throughout Melbourne, Regional Victoria, Tasmania, the Australian Capital...
and other newspapers.
Exhibition matches
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Exhibition matches featuring American servicemen were played in the major cities and attracted interest and crowds.
A high profile match in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
played on American Independence Day (4 July) 1942 by American servicemen attracted a crowd of 25,000.
Several matches were played in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
in 1943 and another high profile match was played in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
in 1944, all featuring American servicemen. Another match was held in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
at an unknown date during the war.
Matches of Austus
Austus
Austus is a sport which was started in Australia during World War II when U.S. soldiers wanted to play a form of football against the Australians...
were also played against Australian rules football
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...
ers featuring a set of compromise rules.
However the game did not take hold in Australia after the war.
First local leagues
In 1983 the first fully organised gridiron teams in Australia were formed in MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
.
Further north, an ad was placed over a Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
radio station advertising for American football enthusiasts to assemble in early 1984. The response was remarkable and several teams comprising enthusiastic amateurs who had been throwing the ball around on Sunday afternoons
were formed.
The first season saw all games being played at a disused rubbish tip. There were no goal posts,no medical supervision and no insurance. The early pioneers did not wear helmets but found kick boxing protective headgear useful.
1984 saw the first interstate clash when a team from Melbourne travelled to Sydney to play. NSW won the match 30-7. American Football had arrived in Australia.
Soon football equipment began to be imported into Australia. Coaches came from the University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
for clinics and to help train players. These efforts helped lay the foundation for the sport to develop in Australia so that other leagues could start up around the country.
Also in 1984 the Australian American Football Conference was founded (later renamed the Australian American Football League). It was a high profile team which the media and sponsors would see as a positive entity to promote the sport back home. The first Kookaburras embarked on an extensive tour to the USA, training at US Colleges. The LA Rams assisted in hosting the Kookaburras. The Kookaburras would tour the USA and Europe annually until 1992.
In 1985 the first organised competition was played in Queensland. The 1st year of competition of the Queensland Gridiron Football League was contested by four clubs, the Brisbane Bulldogs, the Mitchelton Warriors, the Pine Grove Steelers, and the Kenmore Centurions. Unable to gain access to the usual equipment of the game, the teams took the field in the 1st year in makeshift padding and uniforms (without helmets) while still utilising all the normal rules of the games. In the Championship game, SUNBOWL I, the Brisbane Bulldogs defeated the Mitchelton Warriors 5-2.
In November 1989 the Grand Prix Challenge was held in Adelaide, a four way competition involving Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales. New South Wales went on to win the Challenge.
In 1990 the Down Under Bowl
Down Under Bowl
The Down Under Bowl, often spelt DownUnder Bowl or abbreviated DUB, is an annual American football competition, which started in 1988...
tournament commenced in Australia and is still going strong. Each year individual American States are invited to field High School all-star teams, travel to Australia and
spread the growth of the game down under. Games are played against local Australian teams and between US teams. 1998 saw the most successful year yet with 36 teams travelling to the Gold Coast in Queensland to compete in the Down Under Bowl.
Trans Tasman competition came to Melbourne in January 1991 when Victoria played the visiting South Auckland Raiders from New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, finishing in a 19-19 draw.
A series of interstate Bowl games were to be played between all major States in October/November 1991. The Victorians were rewarded with a good win. The following week saw the NSW state team go down to the Victorian Eagles at Olympic Park
Olympic Park, Melbourne
The Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct is a series of sports venues and stadia, located in Melbourne, Victoria, in Australia. The precinct is situated around 3 km east of the Melbourne city centre, between the suburbs of East Melbourne and Richmond, and close to the north-eastern bank of...
. This left Victoria as the National State Champions for 1991.
The National Gridiron League of Australia (NGLA) was formed in January 1991 "to govern and promote American football on the national level and to represent Australian gridiron on the international scene."
Gridiron Australia
Gridiron Australia
Gridiron Australia is the governing body of American football in Australia. It is an approved sporting association under federal government regulations and is a member of the International Federation of American Football . The organisation was formed in 1996.Gridiron Australia oversees the...
(GA) was formed in 1994, with the aim of replacing the old National Gridiron League of Australia. By 1995 American football was being played in every State and Territory in Australia, a total of approximately 100 teams.
In 1995 Darren Bennett became the third Australian to play in the NFL when he was selected as the punter for the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. The first Australian to play in the NFL was Colin Ridgeway
Colin Ridgeway
Colin Edwin Ridgway was an American football punter distinguished as being the first Australian to play in the National Football League.-Track and Field:...
, who played Aussie Rules for Carlton in the 1960’s before being picked up by the Dallas Cowboys as a punter. After him came Colin Scotts, who went to college in Hawaii before being drafted to play with the Phoenix Cardinals and then the Houston Oilers in the middle to late 1980s.
Gridiron Australia's First National Championships were held in the nation's capital, Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, in January 1996. Both senior and junior teams from New South Wales
Gridiron NSW
Gridiron NSW is the governing body for gridiron in the state of New South Wales, Australia....
, the ACT
ACT Gridiron
ACT Gridiron or ACTG is the governing body for gridiron in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. ACT Gridiron currently has six teams. The season culminates with the grand final, known as the Capital Bowl....
, Victoria
Gridiron Victoria
Gridiron Victoria is the governing body for American Football in the State of Victoria, Australia. Formed in 1997, Gridiron Victoria was an amalgamation of the two existing governing bodies of the time: the Victoria Gridiron Football League and the Gridiron Association of Victoria.-Clubs:* Bay...
and South Australia attended. South Australia won the Senior Championship 34-0 and New South Wales won the Junior Championship 12-8.
In 1996, 24 US teams toured Australia and New Zealand as part of Down Under Bowl VIII. Both Victoria and South Australia recorded wins over US teams.
In 1997 the Australia Day Championships were held in Sydney, with Queensland taking the Championship.
In 1997 Australia resumed its international campaign, against New Zealand. On 1 August 1997 the Australian Bushrangers played the New Zealand Haka
New Zealand Ironblacks
The New Zealand national American football team, nicknamed the Ironblacks, represent New Zealand in international American football competitions. The Ironblacks were formerly known as the Haka, until 2003 when the branding changed to the present Ironblacks image in preparation for Oceania Bowl II...
in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. The game, the inaugural Anzac Bowl, was a great success.
On 7 January the Australian American Football League (AAFL) was formed.
On 31 January 1998 the Bushrangers played Team Hawaii in Honolulu during the National Football League's Pro Bowl week. Trips to Europe and Japan are also planned. Australia has participated in the Gridiron World Cup since 1999.
In May 1998 the AAFL was dissolved, with Gridiron Australia becoming the only National body involved in the management of Gridiron matters in Australia.
On August 7, 1999, the first American Bowl
American Bowl
The American Bowl was a series of National Football League pre-season exhibition games that were held at sites outside the United States between 1986 and 2005.- Overview :...
in Australia was played in Sydney between the Denver Broncos
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
and San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
at Stadium Australia
Telstra Stadium
Stadium Australia, currently also known as ANZ Stadium due to naming rights, formerly known as Telstra Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sydney Olympic Park precinct of Homebush Bay...
, the first American pro football game to be held in the Southern Hemisphere. The game attendance was announced at 73,811 spectators.
In 2008, Ten HD
Ten HD
Ten HD was an Australian free-to-air television channel that launched on 16 December 2007. The channel was available to high definition digital television viewers through owned-and-operated stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth...
announced it would televise the NFL season on free-to-air television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, including the Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
live.
See also
- Gridiron AustraliaGridiron AustraliaGridiron Australia is the governing body of American football in Australia. It is an approved sporting association under federal government regulations and is a member of the International Federation of American Football . The organisation was formed in 1996.Gridiron Australia oversees the...
- Western Crusaders
- Australian sportsmen linked to professional American FootballAustralian sportsmen linked to professional American FootballAustralian sportsmen linked to professional American Football include not just a number of successful football code converts, but also a number sportsmen with high profiles either before or as a result of their switching codes....