History of Australian rules football

The history of Australian rules football is claimed to have begun 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...

in 1858 with the earliest recorded organised football

Football

Football may refer to one of a number of team sports which all involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball with the foot to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer"...

matches organised by 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....

and other early proponents. The earliest recorded experimental match was played at the Richmond Paddock

Yarra Park, Melbourne

Yarra Park is part of the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct - the premier sporting precinct of Victoria, Australia. Located in Yarra Park is the Melbourne Cricket Ground and numerous sporting fields and ovals, including the associated sporting complexes of Melbourne & Olympic Parks...

on 31 July. The oldest surviving set of Australian football rules were drawn up the next year on 17 May 1859 three days after the formation of 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....

.

The Origins of Australian football before 1858 are still the subject of much debate, however the current stance of the AFL Commission

AFL Commission

The AFL Commission is the official governing body of the Australian Football League , the elite national Australian rules football competition....

's official historians is that Australian football is primarily a variant of 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:...

and that the history of the Victorian game began in 1858. This game was vastly different to the Australian rules football played today, being a variant of the original Rugby Football invented in England and relabelled as Australian by 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 earliest governing bodies, the South Australian National Football League, at the time called the South Australian Football Association and Victorian Football Association were formed in 1877 and the first intercolonial matches

Interstate matches in Australian rules football

Australian rules football matches between teams representing Australian colonies/states and territories have been held since 1879. For most of the 20th century, the absence of a national club competition and international matches meant that football games between state representative teams were...

shortly after in 1879. The game, known as "Victorian Rules" or "Australasian Rules", had begun its spread throughout the southern colonies of 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...

.

By Federation

Federation of Australia

The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed one nation...

in 1901, the game was established in Victoria, South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

, Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

and Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

, with the Victorian Football League

Victorian Football League

The Victorian Football League which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association , taking its new name as from the 1996 season, is the premier Australian rules football league in Victoria The Victorian Football League (VFL) which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association...

, South Australian National Football League

South Australian National Football League

The South Australian National Football League is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the governing body for the sport of Australian rules football in South Australia....

and West Australian Football League

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...

operating as separate competitions.

The game suffered greatly between the wars, especially outside of its heartland states. This new code never really took hold in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

and Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

where the 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:...

codes were much stronger.

In the 1990s, the VFL became the 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...

, a national body and the premier league in Australia as well as the de facto

De facto

De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...

world governing body

Sport governing body

A sport governing body is a sports organization that has a regulatory or sanctioning function. Sport governing bodies come in various forms, and have a variety of regulatory functions. Examples of this can include disciplinary action for rule infractions and deciding on rule changes in the sport...

Origins of the game

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....

began to devise Australian rules in Melbourne

Melbourne

in 1858. (Although H.C.A. Harrison, Wills' cousin, was also named, much later, as an official father of the game his role does not, now, seem to have been significant at this very early stage.) A letter by Wills was published in Bell's Life in Victoria & Sporting Chronicle on 10 July 1858, calling for a "foot-ball club, a rifle club, or other athletic pursuits" to keep cricketers fit during winter. An experimental match, played at the Richmond Paddock (later known as Yarra Park

Yarra Park, Melbourne

next to the MCG

Melbourne Cricket Ground

The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...

) on 31 July 1858, was a form of football. However, few details of the match have survived.

On 7 August 1858, a famous match between Melbourne Grammar School

Melbourne Grammar School

Melbourne Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, located in South Yarra and Caulfield, suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....

and Scotch College

Scotch College, Melbourne

Scotch College, Melbourne is an independent, Presbyterian, day and boarding school for boys, located in Hawthorn, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....

began, umpired by Wills and John Macadam

John Macadam

Dr. John Macadam , was an Australian chemist, medical teacher and politician. The genus Macadamia was named after him in 1857 by his colleague Ferdinand von Mueller....

. A second day of play took place on 21 August and a third, and final, day on 4 September. The two schools have competed annually ever since. However, the rules used by the two teams in 1858 were not official since Wills had not yet begun to write them.

The Melbourne Football Club rules of 1859 are the oldest surviving set of laws for Australian football. They were drawn up at the Parade Hotel, East Melbourne, on 17 May, by Wills, William Hammersley

William Hammersley

William Josiah Sumner Hammersley was a prominent sports journalist for Bell's Life in Victoria and later The Australasian , one of the four men credited with setting down the original rules of the Australian rules football.-Life:He was educated at Aldenham School...

, J. B. Thompson and Thomas Smith

Thomas H. Smith

Thomas Henry Smith was an Irish Australian who had a clear role in the origins of Australian football by being one of the first people to introduce school football games to Australian public schools in 1858 and as one of the founders of the Melbourne Football Club.Smith was a founding member and...

(some sources erroneously include H. C. A. Harrison). The 1859 rules, drawn up three days after the Melbourne club was officially founded, did not include some elements that soon became important to the game, such as the requirement to bounce the ball while running. Melbourne's game was not immediately adopted by neighbouring clubs. Before each match the rules had to be agreed by the two teams involved. By 1866, however, several other clubs had agreed to play by an updated version of Melbourne's rules.

The original handwritten rules dated May 1859 were signed by Tom Wills, William Hammersley, J. Sewell, J. B. Thompson, Alex Bruce, T. Butterworth and Thomas Smith:

1 The distance between the goal post shall be decided upon by the captains of the sides playing.

2 The captains on each side shall toss for choice of goal. The side losing the toss has the kick-off from the centre-point between the goals.

3 A goal must be kicked fairly between the posts without touching either of them or a portion of the person of any player of either side.

4 The game shall be played within the space of not more than 200 yards wide, the same to be measured equally upon each side of the line drawn through the centre of the two goals and two posts to be called the kick-off points shall be erected at a distance of 20 yards on each side of the goal posts at both ends and in a straight line with them.

5 In case the ball is kicked behind the goals, anyone of the side behind whose goal it is kicked, may bring it back 20 yards in front of any portion of the space between the kick-off posts and shall kick it as nearly as possible in the line of the opposite goal.

6 Any player catching the ball directly from the boot may call 'mark'. He then has a free kick. No players from the opposite side being allowed to come into the spot marked.

7 Tripping and pushing are both allowed but no hacking when any player is in rapid motion or in possession of the ball except for the case provided by rule 6.

8 The ball may be taken in hand only when caught from the boot or on the hop. In no case shall it be lifted from the ground.

9 When the ball goes out of bounds (the same being indicated by a row of posts) it shall be brought back to the point where it crossed the boundary line and thrown in right angels with that line.

10 The ball while in play may under no circumstances be thrown.

Influences from English football codes

The influence of British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

public school

Public School (UK)

A public school, in common British usage, is a school that is neither administered nor financed by the state or from taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of endowments, tuition fees and charitable contributions, usually existing as a non profit-making charitable trust...

and university

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

football codes, while undetermined, was clearly substantial. Wills had been educated at 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:...

in England (where 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:...

had been codified since 1845). Wills had also, like W. J. Hammersley and J. B. Thompson, been to the University of Cambridge

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

. The Cambridge Rules, drawn up in 1848, included some elements which are important in Australian football, such as the mark. Thomas Smith had Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

ancestry and had attended Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...

, where an early version of the Rugby School rules were popular. These men would have been familiar with other public school and university games. They may also have been inspired by surviving forms of Medieval football and other traditional sports, played among the thousands of immigrants who poured into Victoria from the UK, Ireland and many other countries during the gold rushes of the 1850s

1850s

- Wars :* Crimean war fought between Imperial Russia and an alliance consisting of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Second French Empire, the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire...

.

There is circumstantial evidence that Sheffield Rules

Sheffield Rules

The Sheffield Rules were a code of football devised and played in the English city of Sheffield between 1857 and 1877. They were devised by Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest for use by the newly founded Sheffield Football Club. The rules were subsequently adopted as the official rules of...

also had an influence. The two codes shared the unique feature of lacking the offside rule. The also similarities in the laws for kicking off, kick outs, throw-ins and the fair catch

Fair catch

A fair catch is a feature of American football and several other codes of football, in which a player attempting to catch a ball kicked by the opposing team – either on a kickoff or punt – is entitled to catch the ball without interference from any member of the kicking team...

. Henry Creswick (possibly a relative of Nathaniel Creswick) was born in Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

but emigrated to Australia with his brother in 1840 (the town of Creswick

Creswick, Victoria

Creswick is a town in west-central Victoria, Australia. It is located 18 kilometres north of Ballarat and 129 km northwest of Melbourne, in Shire of Hepburn. It is 430 metres above sea level. At the 2006 census, Creswick had a population of 2,485...

is named after them). He moved to Melbourne in 1854 and became involved in the local cricket scene. He played first class cricket for Victoria

Victorian Bushrangers

The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...

during the 57/58 season alongside 3 of the founders of Melbourne Football Club including Tom Wills.

Similarities to Gaelic football

While it is clear even to casual observers that Australian rules football is similar to Gaelic football

Gaelic football

Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...

, the exact relationship is a matter of controversy among historians. The Irish game was not 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) until 1887. 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 offside limitation on ball or player movement, the need to bounce the ball or toe-kick it while running (known as a solo in Gaelic football)punching the ball (hand-passing) rather than throwing it, and other traditions. As O'Dwyer says:

These are all elements of Irish football. There were several variations of Irish football in existence, normally without the benefit of rulebooks, but the central tradition in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

was in the direction of the relatively new game [i.e. rugby]...adapted and shaped within the perimeters of the ancient Irish game of hurling

Hurling

Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...

... [These rules] later became embedded in Gaelic football. Their presence in Victorian football may be accounted for in terms of a formative influence being exerted by men familiar with and no doubt playing the Irish game. It is not that they were introduced into the game from that motive [i.e. emulating Irish games]; it was rather a case of particular needs being met... [B. W. O'Dwyer, March 1989, "The Shaping of Victorian Rules Football", Victorian Historical Journal, v.60, no.1.]

After 1887, the two games developed in isolation from each other. A number of players, most notably Jim Stynes

Jim Stynes

James "Jim" Stynes OAM is an Irish former professional Australian rules footballer who is currently a businessman, philanthropist, writer, youth worker, qualified teacher and chairman of Melbourne Football Club since 2008....

and Tadhg Kennelly

Tadhg Kennelly

Tadhg Kennelly is an Irish sportsperson known for his top level careers in both Gaelic football and Australian rules football....

have successfully made the transition from Gaelic football to Australian rules. (See the article Players who have converted from one football code to another

Players who have converted from one football code to another

There are many players who have converted from one football code to another or even changed from other sports at a professional or representational level....

, for further information.)

Historic clubs

The modern day 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...

(AFL) includes many teams that date back to the beginnings of the game. Apart from the Melbourne Football Club (1859), other early clubs still in existence in the AFL include: Geelong

Geelong Football Club

The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...

(1859), Carlton

Carlton Football Club

The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...

(1864), North Melbourne (aka Hotham) (1869), Port Adelaide

Port Adelaide Football Club

The Port Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, which plays in the Australian Football League and the South Australian National Football League...

(1870), Essendon

Essendon Football Club

The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

, Hawthorn

Hawthorn Football Club

The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...

and St Kilda (1873), South Melbourne (now Sydney Swans

Sydney Swans

The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...

) (1874), Footscray (now the Western Bulldogs

Western Bulldogs

The Western Bulldogs are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based at the Whitten Oval in West Footscray, an inner-western suburb of Melbourne...

) (1877).

Other historic clubs, such as the Castlemaine Football Club

Castlemaine Football Club

Castlemaine Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia and is currently a member of the Bendigo Football League.The club is notable for several reasons...

(1859), Melbourne University Football Club

Melbourne University Football Club

Melbourne University Football Club, often known simply as University is an Australian rules football club.The club achieved prominence by being a member of the game's most elite competition in the early 20th century, the Victorian Football League between 1908 and 1914.Although there are no records...

(1859) also continue to exist in lesser leagues.

The first league

In 1877, the Victorian Football Association (VFA), the game's first league, was formed by 14 clubs: Albert Park

Albert Park Football Club

Albert Park Football Club is an Australian rules football club located 3 km south of Melbourne in the suburb of Albert Park.Originally affiliated with the VFA during the 19th century.The club colours are red and white....

, Ballarat, Barwon, Beechworth

Beechworth Football Club

Beechworth Football Club, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Tallangatta & District Football League...

, Carlton, Castlemaine, East Melbourne, Essendon, Geelong, Hotham (later North Melbourne), Inglewood

Inglewood Football Club

Inglewood Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Inglewood, Victoria. The club is currently affiliated with the Loddon Valley Football League.- History :...

, Melbourne, Rochester

Rochester Football Club

The Rochester Football Club was formed at a meeting held on 8 June 1874 at Tidy's Restdown Hotel. The club was formed with the purpose of soon "playing and beating Echuca"...

and St Kilda. Six of these clubs were from the Victorian country. At the time, Essendon was regarded as a semi-junior club rather than a full member, and was allowed concessions such as fielding teams of 25 players, instead of the standard 20.

The first night football match occurred in the VFA in 1879 between Collingwood Artillery and East Melbourne.

Leagues outside Victoria

Gradually the game – known at first as "Melbourne Rules", "Victorian Rules" or sometimes as "Australasian Rules" – began to spread from Victoria into other Australian colonies in the 1860s, beginning with Tasmania

Australian rules football in Tasmania

Australian rules football in Tasmania known as Football officially and locally has a history dating back to the 1860s, with the state having the distinction of being the first place outside of Victoria to play the sport....

(1864), Queensland

Australian rules football in Queensland

Australian rules football in Queensland has a history which dates back to the 1860s. By the 1880s it was the most prominent football code in the state, but was overtaken by rugby league by 1908...

(1866) and South Australia

Australian rules football in South Australia

Australian rules football in South Australia has a history dating back to 1843, and it has long been the most popular sport in the state.-History:see South Australian National Football League for a more detailed history of the SANFL competition...

(1873). The game began to be played in New South Wales

Australian rules football in New South Wales

Australian rules football in New South Wales has been played since the 1870s, however it has a troubled history in the state, traditionally lags in popularity as a winter sport behind the rugby football codes....

in 1877, in Western Australia

Australian rules football in Western Australia

Australian rules football in Western Australia is the most popular sport in the state.-Early Beginnings:Organised football in the Perth/Fremantle region of Western Australia dates back to 1881. Back then though rugby union was the dominant football code...

in 1881 and the Australian Capital Territory

Australian rules football in the Australian Capital Territory

Australian rules football in the Australian Capital Territory has a history dating back to the formation of the territory in the 1910s.Traditionally, Canberra was considered to be one of the points which define the Barassi Line, however the popularity of Australian rules football suffered...

in 1911. By 1916, the game was first played in the Northern Territory

Australian rules football in the Northern Territory

Australian rules football in the Northern Territory has a history dating back to the 1910s and is the most popular sport in the territory, particularly with indigenous Australian communities in Darwin, Alice Springs and the Tiwi Islands....

, establishing a permanent presence in all Australian states and mainland territories.

In Newcastle, New South Wales

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

the Black Diamond league was founded by Victorian goldminers and the Black Diamond Challenge Cup

Black Diamond Australian Football League

The Black Diamond Australian Football League is an Australian rules football competition in the Newcastle, Hunter Valley and Central Coast regions of New South Wales.-History:...

remains Australia's oldest sporting trophy.

The first intercolonial match

Interstate matches in Australian rules football

, between Victoria and SA, was held in 1879.

The precursors of the South Australian National Football League

South Australian National Football League

(SANFL) and the West Australian Football League

West Australian Football League

(WAFL) were strong, separate competitions by the 1890s.

Factors such as intercolonial (and later interstate) rivalry and the denial of access to grounds in Sydney by the dominant rugby codes caused the code to struggle in New South Wales and Queensland.

Formation of the VFL

A rift in the VFA led to the formation of the Victorian Football League (VFL), which commenced play in 1897 as an eight-team breakaway of the stronger clubs in the VFA competition: Carlton, Collingwood

Collingwood Football Club

The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

, Essendon, Fitzroy

Fitzroy Football Club

The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...

, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne. The first season concluded with Essendon finishing as the premiers (winners).

Another five VFA clubs joined the VFL later: Richmond

Richmond Football Club

The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...

and University joined the VFL in 1908, although University withdrew in 1915 due to the war

The VFL during the World Wars

Australian rules football was heavily affected by both World War I and World War II. Hundreds of leading players served their country abroad, and many lost their lives...

. Footscray, Hawthorn

Hawthorn Football Club

and North Melbourne joined in 1925, by which time VFL had become the most prominent league in the game.

Interstate competition

For most of the 20th century, the absence of a national club competition – and the inability of players to compete internationally – meant that matches between state representative teams were regarded with great importance. Because VFL clubs increasingly recruited the best players in other states, Victoria dominated these games. However, State of Origin rules were introduced in 1977, and in the first such game, at Subiaco Oval

Subiaco Oval

Subiaco Oval , known colloquially as Subi, is the highest capacity sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia...

in Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

, Western Australia defeated Victoria, 23.13 (151) to 8.9 (57), a huge reversal of the results in most previous games. Western Australia and South Australia began to win many of their games against Victoria. However, during the 1990s, following the emergence of the Australian Football League, state of origin games declined in importance especially after an increasing number of withdrawals by AFL players, who were under increasing pressure from clubs concerned by the risk of injuries. Australian football State of Origin matches ceased in 1999. The second-tier state and territorial leagues still contest interstate matches.

A national league

In 1982, in a move which heralded big changes within the sport, one of the original VFL clubs, South Melbourne Football Club, relocated to the rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

stronghold of 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...

and became known as the Sydney Swans

Sydney Swans

. In the late 1980s, strong interstate interest in the VFL led to a more national competition; two more non-Victorian clubs, the West Coast Eagles

West Coast Eagles

The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and played its first games in the 1987 season. Its current home ground is Subiaco Oval...

and the Brisbane Bears began playing in 1987.

The league changed its name to the 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...

(AFL) following the 1989 season. In 1991, it gained its first South Australian team, Adelaide

Adelaide Crows

The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed The Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia, playing in the Australian Football League ....

. West Coast's local derby

Local derby

In many countries the term local derby, or simply just derby means a sporting fixture between two, generally local, rivals, particularly in association football...

rival Fremantle

Fremantle Football Club

The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed The Dockers, is an Australian rules football team which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in the port city of Fremantle at the mouth of the Swan River in Western Australia...

was admitted in 1995. Fitzroy merged with Brisbane after 1996 due to financial difficulties to form the Brisbane Lions

Brisbane Lions

The Brisbane Lions is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Brisbane, Queensland. The club was formed from the merger of the Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Lions in 1996...

and the proud old SANFL club, Port Adelaide

Port Adelaide Football Club

joined in 1997 as Port Adelaide Power, immediately becoming fierce local rivals to Adelaide. The AFL, currently with 16 member clubs, is the sport's elite competition and the most powerful body in the world of Australian rules football.

Today's state leagues

For much of the 20th century the SANFL and the WAFL were considered peers of the VFL. Although the VFL was generally accepted as the strongest league, clubs from all three leagues frequently played each other on an even footing in challenge matches and occasional nationwide club competitions.

With the introduction of the AFL, the SANFL, WAFL and other state leagues rapidly declined to a secondary status. Apart from these there are many semi-professional and amateur leagues around Australia, where they play a very important role in the community, and particularly so in rural areas.

The VFA, still in existence a century after the original schism, merged with the former VFL reserves competition in 1998. The new entity adopted the VFL name.

Australian football internationally

Almost as soon as the game was becoming established in Australia, it had spread to New Zealand

Australian rules football in New Zealand

Australian rules football in New Zealand is currently a minority sport in a nation where rugby union is the national sport and predominant football code...

in 1876. South Africa

Australian rules football in South Africa

Australian rules football in South Africa is a fast growing team sport, having grown in participation by 160% between 2005–07.Since 1996, the sport has been growing quickly amongst indigenous communities, beginning in the North West province and later spreading to Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Western...

followed in the 1880s, with the help of Australian goldminers; they were augmented by soldiers during the Second Boer War

Second Boer War

The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...

.

In 1888, a touring British 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:...

team played 19 games of Australian rules against clubs in Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia. The tourists, who had been hastily trained in the local code, played Carlton

Carlton Football Club

in front of 25,000 people — a substantial crowd at the time — in their first game. They even had a win over Port Adelaide

Port Adelaide Magpies

The Port Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the South Australian National Football League...

. However, the tourists returned to rugby once they left Australia and the foundation of Australian rules clubs overseas was still many years away.

As the game spread, it became known as Australasian Football.

In 1908, New Zealand (where proximity to Australia saw a formidable league of 115 clubs grow) defeated both New South Wales and Queensland at the Jubilee Australasian Football Carnival, an event held to celebrate 50 years of Australian Football. The game was also introduced to England

Australian rules football in England

Australian rules football in England is a team and spectator sport with a long but obscure history and has grown since 1989 to a number of local leagues coordinated by AFL Britain...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

and Japan

Australian rules football in Japan

Australian rules football in Japan is a minority team sport which dates back to 1910, but found its roots in the late 1980s.Japan competes regularly at international level and Japan's national team has defeated amateur Australian clubs on numerous occasions....

.

The profound effects of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

caused the gradual demise in the game in countries outside Australia, including New Zealand. The sport returned to the title of Australian Football.

The first nation outside of Australia to take the sport up seriously was the former Australian territory of Nauru

Australian rules football in Nauru

Australian rules football in Nauru dates back to the 1930s and quickly established itself, along with weightlifting as the national sport of the country.The overall participation rate of over 30% is the highest for the sport in the world.-Structure:...

, which began playing in the 1930s. The game is now the national sport of the country.

Another former territory, Papua New Guinea

Australian rules football in Papua New Guinea

Australian rules football in Papua New Guinea is a rapidly developing team sport which was initially introduced by Australian servicemen. The sport has a long and somewhat shaky history, but has recently achieved big strides in the Papua New Guinea community and is now the second most popular sport...

began playing in the 1950s. For a time at least, it was the most popular sport in the country, and still remains popular.

New Zealand

Australian rules football in New Zealand

Australian rules football in New Zealand is currently a minority sport in a nation where rugby union is the national sport and predominant football code...

resumed a local competition in 1974.

The first ever international match involving Australia was played in 1977 at under 17 level between Australia and Papua New Guinea in Adelaide, with Australia taking the honours http://www.fullpointsfooty.net/1977_to_1980.htm. Since then, Australia have been peerless in the sport and seldom compete at international level.

In the late 1980s, as distance became less of an obstacle, amateur teams were established in Japan

Australian rules football in Japan

(1987) and England

Australian rules football in England

Australian rules football in England is a team and spectator sport with a long but obscure history and has grown since 1989 to a number of local leagues coordinated by AFL Britain...

, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

and Canada

Australian rules football in Canada

Australian rules football in Canada is a fast growing team and spectator sport which has been played since the late 1980s.Australian football is currently played in four Canadian provinces - Ontario, Alberta, Quebec and British Columbia...

(1989).

In the 1990s, amateur competition has grown in countries such as Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

(1993), Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

(1995), USA

Australian rules football in the United States

Australian rules football in the United States is a team and spectator sport which has been played domestically in the United States since 1996.There are several leagues around the country, a national championship and a national men's and women's teams.-History:...

(1996), Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

and Samoa

Samoa

Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...

(1997), South Africa

Australian rules football in South Africa

(1998), as well as a number of solely expatriate teams, mainly based in South East Asia.

Since 2000, fledgeling competitions have been established in countries such as Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

(2000), Tonga

Tonga

Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...

(2002), Scotland

Scotland

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

and China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

(2005), Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

(2006), Catalonia

Catalonia

Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

and East Timor

East Timor

The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...

.

Many of these were initially established by Australian expatriates but collecting growing numbers of native players.
In other countries, it grew out of AFL exhibition matches, cult television following or Internet communication. North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

n fans formed an organization, AFANA, specifically to work for improved media coverage of Australian football.

Since the 1990s, the AFL and other development bodies have contributed to the development the game overseas. There are now youth development programs in several of these countries; since 1998, the Barassi International Australian Football Youth Tournament

Barassi International Australian Football Youth Tournament

The Barassi Youth Tournament is an international Australian rules football tournament for junior players who are no older than 16 years of age. In conjunction with the Australian Football International Cup senior competition, the youth cup is an important event for the development of Aussie Rules...

, endorsed by the AFL as part of its International Policy, has hosted several of junior teams from other countries.

The Arafura Games

Arafura Games

The Arafura Games is a Multi-sport event held every 2 years in the Australian city of Darwin, in the Northern Territory. It is an international event which draws its competitors from around the world. First held in 1991, the most recent Games, held in 2009, involved over 30 nations and over 3,000...

, held in Darwin

Darwin, Northern Territory

Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...

, Northern Territory

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

, Australia

Australia

is a Multi-sport event

Multi-sport event

A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports between organized teams of athletes from nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of international significance was the modern Olympic Games.Many...

for South East Asia and East Asia

East Asia

East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...

n island nations, northern Australia and the Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

The Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands are also sometimes collectively called Oceania, although Oceania is sometimes defined as also including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago....

which has Australian football as a permanent competition sport, rather than a demonstration sport

Demonstration sport

A demonstration sport is a sport which is played to promote itself, most commonly during the Olympic Games, but also at other sporting events.Demonstration sports were officially introduced in 1912 Summer Olympics, when Sweden decided to include glima, traditional Icelandic wrestling, in the...

. Papua New Guinea won the gold medal

Gold medal

A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...

and retained it in subsequent games. Other teams that have competed at Australian Rules in the games include Japan, Nauru and a Northern Territory indigenous

Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....

team.

The International Australian Football Council

International Australian Football Council

The International Australian Football Council was a body established in 1995 to govern the sport of Australian rules football internationally...

(IAFC) was formed after the 1995 Arafura Games. Following internal divisions in the IAFC, another organization, Aussie Rules International

Aussie Rules International

Aussie Rules International promotes and develops the sport of Australian rules football internationally. Committed to working with all stakeholders to assist the international growth of the sport, its focus is on:...

was set up in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. The AFL did not recognise the IAFC as anything more than a promotional body, and is itself considered the keeper of the code. Hence the AFL is primarily responsible for funding and governance and provides around A$

Australian dollar

The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...

500,000 annually for international development, especially junior programs. The code is not large enough outside Australia for an international governing body

Sport governing body

made up of national bodies.

Inspired by successful Arafura Games competitions, the inaugural Australian Football International Cup

Australian Football International Cup

The Australian Football International Cup is an international sport competition in Australian rules football...

was held in Melbourne in 2002, an initiative of the IAFC and the AFL. With the closure of the IAFC subsequent cups are staged by the AFL. The 2002 cup was contested by 11 teams from around the world made up exclusively of non-Australians. Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

won the 2002 cup, defeating Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

in the final. (See also: Australian football leagues outside Australia.)

Today, Australian football is a major spectator sport in Australia

Australia

and Nauru

Australian rules football in Nauru

, although occasional exhibition games

Australian rules football exhibition matches

Australian rules football has been introduced to a wide range of places around Australia and the world since the code originated in Victoria in 1859....

are staged in other countries. Some local grand final and carnival type events in Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

, Nauru

Nauru

Nauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, to the east. Nauru is the world's smallest republic, covering just...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

have occasionally drawn attendances that number in the thousands.

On 3 July 2006 the AFL announced that it had formed an International Development Committee to support overseas (non-Australian) football leagues. The AFL also hope to develop the game in other countries to the point where Australian football is played at an international level by top-quality sides from around the world. The AFL plans to host the International Cup regularly every four years, beginning in 2008, the 150th anniversary of the code.

International rules football

Since 1967, there have been many matches between Australian and Irish teams, under various sets of hybrid, compromise rules drawn from both Australian 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...

. The current rules use the round ball and the rectangular field and cross-bar posts of Gaelic football. The fierce tackling and marking of the Australian code is allowed.

In 1984, the first official representative matches 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....

were played, and these are now played annually each October.

In 1999, a record Australian International Rules crowd of 65,000 at the MCG

McG

Joseph McGinty Nichol , better known as McG, is an American director and producer of film and television, as well as a former record producer....

attended a game that saw Ireland defeat Australia but Australia win the series. In 2002, a record Irish International Rules crowd of 71,532 at Croke Park

Croke Park

Croke Park in Dublin is the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association , Ireland's biggest sporting organisation...

, Dublin witnessed a draw which also saw Australia win the series.

External links

Hammersley, Harrison

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