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Australian rules football

Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules,[2] or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by kicking the oval ball between the central goal posts (worth six points), or between a central and outer post (worth one point, otherwise known as a "behind").

Australian rules football
A ruckman leaps above his opponent to win the hit-out during a ball-up
Highest governing bodyAFL Commission
NicknamesFootball, footy, Aussie rules
First playedMay 1859 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Registered players1,404,176 (2016)[1]
Clubs25,770 (2016)[1]
Characteristics
ContactFull
Team members22 (18 onfield, 4 interchange)
Mixed-sexUp to age 14
TypeOutdoor
EquipmentFootball
GlossaryGlossary of Australian rules football
Presence
OlympicDemonstration sport, 1956 Melbourne Olympics

During general play, players may position themselves anywhere on the field and use any part of their bodies to move the ball. The primary methods are kicking, handballing and running with the ball. There are rules on how the ball can be handled; for example, players running with the ball must intermittently bounce or touch it on the ground. Throwing the ball is not allowed, and players must not get caught holding the ball. A distinctive feature of the game is the mark, where players anywhere on the field who catch the ball from a kick (with specific conditions) are awarded unimpeded possession.[3] Possession of the ball is in dispute at all times except when a free kick or mark is paid. Players can tackle using their hands or use their whole body to obstruct opponents. Dangerous physical contact (such as pushing an opponent in the back), interference when marking, and deliberately slowing the play are discouraged with free kicks, distance penalties, or suspension for a certain number of matches depending on the severity of the infringement. The game features frequent physical contests, spectacular marking, fast movement of both players and the ball, and high scoring.

The sport's origins can be traced to football matches played in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1858, inspired by English public school football games. Seeking to develop a game more suited to adults and Australian conditions, the Melbourne Football Club published the first laws of Australian football in May 1859, making it the oldest of the world's major football codes.[4][5]

Australian football has the highest spectator attendance and television viewership of all sports in Australia,[6][7] while the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's only fully professional competition, is the nation's wealthiest sporting body.[8] The AFL Grand Final, held annually at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, is the highest attended club championship event in the world. The sport is also played at amateur level in many countries and in several variations. Its rules are governed by the AFL Commission with the advice of the AFL's Laws of the Game Committee.

Name

Australian rules football is known by several nicknames, including Aussie rules, football and footy.[9] In some regions, the Australian Football League markets the game as AFL after itself.[10]

History

Origins

 
Statue next to the Melbourne Cricket Ground on the approximate site of the 1858 football match between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College. Tom Wills is depicted umpiring behind two young players contesting the ball. The plaque reads that Wills "did more than any other person – as a footballer and umpire, co-writer of the rules and promoter of the game – to develop Australian football during its first decade."[11]

Primitive forms of football were played sporadically in the Australian colonies in the first half of the 19th century. Compared to cricket and horse racing, football was considered a mere "amusement" by colonists at the time, and while little is known about these early one-off games, evidence does not support a causal link with Australian football.[12] In Melbourne, Victoria, in 1858, in a move that would help to shape Australian football in its formative years, private schools (then termed "public schools" in accordance with English nomenclature) began organising football games inspired by precedents at English public schools.[13] The earliest match, held on 15 June, was between Melbourne Grammar and St Kilda Grammar.[14]

On 10 July 1858, the Melbourne-based Bell's Life in Victoria and Sporting Chronicle published a letter by Tom Wills, captain of the Victoria cricket team, calling for the formation of a "foot-ball club" with a "code of laws" to keep cricketers fit during winter.[15] Born in Australia, Wills played a nascent form of rugby football whilst a pupil at Rugby School in England, and returned to his homeland a star athlete and cricketer. Two weeks later, Wills' friend, cricketer Jerry Bryant, posted an advertisement for a scratch match at the Richmond Paddock adjoining the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).[16] This was the first of several "kickabouts" held that year involving members of the Melbourne Cricket Club, including Wills, Bryant, W. J. Hammersley and J. B. Thompson. Trees were used as goalposts and play typically lasted an entire afternoon. Without an agreed-upon code of laws, some players were guided by rules they had learned in the British Isles, "others by no rules at all".[17] Another milestone in 1858 was a 40-a-side match played under experimental rules between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College, held at the Richmond Paddock. Umpired by Wills and teacher John Macadam, it began on 7 August and continued over two subsequent Saturdays, ending in a draw with each side kicking one goal.[18] It is commemorated with a statue outside the MCG, and the two schools have since competed annually in the Cordner–Eggleston Cup, the world's oldest continuous football competition.[19]

Since the early 20th century, it has been suggested that Australian football was derived from the Irish sport of Gaelic football.[20] However, there is no archival evidence in favour of a Gaelic influence, and the style of play shared between the two modern codes appeared in Australia long before the Irish game evolved in a similar direction.[21][22] Another theory, first proposed in 1983, posits that Wills, having grown up amongst Aboriginals in Victoria, may have seen or played the Aboriginal ball game of Marn Grook, and incorporated some of its features into early Australian football. There is only circumstantial evidence that he knew of the game, and according to biographer Greg de Moore's research, Wills was "almost solely influenced by his experience at Rugby School".[23]

First rules

A loosely organised Melbourne side, captained by Wills, played against other football enthusiasts in the winter and spring of 1858.[24] The following year, on 14 May, the Melbourne Football Club was officially established, making it one of the world's oldest football clubs. Three days later, Wills, Hammersley, Thompson and teacher Thomas H. Smith met near the MCG at the Parade Hotel, owned by Bryant, and drafted ten rules: "The Rules of the Melbourne Football Club". These are the laws from which Australian football evolved.[25] The club aimed to create a simple code suited to the hard playing surfaces around Melbourne, and to eliminate the roughest aspects of English school games—such as "hacking" (shin-kicking) in Rugby School football—to lessen the chance of injuries to working men.[26] In another significant departure from English public school football, the Melbourne rules omitted any offside law.[27] "The new code was as much a reaction against the school games as influenced by them", writes Mark Pennings.[28] The rules were distributed throughout the colony; Thompson in particular did much to promote the new code in his capacity as a journalist.[29]

Early competition in Victoria

 
Engraving of a football match at the Richmond Paddock, 1866. The MCG and its first pavilion are visible in the background, as are kick-off posts, the forerunner of today's behind posts.[30]

Following Melbourne's lead, Geelong and Melbourne University also formed football clubs in 1859.[31] While many early Victorian teams participated in one-off matches, most had not yet formed clubs for regular competition. A South Yarra club devised its own rules.[32] To ensure the supremacy of the Melbourne rules, the first-club level competition in Australia, the Caledonian Society's Challenge Cup (1861–64), stipulated that only the Melbourne rules were to be used.[33] This law was reinforced by the Athletic Sports Committee (ASC), which ran a variation of the Challenge Cup in 1865–66.[34] With input from other clubs, the rules underwent several minor revisions, establishing a uniform code known as "Victorian rules".[35] In 1866, the "first distinctively Victorian rule", the running bounce, was formalised at a meeting of club delegates chaired by H. C. A. Harrison,[36] an influential pioneer who took up football in 1859 at the invitation of Wills, his cousin.[37]

The game around this time was defensive and low-scoring, played low to the ground in congested rugby-style scrimmages. The typical match was a 20-per-side affair, played with a ball that was roughly spherical, and lasted until a team scored two goals.[27] The shape of the playing field was not standardised; matches often took place in rough, tree-spotted public parks, most notably the Richmond Paddock (Yarra Park), known colloquially as the Melbourne Football Ground.[38] Wills argued that the turf of cricket fields would benefit from being trampled upon by footballers in winter,[39] and, as early as 1859, football was allowed on the MCG.[40] However, cricket authorities frequently prohibited football on their grounds until the 1870s, when they saw an opportunity to capitalise on the sport's growing popularity. Football gradually adapted to an oval-shaped field, and most grounds in Victoria expanded to accommodate the dual purpose—a situation that continues to this day.[40]

Spread to other colonies

 
Engraving of the first intercolonial football match between Victoria and South Australia, East Melbourne Cricket Ground, 1879

Football became organised in South Australia in 1860 with the formation of the Adelaide Football Club, the oldest football club in Australia outside Victoria.[41] It devised its own rules, and, along with other Adelaide-based clubs, played a variety of codes until 1876, when they uniformly adopted most of the Victorian rules, with South Australian football pioneer Charles Kingston noting their similarity to "the old Adelaide rules".[42] Similarly, Tasmanian clubs quarrelled over different rules until they adopted a slightly modified version of the Victorian game in 1879.[43] The South Australian Football Association (SAFA), the sport's first governing body, formed on 30 April 1877, firmly establishing Victorian rules as the preferred code in that colony.[44] The Victorian Football Association (VFA) formed the following month.

 
George Coulthard, one of the first players to attain Australia-wide celebrity

Clubs began touring the colonies in the late 1870s, and in 1879 the first intercolonial match took place in Melbourne between Victoria and South Australia.[45] In order to standardise the sport across Australia, delegates representing the football associations of South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Queensland met in 1883 and updated the code.[43] New rules such as holding the ball led to a "golden era" of fast, long-kicking and high-marking football in the 1880s, a time which also saw players such as George Coulthard achieve superstardom, as well as the rise of professionalism, particularly in Victoria and Western Australia, where the code took hold during a series of gold rushes.[46] Likewise when New Zealand experienced a gold rush, the sport arrived with a rapid influx of Australian miners. Now known as Australian rules or Australasian rules, the sport became the first football code to develop mass spectator appeal,[45] attracting world record attendances for sports viewing and gaining a reputation as "the people's game".[46]

Australian rules football reached Queensland and New South Wales as early as 1866;[47] the sport experienced a period of dominance in the former,[48] and in the latter, several regions remain strongholds of Australian rules, such as the Riverina. However, like in New Zealand, it lost its position as the leading code of both colonies, largely due to the spread of rugby football with British migration, regional rivalries and the lack of strong local governing bodies. In the case of Sydney, denial of access to grounds, the influence of university headmasters from Britain who favoured rugby, and the loss of players to other codes inhibited the game's growth.[49]

Emergence of the VFL

In 1896, delegates from six of the wealthiest VFA clubs—Carlton, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne and South Melbourne—met to discuss the formation of a breakaway professional competition.[50] Later joined by Collingwood and St Kilda, the clubs formed the Victorian Football League (VFL), which held its inaugural season in 1897. The VFL's popularity grew rapidly as it made several innovations, such as instituting a finals system, reducing teams from 20 to 18 players, and introducing the behind as a score.[51] Richmond and University joined the VFL in 1908, and by 1925, with the addition of Hawthorn, Footscray and North Melbourne, it had become the preeminent league in the country and would take a leading role in many aspects of the sport.

Interstate football and the World Wars

 
The first national interstate competition was held in 1908 and included New Zealand.

The time around the federation of the Australian colonies in 1901 saw Australian rules undergo a revival in New South Wales, New Zealand and Queensland. In 1903, both the Queensland Australian Football League and the NSW Australian Football Association were established, and in New Zealand, as it moved towards becoming a dominion, leagues were also established in the major cities. This renewed popularity helped encourage the formation of the Australasian Football Council, which in 1908 in Melbourne staged the first national interstate competition, the Jubilee Australasian Football Carnival, with teams representing each state and New Zealand.[52]

The game was also established early on in the new territories. In the new national capital Canberra both soccer and rugby had a head start, but following the first matches in 1911, Australian rules football in the Australian Capital Territory became a major participation sport. By 1981 it had become much neglected and quickly lagged behind the other football codes. Australian rules football in the Northern Territory began shortly after the outbreak of the war in 1916 with the first match in Darwin. The game went on to become the most popular sport in the Territory and build the highest participation rate for the sport nationally.

 
Australia's first recruitment poster, published in 1915, questions the public's commitment to Australian football rather than the war.

Both World War I and World War II had a devastating effect on Australian football and on Australian sport in general. While scratch matches were played by Australian "diggers" in remote locations around the world, the game lost many of its great players to wartime service. Some clubs and competitions never fully recovered. Between 1914 and 1915, a proposed hybrid code of Australian football and rugby league, the predominant code of football in New South Wales and Queensland, was trialled without success.[53][54] In Queensland, the state league went into recess for the duration of the war. VFL club University left the league and went into recess due to severe casualties. The WAFL lost two clubs and the SANFL was suspended for one year in 1916 due to heavy club losses. The Anzac Day match, the annual game between Essendon and Collingwood on Anzac Day, is one example of how the war continues to be remembered in the football community.

The role of the Australian National Football Council (ANFC) was primarily to govern the game at a national level and to facilitate interstate representative and club competition. In 1968, the ANFC revived the Championship of Australia, a competition first held in 1888 between the premiers of the VFA and SAFA. Although clubs from other states were at times invited, the final was almost always between the premiers from the two strongest state competitions of the time—South Australia and Victoria—with Adelaide hosting most of the matches at the request of the SAFA/SANFL. The last match took place in 1976, with North Adelaide being the last non-Victorian winner in 1972. Between 1976 and 1987, the ANFC, and later the Australian Football Championships (AFC) ran a night series, which invited clubs and representative sides from around the country to participate in a knock-out tournament parallel to the premiership seasons, which Victorian sides still dominated.

With the lack of international competition, state representative matches were regarded with great importance. Due in part to the VFL poaching talent from other states, Victoria dominated interstate matches for three-quarters of a century. State of Origin rules, introduced in 1977, stipulated that rather than representing the state of their adopted club, players would return to play for the state they were first recruited in. This instantly broke Victoria's stranglehold over state titles and Western Australia and South Australia began to win more of their games against Victoria. Both New South Wales and Tasmania scored surprise victories at home against Victoria in 1990.

Towards a national league

The term "Barassi Line", named after VFL star Ron Barassi, was coined by scholar Ian Turner in 1978 to describe the "fictitious geographical barrier" separating the rugby-following parts of New South Wales and Queensland from the rest of the country, where Australian football reigned.[55] It became a reference point for the expansion of Australian football and for establishing a national league.[56]

The way the game was played had changed dramatically due to innovative coaching tactics, with the phasing out of many of the game's kicking styles and the increasing use of handball; while presentation was influenced by television.[57]

 
The West Coast Eagles and Sydney Swans line up for the national anthem at the 2005 AFL Grand Final. Traditionally held at the MCG, the Grand Final is the most-attended club championship event in the world.

In 1982, in a move that heralded big changes within the sport, one of the original VFL clubs, South Melbourne, relocated to Sydney and became known as the Sydney Swans. In the late 1980s, due to the poor financial standing of many of the Victorian clubs, and a similar situation existing in Western Australia in the sport, the VFL pursued a more national competition. Two more non-Victorian clubs, West Coast and Brisbane, joined the league in 1987 generating more than $8 million in license revenue for the Victorian clubs and increasing broadcast revenues which helped the Victorian clubs survive.[58] In their early years, the Sydney and Brisbane clubs struggled both on and off-field because the substantial TV revenues they generated by playing on a Sunday went to the VFL.[citation needed] To protect these revenues the VFL granted significant draft concessions and financial aid to keep the expansion clubs competitive.

The VFL changed its name to the Australian Football League (AFL) for the 1990 season, and over the next decade, three non-Victorian clubs gained entry: Adelaide (1991), Fremantle (1995) and the SANFL's Port Adelaide (1997), the only pre-existing club outside Victoria to join the league.[58] In 2011 and 2012, respectively, two new non-Victorian clubs were added to the competition: Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney.[59] The AFL, currently with 18 member clubs, is the sport's elite competition and most powerful body. Following the emergence of the AFL, state leagues were quickly relegated to a second-tier status. The VFA merged with the former VFL reserves competition in 1998, adopting the VFL name. State of Origin also declined in importance, especially after an increasing number of player withdrawals. The AFL turned its focus to the annual International Rules Series against Ireland in 1998 before abolishing State of Origin the following year. State and territorial leagues still contest interstate matches, as do AFL Women players.[60]

Although a Tasmanian AFL bid is ongoing,[61] the AFL's focus has been on expanding into markets outside Australian football's traditional heartlands in order to maximise its broadcast revenue.[62] The AFL regularly schedules pre-season exhibition matches in all Australian states and territories as part of the Regional Challenge. The AFL signalled further attempts at expansion in the 2010s by hosting home-and-away matches in New Zealand,[63] followed by China.[64]

Laws of the game

Field

Australian rules football playing fields have no fixed dimensions but at senior level are typically between 135 and 185 metres (148 and 202 yd) long and 110 and 155 metres (120 and 170 yd) wide wing-to-wing. The field, like the ball, is oval-shaped, and in Australia, cricket grounds are often used. No more than 18 players of each team (or, in AFL Women's, 16 players) are permitted to be on the field at any time.

Up to four interchange (reserve) players may be swapped for those on the field at any time during the game. In Australian rules terminology, these players wait for substitution "on the bench"—an area with a row of seats on the sideline. Players must interchange through a designated interchange "gate" with strict penalties for having too many players from one team on the field. In addition, some leagues have each team designate one player as a substitute who can be used to make a single permanent exchange of players during a game.

There is no offside rule nor are there set positions in the rules; unlike many other forms of football, players from both teams may disperse across the whole field before the start of play. However, a typical on-field structure consists of six forwards, six defenders or "backmen" and six midfielders, usually two wingmen, one centre and three followers, including a ruckman, ruck-rover and rover. Only four players from each team are allowed within the centre square (50 metres or 55 yards) at every centre bounce, which occurs at the commencement of each quarter, and to restart the game after a goal is scored. There are also other rules pertaining to allowed player positions during set plays (that is, after a mark or free kick) and during kick-ins following the scoring of a behind.

Match duration

A game consists of four quarters and a timekeeper officiates their duration. At the professional level, each quarter consists of 20 minutes of play, with the clock being stopped for instances such as scores, the ball going out of bounds or at the umpire's discretion, e.g. for serious injury. Lower grades of competition might employ shorter quarters of play. The umpire signals time-off to stop the clock for various reasons, such as the player in possession being tackled into stagnant play. Time resumes when the umpire signals time-on or when the ball is brought into play. Stoppages cause quarters to extend approximately 5–10 minutes beyond the 20 minutes of play. 6 minutes of rest is allowed before the second and fourth quarters, and 20 minutes of rest is allowed at half-time.

The official game clock is available only to the timekeeper(s), and is not displayed to the players, umpires or spectators. The only public knowledge of game time is when the timekeeper sounds a siren at the start and end of each quarter. Coaching staff may monitor the game time themselves and convey information to players via on-field trainers or substitute players. Broadcasters usually display an approximation of the official game time for television audiences, although some will now show the exact time remaining in a quarter.

General play

 
 
 
 
Some of the important skills of Australian football. Clockwise from top: drop punting, spectacular marking, tackling, handballing.

Games are officiated by umpires. Before the game, the winner of a coin toss determines which directions the teams will play to begin. Australian football begins after the first siren, when the umpire bounces the ball on the ground (or throws it into the air if the condition of the ground is poor), and the two ruckmen (typically the tallest players from each team) battle for the ball in the air on its way back down. This is known as the ball-up. Certain disputes during play may also be settled with a ball-up from the point of contention. If the ball is kicked or hit from a ball-up or boundary throw-in over the boundary line or into a behind post without the ball bouncing, a free kick is paid for out of bounds on the full. A free kick is also paid if the ball is deemed by the umpire to have been deliberately carried or directed out of bounds. If the ball travels out of bounds in any other circumstances (for example, contested play results in the ball being knocked out of bounds) a boundary umpire will stand with his back to the infield and return the ball into play with a throw-in, a high backwards toss back into the field of play.[65]

The ball can be propelled in any direction by way of a foot, clenched fist (called a handball or handpass) or open-hand tap but it cannot be thrown under any circumstances. Once a player takes possession of the ball he must dispose of it by either kicking or handballing it. Any other method of disposal is illegal and will result in a free kick to the opposing team. This is usually called "incorrect disposal", "dropping the ball" or "throwing". If the ball is not in the possession of one player it can be moved on with any part of the body.

A player may run with the ball, but it must be bounced or touched on the ground at least once every 15 metres (16 yd). Opposition players may bump or tackle the player to obtain the ball and, when tackled, the player must dispose of the ball cleanly or risk being penalised for holding the ball unless the umpire rules no prior opportunity for disposal. The ball carrier may only be tackled between the shoulders and knees. If the opposition player forcefully contacts a player in the back while performing a tackle, the opposition player will be penalised for a push in the back. If the opposition tackles the player with possession below the knees (a low tackle or a trip) or above the shoulders (a high tackle), the team with possession of the football gets a free kick.

If a player takes possession of the ball that has travelled more than 15 metres (16 yd) from another player's kick, by way of a catch, it is claimed as a mark (meaning that the game stops while he prepares to kick from the point at which he marked). Alternatively, he may choose to "play on" forfeiting the set shot in the hope of pressing an advantage for his team (rather than allowing the opposition to reposition while he prepares for the free kick). Once a player has chosen to play on, normal play resumes and the player who took the mark is again able to be tackled.

There are different styles of kicking depending on how the ball is held in the hand. The most common style of kicking seen in today's game, principally because of its superior accuracy, is the drop punt, where the ball is dropped from the hands down, almost to the ground, to be kicked so that the ball rotates in a reverse end over end motion as it travels through the air. Other commonly used kicks are the torpedo punt (also known as the spiral, barrel, or screw punt), where the ball is held flatter at an angle across the body, which makes the ball spin around its long axis in the air, resulting in extra distance (similar to the traditional motion of an American football punt), and the checkside punt or "banana", kicked across the ball with the outside of the foot used to curve the ball (towards the right if kicked off the right foot) towards targets that are on an angle. There is also the "snap", which is almost the same as a checkside punt except that it is kicked off the inside of the foot and curves in the opposite direction. It is also possible to kick the ball so that it bounces along the ground. This is known as a "grubber". Grubbers can bounce in a straight line, or curve to the left or right.

Apart from free kicks, marks or when the ball is in the possession of an umpire for a ball up or throw in, the ball is always in dispute and any player from either side can take possession of the ball.

Scoring

 
A Sherrin Kangaroo Brand football. Sherrin is the official game ball of the Australian Football League.
 
The two tall central posts are the goal posts, and the two shorter outer posts are the behind posts.

A goal, worth 6 points, is scored when the football is propelled through the goal posts at any height (including above the height of the posts) by way of a kick from the attacking team. It may fly through "on the full" (without touching the ground) or bounce through, but must not have been touched, on the way, by any player from either team or a goalpost. A goal cannot be scored from the foot of an opposition (defending) player.

A behind, worth 1 point, is scored when the ball passes between a goal post and a behind post at any height, or if the ball hits a goal post, or if any player sends the ball between the goal posts by touching it with any part of the body other than a foot. A behind is also awarded to the attacking team if the ball touches any part of an opposition player, including a foot, before passing between the goal posts. When an opposition player deliberately scores a behind for the attacking team (generally as a last resort to ensure that a goal is not scored) this is termed a rushed behind. As of the 2009 AFL season, a free kick is awarded against any player who deliberately rushes a behind.[66][67]

The goal umpire signals a goal with two hands pointed forward at elbow height, or a behind with one hand. Both goal umpires then wave flags above their heads to communicate this information to the scorers. The team that has scored the most points at the end of play wins the game. If the scores are level on points at the end of play, then the game is a draw; extra time applies only during finals matches in some competitions.

As an example of a score report, consider a match between Sydney and Geelong with the former as the home team. Sydney's score of 17 goals and 5 behinds equates to 107 points. Geelong's score of 10 goals and 17 behinds equates to a 77-point tally. Sydney wins the match by a margin of 30 points. Such a result would be written as:

"Sydney 17.5 (107) defeated Geelong 10.17 (77).

And spoken as:

"Sydney, seventeen-five, one hundred and seven, defeated Geelong ten-seventeen, seventy-seven".

Additionally, it can be said that:

"Sydney defeated Geelong by 30 points".

The home team is typically listed first and the visiting side is listed second. The scoreline is written with respect to the home side.

For example, Port Adelaide won in successive weeks, once as the home side and once as the visiting side. These would be written out thus:

"Port Adelaide 23.20 (158) defeated Essendon 8.14 (62)."[68]
"West Coast 17.13 (115) defeated by Port Adelaide 18.10 (118)."[69]

A draw would be written as:

"Greater Western Sydney 10.8 (68) drew with Geelong 10.8 (68)".[70]

Structure and competitions

The football season proper is from March to August (early autumn to late winter in Australia) with finals being held in September and October.[71] In the tropics, the game is sometimes played in the wet season (October to March).[72]

The AFL is recognised by the Australian Sports Commission as being the National Sporting Organisation for Australian Football.[73] There are also seven state/territory-based organisations in Australia, all of which are affiliated with the AFL.[74] These state leagues hold annual semi-professional club competitions, with some also overseeing more than one league. Local semi-professional or amateur organisations and competitions are often affiliated to their state organisations.[75]

The AFL is the de facto world governing body for Australian football. There are also a number of affiliated organisations governing amateur clubs and competitions around the world.[76]

For almost all Australian football club competitions, the aim is to win the Premiership. The premiership is typically decided by a finals series. The teams that occupy the highest positions on the ladder after the home-and-away season play off in a "semi-knockout" finals series, culminating in a single Grand Final match to determine the premiers. Between four and eight teams contest a finals series, typically using the AFL final eight system[77] or a variation of the McIntyre System.[78][79] The team which finishes first on the ladder after the home-and-away season is referred to as a "minor premier", but this usually holds little stand-alone significance, other than receiving a better draw in the finals.

Many metropolitan leagues have several tiered divisions, with promotion of the lower division premiers and relegation of the upper division's last placed team at the end of each year.[80] At present, none of the top level national or state level leagues in Australia utilise this structure.

Women and Australian football

 
Action from a women's match on the Gold Coast between Bond University and Burleigh Heads

The high level of interest shown by women in Australian football is considered unique among the world's football codes.[81] It was the case in the 19th century, as it is in modern times, that women made up approximately half of total attendances at Australian football matches—a far greater proportion than, for example, the estimated 10 per cent of women that comprise British soccer crowds.[82] This has been attributed in part to the egalitarian character of Australian football's early years in public parks where women could mingle freely and support the game in various ways.[83]

In terms of participation, there are occasional 19th-century references to women playing the sport, but it was not until the 1910s that the first organised women's teams and competitions appeared.[84] Women's state leagues emerged in the 1980s,[85] and in 2013, the AFL announced plans to establish a nationally televised women's competition.[86] Amidst a surge in viewing interest and participation in women's football, the AFL pushed the founding date of the competition, named AFL Women's, to 2017.[87] Eight AFL clubs won licences to field sides in its inaugural season.[88] By the seventh season, which began in August 2022, all 18 clubs fielded a women's side.

Variations and related sports

Many related games have emerged from Australian football, mainly with variations of contact to encourage greater participation. These include Auskick (played by children aged between 5 and 12), kick-to-kick (and its variants end-to-end footy and marks up), rec footy, 9-a-side footy, masters Australian football, handball and longest-kick competitions. Players outside of Australia sometimes engage in related games adapted to available fields, like metro footy (played on gridiron fields) and Samoa rules (played on rugby fields). One such prominent example in use since 2018 is AFLX, a shortened variation of the game with seven players a side, played on a soccer-sized pitch.[89]

International rules football

The similarities between Australian football and the Irish sport of Gaelic football have allowed for the creation of a hybrid code known as international rules football. The first international rules matches were contested in Ireland during the 1967 Australian Football World Tour. Since then, various sets of compromise rules have been trialed, and in 1984 the International Rules Series commenced with national representative sides selected by Australia's state leagues (later by the AFL) and the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). The competition became an annual event in 1998, but was postponed indefinitely in 2007 when the GAA pulled out due to Australia's severe and aggressive style of play.[90] It resumed in Australia in 2008 under new rules to protect the player with the ball.

Global reach

 
Australian football match at Linkbelt Oval in Nauru, where Australian football is the national sport
 
Countries in red have participated in the International Cup, held triennially in Australia.

Australian rules football was played outside Australasia as early as 1888 when Australians studying at Edinburgh University and London University formed teams and competed in London.[91] By the early 20th century, the game had spread with the Australian diaspora to South Africa, the United States and other parts of the Anglosphere; however this growth went into rapid decline following World War I. After World War II, the sport experienced growth in the Pacific region, particularly in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, where Australian football is now the national sport.[92]

Today, the sport is played at an amateur level in various countries throughout the world. Twenty countries participated in the Euro Cup and 23 countries have participated in the International Cup with both competitions prohibiting Australian players. Over 20 countries have either affiliation or working agreements with the AFL.[93] There have been many VFL/AFL players who were born outside Australia, an increasing number of which have been recruited through initiatives and, more recently, international scholarship programs. Many of these players have been Irish, as interest in recruiting talented Gaelic footballers dates back to the start of the Irish experiment in the 1960s. Irishmen in the AFL have since become not just starters for their clubs but also Brownlow Medalists (Jim Stynes) and premiership players (Tadhg Kennelly).

Most of the current amateur clubs and leagues in existence have developed since the 1980s, when leagues began to be established in North America, Europe and Asia. The sport developed a cult following in the United States when matches were broadcast on the fledgling ESPN network in the 1980s.[94] As the size of the Australian diaspora has increased, so has the number of clubs outside Australia. This expansion has been further aided by multiculturalism and assisted by exhibition matches as well as exposure generated through players who have converted to and from other football codes. In Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, and the United States there are many thousands of players.

A fan of the sport since attending school in Geelong, King Charles is the Patron of AFL Europe. In 2013, participation across AFL Europe's 21 member nations was more than 5,000 players, the majority of which are European nationals rather than Australian expats.[95] The sport also has a growing presence in India.[96]

The AFL became the de facto governing body when it pushed for the closure of the International Australian Football Council in 2002. The Australian Football International Cup, held triennially in Melbourne since 2002, is the highest level of international competition.

Although Australian rules football has not yet been a full sport at the Olympic Games or Commonwealth Games, when Melbourne hosted the 1956 Summer Olympics, which included the MCG being the main stadium, Australian rules football was chosen as the native sport to be demonstrated as per International Olympic Committee rules. On 7 December, the sport was demonstrated as an exhibition match at the MCG between a team of VFL and VFA amateurs and a team of VAFA amateurs (professionals were excluded due to the Olympics' strict amateurism policy at the time). The Duke of Edinburgh was among the spectators for the match, which the VAFA won by 12.9 (81) to 8.7 (55). In addition, when Brisbane hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games, the sport was also demonstrated at the Gabba with a rematch on 6 October of that year's VFL Grand Final with Richmond winning by 28.16 (184) to Carlton's 26.10 (166).[97]

Cultural impact and popularity

 
South Melbourne's ruck combination of the 1920s, left to right: Mark Tandy, Fred Fleiter and Roy Cazaly. Fleiter coined the phrase "Up there, Cazaly!" as a signal for Cazaly to leap for the ball. It entered popular idiom as a phrase of encouragement, and was used as a battle cry by Australian soldiers during World War II. It remains well known through Mike Brady's 1979 Australian football anthem of the same name.

Australian football is a sport rich in tradition and Australian cultural references, especially surrounding the rituals of gameday for players, officials and supporters.

 
Australian football is popular among Indigenous communities.

Australian football has attracted more overall interest among Australians than any other football code,[98] and, when compared with all sports throughout the nation, has consistently ranked first in the winter reports, and third behind cricket and swimming in summer.[99] Over 1,057,572 fans were paying members of AFL clubs in 2019.[100] The 2021 AFL Grand Final was the year's most-watched television broadcast in Australia, with an in-home audience of up to 4.11 million.[101][102]

In 2019, there were 1,716,276 registered participants in Australia[100] including 586,422 females (34 per cent of the overall total) and more than 177,000 registered outside Australia including 79,000 females (45 per cent of the overall total).[100]

In the arts and popular culture

Australian football has inspired many literary works,[103] from poems by C. J. Dennis and Peter Goldsworthy, to the fiction of Frank Hardy and Kerry Greenwood. Historians Manning Clarke and Geoffrey Blainey have also written extensively on the sport. Slang within Australian football has impacted Australian English more broadly, with a number of expressions taking on new meanings in non-sporting contexts, e.g., to "get a guernsey" is to gain recognition or approval, while "shirt-fronting" someone is to accost them.[104]

In 1889, Australian impressionist painter Arthur Streeton captured football games en plein air for the 9 by 5 Impression Exhibition, titling one work The National Game.[105] Paintings by Sidney Nolan (Footballer, 1946) and John Brack (Three of the Players, 1953) helped to establish Australian football as a serious subject for modernists,[106] and many Aboriginal artists have explored the game, often fusing it with the mythology of their region.[107][108] In cartooning, WEG's VFL/AFL premiership posters—inaugurated in 1954—have achieved iconic status among Australian football fans.[109] Australian football statues can be found throughout the country, some based on famous photographs, among them Haydn Bunton Sr.'s leap, Jack Dyer's charge and Nicky Winmar lifting his jumper.[110] In the 1980s, a group of postmodern architects based in Melbourne began incorporating references to Australian football into their buildings, an example being Building 8 by Edmond and Corrigan.[111][112]

Dance sequences based on Australian football feature heavily in Robert Helpmann's 1964 ballet The Display, his first and most famous work for the Australian Ballet.[113] The game has also inspired well-known plays such as And the Big Men Fly (1963) by Alan Hopgood and David Williamson's The Club (1977), which was adapted into a 1980 film, directed by Bruce Beresford. Mike Brady's 1979 hit "Up There Cazaly" is considered an Australian football anthem, and references to the sport can be found in works by popular musicians, from singer-songwriter Paul Kelly to the alternative rock band TISM.[114] Many Australian football video games have been released, most notably the AFL series.

Australian Football Hall of Fame

For the centenary of the VFL/AFL in 1996, the Australian Football Hall of Fame was established. That year, 136 significant figures across the various competitions were inducted into the Hall of Fame. An additional 115 inductees have been added since the creation of the Hall of Fame, resulting in a total number of 251 inductees.[115]

In addition to the Hall of Fame, select members are chosen to receive the elite Legend status. Due to restrictions limiting the number of Legend status players to 10% of the total number of Hall of Fame inductees, there are currently 25 players with the status in the Hall of Fame.[115]

See also

References

Citations

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Sources

Books

  • Blainey, Geoffrey (2010). A Game of Our Own: The Origins of Australian Football. Black Inc. ISBN 9781863954853.
  • Coventry, James (2015). Time and Space: The Tactics That Shaped Australian Rules and the Players and Coaches Who Mastered Them. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-7333-3369-9.
  • de Moore, Greg (2011). Tom Wills: First Wild Man of Australian Sport. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-74237-598-4.
  • Hess, Rob (2008). A National Game: The History of Australian Rules Football. Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-07089-3.
  • Hess, Rob; Lenkic, Brunette (2016). Play On! The Hidden History of Women's Australian Rules Football. Bonnier Zaffre. ISBN 9781760063160.
  • de Moore, Greg; Hess, Rob; Nicholson, Matthew; Stewart, Bob (2021). Australia's Game: The History of Australian Football. Hardie Grant Books. ISBN 9781-74379-657-3.
  • Hibbins, Gillian; Mancini, Anne (1987). Running with the Ball: Football's Foster Father. Lynedoch Publications. ISBN 978-0-7316-0481-4.
  • Hibbins, Gillian (2008). "Men of Purpose". In Weston, James (ed.). The Australian Game of Football: Since 1858. Geoff Slattery Publishing. pp. 31–45. ISBN 978-0-9803466-6-4.
  • Hibbins, Gillian (2013). "The Cambridge Connection: The English Origins of Australian Football". In Mangan, J. A. (ed.). The Cultural Bond: Sport, Empire, Society. Routledge. pp. 108–127. ISBN 9781135024376.
  • Nauright, John; Parrish, Charles (2012). Sports Around the World: History, Culture, and Practice. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781598843002.
  • Pennings, Mark (2012). Origins of Australian Football: Victoria's Early History: Volume 1: Amateur Heroes and the Rise of Clubs, 1858 to 1876. Connor Court Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 9781921421471.
  • Pippos, Angela (2017). Breaking the Mould. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781925475296.
  • Williamson, John (2003). Bucknell, Mar (ed.). Football's Forgotten Tour: The Story of the British Australian Rules Venture of 1888. Applegate. ISBN 9780958101806.

Journal and conference articles

  • Hibbins, Gillian; Ruddell, Trevor (2009). ""A Code of Our Own": Celebrating 150 Years of the Rules of Australian Football" (PDF). The Yorker (39). (PDF) from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  • Hibbins, Gillian; Ruddell, Trevor (2010). "The Evolution of the Rules of Football From 1872 to 1877" (PDF). The Yorker (41). (PDF) from the original on 16 November 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  • Mewett, Peter; Toffoletti, Kim (2008). The Strength of Strong Ties: How Women Become Supporters of Australian Rules Football. Australian Sociological Association Conference. University of Melbourne. ISBN 9780734039842.
  • Pennings, Mark (2013). "Fuschias, Pivots, Same Olds and Gorillas: The Early Years of Football in Victoria" (PDF). Tablet to Scoreboard. 1 (1). (PDF) from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2016.

External links

  • Australian Football League (AFL) official website
  • Australian Football: Celebrating The History of the Great Australian Game
  • 2020 Laws of Australian Football
  • Australian Football explained in 31 languages – a publication from AFL.com.au
  • Reading Australian Rules Football - The Definitive Guide to the Game
  • State Library of Victoria Research Guide to Australian Football

australian, rules, football, australian, rules, redirects, here, other, uses, australian, rules, disambiguation, australian, football, redirects, here, overview, football, australia, football, australia, australian, football, also, called, aussie, rules, more,. Australian rules redirects here For other uses see Australian rules disambiguation Australian football redirects here For the overview of all football in Australia see Football in Australia Australian football also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules 2 or more simply football or footy is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field often a modified cricket ground Points are scored by kicking the oval ball between the central goal posts worth six points or between a central and outer post worth one point otherwise known as a behind Australian rules footballA ruckman leaps above his opponent to win the hit out during a ball upHighest governing bodyAFL CommissionNicknamesFootball footy Aussie rulesFirst playedMay 1859 in Melbourne Victoria AustraliaRegistered players1 404 176 2016 1 Clubs25 770 2016 1 CharacteristicsContactFullTeam members22 18 onfield 4 interchange Mixed sexUp to age 14TypeOutdoorEquipmentFootballGlossaryGlossary of Australian rules footballPresenceOlympicDemonstration sport 1956 Melbourne OlympicsDuring general play players may position themselves anywhere on the field and use any part of their bodies to move the ball The primary methods are kicking handballing and running with the ball There are rules on how the ball can be handled for example players running with the ball must intermittently bounce or touch it on the ground Throwing the ball is not allowed and players must not get caught holding the ball A distinctive feature of the game is the mark where players anywhere on the field who catch the ball from a kick with specific conditions are awarded unimpeded possession 3 Possession of the ball is in dispute at all times except when a free kick or mark is paid Players can tackle using their hands or use their whole body to obstruct opponents Dangerous physical contact such as pushing an opponent in the back interference when marking and deliberately slowing the play are discouraged with free kicks distance penalties or suspension for a certain number of matches depending on the severity of the infringement The game features frequent physical contests spectacular marking fast movement of both players and the ball and high scoring The sport s origins can be traced to football matches played in Melbourne Victoria in 1858 inspired by English public school football games Seeking to develop a game more suited to adults and Australian conditions the Melbourne Football Club published the first laws of Australian football in May 1859 making it the oldest of the world s major football codes 4 5 Australian football has the highest spectator attendance and television viewership of all sports in Australia 6 7 while the Australian Football League AFL the sport s only fully professional competition is the nation s wealthiest sporting body 8 The AFL Grand Final held annually at the Melbourne Cricket Ground is the highest attended club championship event in the world The sport is also played at amateur level in many countries and in several variations Its rules are governed by the AFL Commission with the advice of the AFL s Laws of the Game Committee Contents 1 Name 2 History 2 1 Origins 2 2 First rules 2 3 Early competition in Victoria 2 4 Spread to other colonies 2 5 Emergence of the VFL 2 6 Interstate football and the World Wars 2 7 Towards a national league 3 Laws of the game 3 1 Field 3 2 Match duration 3 3 General play 3 4 Scoring 4 Structure and competitions 5 Women and Australian football 6 Variations and related sports 6 1 International rules football 7 Global reach 8 Cultural impact and popularity 8 1 In the arts and popular culture 9 Australian Football Hall of Fame 10 See also 11 References 11 1 Citations 11 2 Sources 11 2 1 Books 11 2 2 Journal and conference articles 12 External linksName EditFurther information Names of Australian rules football Australian rules football is known by several nicknames including Aussie rules football and footy 9 In some regions the Australian Football League markets the game as AFL after itself 10 History EditMain article History of Australian rules football Origins Edit Main article Origins of Australian rules football Statue next to the Melbourne Cricket Ground on the approximate site of the 1858 football match between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College Tom Wills is depicted umpiring behind two young players contesting the ball The plaque reads that Wills did more than any other person as a footballer and umpire co writer of the rules and promoter of the game to develop Australian football during its first decade 11 Primitive forms of football were played sporadically in the Australian colonies in the first half of the 19th century Compared to cricket and horse racing football was considered a mere amusement by colonists at the time and while little is known about these early one off games evidence does not support a causal link with Australian football 12 In Melbourne Victoria in 1858 in a move that would help to shape Australian football in its formative years private schools then termed public schools in accordance with English nomenclature began organising football games inspired by precedents at English public schools 13 The earliest match held on 15 June was between Melbourne Grammar and St Kilda Grammar 14 On 10 July 1858 the Melbourne based Bell s Life in Victoria and Sporting Chronicle published a letter by Tom Wills captain of the Victoria cricket team calling for the formation of a foot ball club with a code of laws to keep cricketers fit during winter 15 Born in Australia Wills played a nascent form of rugby football whilst a pupil at Rugby School in England and returned to his homeland a star athlete and cricketer Two weeks later Wills friend cricketer Jerry Bryant posted an advertisement for a scratch match at the Richmond Paddock adjoining the Melbourne Cricket Ground MCG 16 This was the first of several kickabouts held that year involving members of the Melbourne Cricket Club including Wills Bryant W J Hammersley and J B Thompson Trees were used as goalposts and play typically lasted an entire afternoon Without an agreed upon code of laws some players were guided by rules they had learned in the British Isles others by no rules at all 17 Another milestone in 1858 was a 40 a side match played under experimental rules between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College held at the Richmond Paddock Umpired by Wills and teacher John Macadam it began on 7 August and continued over two subsequent Saturdays ending in a draw with each side kicking one goal 18 It is commemorated with a statue outside the MCG and the two schools have since competed annually in the Cordner Eggleston Cup the world s oldest continuous football competition 19 Since the early 20th century it has been suggested that Australian football was derived from the Irish sport of Gaelic football 20 However there is no archival evidence in favour of a Gaelic influence and the style of play shared between the two modern codes appeared in Australia long before the Irish game evolved in a similar direction 21 22 Another theory first proposed in 1983 posits that Wills having grown up amongst Aboriginals in Victoria may have seen or played the Aboriginal ball game of Marn Grook and incorporated some of its features into early Australian football There is only circumstantial evidence that he knew of the game and according to biographer Greg de Moore s research Wills was almost solely influenced by his experience at Rugby School 23 First rules Edit Further information Laws of Australian rules football Melbourne Rules of 1859 A loosely organised Melbourne side captained by Wills played against other football enthusiasts in the winter and spring of 1858 24 The following year on 14 May the Melbourne Football Club was officially established making it one of the world s oldest football clubs Three days later Wills Hammersley Thompson and teacher Thomas H Smith met near the MCG at the Parade Hotel owned by Bryant and drafted ten rules The Rules of the Melbourne Football Club These are the laws from which Australian football evolved 25 The club aimed to create a simple code suited to the hard playing surfaces around Melbourne and to eliminate the roughest aspects of English school games such as hacking shin kicking in Rugby School football to lessen the chance of injuries to working men 26 In another significant departure from English public school football the Melbourne rules omitted any offside law 27 The new code was as much a reaction against the school games as influenced by them writes Mark Pennings 28 The rules were distributed throughout the colony Thompson in particular did much to promote the new code in his capacity as a journalist 29 Early competition in Victoria Edit See also List of Australian rules football clubs by date of establishment Engraving of a football match at the Richmond Paddock 1866 The MCG and its first pavilion are visible in the background as are kick off posts the forerunner of today s behind posts 30 Following Melbourne s lead Geelong and Melbourne University also formed football clubs in 1859 31 While many early Victorian teams participated in one off matches most had not yet formed clubs for regular competition A South Yarra club devised its own rules 32 To ensure the supremacy of the Melbourne rules the first club level competition in Australia the Caledonian Society s Challenge Cup 1861 64 stipulated that only the Melbourne rules were to be used 33 This law was reinforced by the Athletic Sports Committee ASC which ran a variation of the Challenge Cup in 1865 66 34 With input from other clubs the rules underwent several minor revisions establishing a uniform code known as Victorian rules 35 In 1866 the first distinctively Victorian rule the running bounce was formalised at a meeting of club delegates chaired by H C A Harrison 36 an influential pioneer who took up football in 1859 at the invitation of Wills his cousin 37 The game around this time was defensive and low scoring played low to the ground in congested rugby style scrimmages The typical match was a 20 per side affair played with a ball that was roughly spherical and lasted until a team scored two goals 27 The shape of the playing field was not standardised matches often took place in rough tree spotted public parks most notably the Richmond Paddock Yarra Park known colloquially as the Melbourne Football Ground 38 Wills argued that the turf of cricket fields would benefit from being trampled upon by footballers in winter 39 and as early as 1859 football was allowed on the MCG 40 However cricket authorities frequently prohibited football on their grounds until the 1870s when they saw an opportunity to capitalise on the sport s growing popularity Football gradually adapted to an oval shaped field and most grounds in Victoria expanded to accommodate the dual purpose a situation that continues to this day 40 Spread to other colonies Edit Engraving of the first intercolonial football match between Victoria and South Australia East Melbourne Cricket Ground 1879 Football became organised in South Australia in 1860 with the formation of the Adelaide Football Club the oldest football club in Australia outside Victoria 41 It devised its own rules and along with other Adelaide based clubs played a variety of codes until 1876 when they uniformly adopted most of the Victorian rules with South Australian football pioneer Charles Kingston noting their similarity to the old Adelaide rules 42 Similarly Tasmanian clubs quarrelled over different rules until they adopted a slightly modified version of the Victorian game in 1879 43 The South Australian Football Association SAFA the sport s first governing body formed on 30 April 1877 firmly establishing Victorian rules as the preferred code in that colony 44 The Victorian Football Association VFA formed the following month George Coulthard one of the first players to attain Australia wide celebrity Clubs began touring the colonies in the late 1870s and in 1879 the first intercolonial match took place in Melbourne between Victoria and South Australia 45 In order to standardise the sport across Australia delegates representing the football associations of South Australia Tasmania Victoria and Queensland met in 1883 and updated the code 43 New rules such as holding the ball led to a golden era of fast long kicking and high marking football in the 1880s a time which also saw players such as George Coulthard achieve superstardom as well as the rise of professionalism particularly in Victoria and Western Australia where the code took hold during a series of gold rushes 46 Likewise when New Zealand experienced a gold rush the sport arrived with a rapid influx of Australian miners Now known as Australian rules or Australasian rules the sport became the first football code to develop mass spectator appeal 45 attracting world record attendances for sports viewing and gaining a reputation as the people s game 46 Australian rules football reached Queensland and New South Wales as early as 1866 47 the sport experienced a period of dominance in the former 48 and in the latter several regions remain strongholds of Australian rules such as the Riverina However like in New Zealand it lost its position as the leading code of both colonies largely due to the spread of rugby football with British migration regional rivalries and the lack of strong local governing bodies In the case of Sydney denial of access to grounds the influence of university headmasters from Britain who favoured rugby and the loss of players to other codes inhibited the game s growth 49 Emergence of the VFL Edit In 1896 delegates from six of the wealthiest VFA clubs Carlton Essendon Fitzroy Geelong Melbourne and South Melbourne met to discuss the formation of a breakaway professional competition 50 Later joined by Collingwood and St Kilda the clubs formed the Victorian Football League VFL which held its inaugural season in 1897 The VFL s popularity grew rapidly as it made several innovations such as instituting a finals system reducing teams from 20 to 18 players and introducing the behind as a score 51 Richmond and University joined the VFL in 1908 and by 1925 with the addition of Hawthorn Footscray and North Melbourne it had become the preeminent league in the country and would take a leading role in many aspects of the sport Interstate football and the World Wars Edit Further information Interstate matches in Australian rules football and Australian rules football during the World Wars The first national interstate competition was held in 1908 and included New Zealand The time around the federation of the Australian colonies in 1901 saw Australian rules undergo a revival in New South Wales New Zealand and Queensland In 1903 both the Queensland Australian Football League and the NSW Australian Football Association were established and in New Zealand as it moved towards becoming a dominion leagues were also established in the major cities This renewed popularity helped encourage the formation of the Australasian Football Council which in 1908 in Melbourne staged the first national interstate competition the Jubilee Australasian Football Carnival with teams representing each state and New Zealand 52 The game was also established early on in the new territories In the new national capital Canberra both soccer and rugby had a head start but following the first matches in 1911 Australian rules football in the Australian Capital Territory became a major participation sport By 1981 it had become much neglected and quickly lagged behind the other football codes Australian rules football in the Northern Territory began shortly after the outbreak of the war in 1916 with the first match in Darwin The game went on to become the most popular sport in the Territory and build the highest participation rate for the sport nationally Australia s first recruitment poster published in 1915 questions the public s commitment to Australian football rather than the war Both World War I and World War II had a devastating effect on Australian football and on Australian sport in general While scratch matches were played by Australian diggers in remote locations around the world the game lost many of its great players to wartime service Some clubs and competitions never fully recovered Between 1914 and 1915 a proposed hybrid code of Australian football and rugby league the predominant code of football in New South Wales and Queensland was trialled without success 53 54 In Queensland the state league went into recess for the duration of the war VFL club University left the league and went into recess due to severe casualties The WAFL lost two clubs and the SANFL was suspended for one year in 1916 due to heavy club losses The Anzac Day match the annual game between Essendon and Collingwood on Anzac Day is one example of how the war continues to be remembered in the football community The role of the Australian National Football Council ANFC was primarily to govern the game at a national level and to facilitate interstate representative and club competition In 1968 the ANFC revived the Championship of Australia a competition first held in 1888 between the premiers of the VFA and SAFA Although clubs from other states were at times invited the final was almost always between the premiers from the two strongest state competitions of the time South Australia and Victoria with Adelaide hosting most of the matches at the request of the SAFA SANFL The last match took place in 1976 with North Adelaide being the last non Victorian winner in 1972 Between 1976 and 1987 the ANFC and later the Australian Football Championships AFC ran a night series which invited clubs and representative sides from around the country to participate in a knock out tournament parallel to the premiership seasons which Victorian sides still dominated With the lack of international competition state representative matches were regarded with great importance Due in part to the VFL poaching talent from other states Victoria dominated interstate matches for three quarters of a century State of Origin rules introduced in 1977 stipulated that rather than representing the state of their adopted club players would return to play for the state they were first recruited in This instantly broke Victoria s stranglehold over state titles and Western Australia and South Australia began to win more of their games against Victoria Both New South Wales and Tasmania scored surprise victories at home against Victoria in 1990 Towards a national league Edit The term Barassi Line named after VFL star Ron Barassi was coined by scholar Ian Turner in 1978 to describe the fictitious geographical barrier separating the rugby following parts of New South Wales and Queensland from the rest of the country where Australian football reigned 55 It became a reference point for the expansion of Australian football and for establishing a national league 56 The way the game was played had changed dramatically due to innovative coaching tactics with the phasing out of many of the game s kicking styles and the increasing use of handball while presentation was influenced by television 57 The West Coast Eagles and Sydney Swans line up for the national anthem at the 2005 AFL Grand Final Traditionally held at the MCG the Grand Final is the most attended club championship event in the world In 1982 in a move that heralded big changes within the sport one of the original VFL clubs South Melbourne relocated to Sydney and became known as the Sydney Swans In the late 1980s due to the poor financial standing of many of the Victorian clubs and a similar situation existing in Western Australia in the sport the VFL pursued a more national competition Two more non Victorian clubs West Coast and Brisbane joined the league in 1987 generating more than 8 million in license revenue for the Victorian clubs and increasing broadcast revenues which helped the Victorian clubs survive 58 In their early years the Sydney and Brisbane clubs struggled both on and off field because the substantial TV revenues they generated by playing on a Sunday went to the VFL citation needed To protect these revenues the VFL granted significant draft concessions and financial aid to keep the expansion clubs competitive The VFL changed its name to the Australian Football League AFL for the 1990 season and over the next decade three non Victorian clubs gained entry Adelaide 1991 Fremantle 1995 and the SANFL s Port Adelaide 1997 the only pre existing club outside Victoria to join the league 58 In 2011 and 2012 respectively two new non Victorian clubs were added to the competition Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney 59 The AFL currently with 18 member clubs is the sport s elite competition and most powerful body Following the emergence of the AFL state leagues were quickly relegated to a second tier status The VFA merged with the former VFL reserves competition in 1998 adopting the VFL name State of Origin also declined in importance especially after an increasing number of player withdrawals The AFL turned its focus to the annual International Rules Series against Ireland in 1998 before abolishing State of Origin the following year State and territorial leagues still contest interstate matches as do AFL Women players 60 Although a Tasmanian AFL bid is ongoing 61 the AFL s focus has been on expanding into markets outside Australian football s traditional heartlands in order to maximise its broadcast revenue 62 The AFL regularly schedules pre season exhibition matches in all Australian states and territories as part of the Regional Challenge The AFL signalled further attempts at expansion in the 2010s by hosting home and away matches in New Zealand 63 followed by China 64 Laws of the game EditMain article Laws of Australian rules football For terminology see Glossary of Australian rules football See also Australian football tactics and skills Field Edit Main article Australian rules football playing field Typical Australian rules football playing field Australian rules football playing fields have no fixed dimensions but at senior level are typically between 135 and 185 metres 148 and 202 yd long and 110 and 155 metres 120 and 170 yd wide wing to wing The field like the ball is oval shaped and in Australia cricket grounds are often used No more than 18 players of each team or in AFL Women s 16 players are permitted to be on the field at any time Up to four interchange reserve players may be swapped for those on the field at any time during the game In Australian rules terminology these players wait for substitution on the bench an area with a row of seats on the sideline Players must interchange through a designated interchange gate with strict penalties for having too many players from one team on the field In addition some leagues have each team designate one player as a substitute who can be used to make a single permanent exchange of players during a game There is no offside rule nor are there set positions in the rules unlike many other forms of football players from both teams may disperse across the whole field before the start of play However a typical on field structure consists of six forwards six defenders or backmen and six midfielders usually two wingmen one centre and three followers including a ruckman ruck rover and rover Only four players from each team are allowed within the centre square 50 metres or 55 yards at every centre bounce which occurs at the commencement of each quarter and to restart the game after a goal is scored There are also other rules pertaining to allowed player positions during set plays that is after a mark or free kick and during kick ins following the scoring of a behind Match duration Edit A game consists of four quarters and a timekeeper officiates their duration At the professional level each quarter consists of 20 minutes of play with the clock being stopped for instances such as scores the ball going out of bounds or at the umpire s discretion e g for serious injury Lower grades of competition might employ shorter quarters of play The umpire signals time off to stop the clock for various reasons such as the player in possession being tackled into stagnant play Time resumes when the umpire signals time on or when the ball is brought into play Stoppages cause quarters to extend approximately 5 10 minutes beyond the 20 minutes of play 6 minutes of rest is allowed before the second and fourth quarters and 20 minutes of rest is allowed at half time The official game clock is available only to the timekeeper s and is not displayed to the players umpires or spectators The only public knowledge of game time is when the timekeeper sounds a siren at the start and end of each quarter Coaching staff may monitor the game time themselves and convey information to players via on field trainers or substitute players Broadcasters usually display an approximation of the official game time for television audiences although some will now show the exact time remaining in a quarter General play Edit Some of the important skills of Australian football Clockwise from top drop punting spectacular marking tackling handballing Games are officiated by umpires Before the game the winner of a coin toss determines which directions the teams will play to begin Australian football begins after the first siren when the umpire bounces the ball on the ground or throws it into the air if the condition of the ground is poor and the two ruckmen typically the tallest players from each team battle for the ball in the air on its way back down This is known as the ball up Certain disputes during play may also be settled with a ball up from the point of contention If the ball is kicked or hit from a ball up or boundary throw in over the boundary line or into a behind post without the ball bouncing a free kick is paid for out of bounds on the full A free kick is also paid if the ball is deemed by the umpire to have been deliberately carried or directed out of bounds If the ball travels out of bounds in any other circumstances for example contested play results in the ball being knocked out of bounds a boundary umpire will stand with his back to the infield and return the ball into play with a throw in a high backwards toss back into the field of play 65 The ball can be propelled in any direction by way of a foot clenched fist called a handball or handpass or open hand tap but it cannot be thrown under any circumstances Once a player takes possession of the ball he must dispose of it by either kicking or handballing it Any other method of disposal is illegal and will result in a free kick to the opposing team This is usually called incorrect disposal dropping the ball or throwing If the ball is not in the possession of one player it can be moved on with any part of the body A player may run with the ball but it must be bounced or touched on the ground at least once every 15 metres 16 yd Opposition players may bump or tackle the player to obtain the ball and when tackled the player must dispose of the ball cleanly or risk being penalised for holding the ball unless the umpire rules no prior opportunity for disposal The ball carrier may only be tackled between the shoulders and knees If the opposition player forcefully contacts a player in the back while performing a tackle the opposition player will be penalised for a push in the back If the opposition tackles the player with possession below the knees a low tackle or a trip or above the shoulders a high tackle the team with possession of the football gets a free kick If a player takes possession of the ball that has travelled more than 15 metres 16 yd from another player s kick by way of a catch it is claimed as a mark meaning that the game stops while he prepares to kick from the point at which he marked Alternatively he may choose to play on forfeiting the set shot in the hope of pressing an advantage for his team rather than allowing the opposition to reposition while he prepares for the free kick Once a player has chosen to play on normal play resumes and the player who took the mark is again able to be tackled There are different styles of kicking depending on how the ball is held in the hand The most common style of kicking seen in today s game principally because of its superior accuracy is the drop punt where the ball is dropped from the hands down almost to the ground to be kicked so that the ball rotates in a reverse end over end motion as it travels through the air Other commonly used kicks are the torpedo punt also known as the spiral barrel or screw punt where the ball is held flatter at an angle across the body which makes the ball spin around its long axis in the air resulting in extra distance similar to the traditional motion of an American football punt and the checkside punt or banana kicked across the ball with the outside of the foot used to curve the ball towards the right if kicked off the right foot towards targets that are on an angle There is also the snap which is almost the same as a checkside punt except that it is kicked off the inside of the foot and curves in the opposite direction It is also possible to kick the ball so that it bounces along the ground This is known as a grubber Grubbers can bounce in a straight line or curve to the left or right Apart from free kicks marks or when the ball is in the possession of an umpire for a ball up or throw in the ball is always in dispute and any player from either side can take possession of the ball Scoring Edit A Sherrin Kangaroo Brand football Sherrin is the official game ball of the Australian Football League The two tall central posts are the goal posts and the two shorter outer posts are the behind posts A goal worth 6 points is scored when the football is propelled through the goal posts at any height including above the height of the posts by way of a kick from the attacking team It may fly through on the full without touching the ground or bounce through but must not have been touched on the way by any player from either team or a goalpost A goal cannot be scored from the foot of an opposition defending player A behind worth 1 point is scored when the ball passes between a goal post and a behind post at any height or if the ball hits a goal post or if any player sends the ball between the goal posts by touching it with any part of the body other than a foot A behind is also awarded to the attacking team if the ball touches any part of an opposition player including a foot before passing between the goal posts When an opposition player deliberately scores a behind for the attacking team generally as a last resort to ensure that a goal is not scored this is termed a rushed behind As of the 2009 AFL season a free kick is awarded against any player who deliberately rushes a behind 66 67 The goal umpire signals a goal with two hands pointed forward at elbow height or a behind with one hand Both goal umpires then wave flags above their heads to communicate this information to the scorers The team that has scored the most points at the end of play wins the game If the scores are level on points at the end of play then the game is a draw extra time applies only during finals matches in some competitions As an example of a score report consider a match between Sydney and Geelong with the former as the home team Sydney s score of 17 goals and 5 behinds equates to 107 points Geelong s score of 10 goals and 17 behinds equates to a 77 point tally Sydney wins the match by a margin of 30 points Such a result would be written as Sydney 17 5 107 defeated Geelong 10 17 77 And spoken as Sydney seventeen five one hundred and seven defeated Geelong ten seventeen seventy seven Additionally it can be said that Sydney defeated Geelong by 30 points The home team is typically listed first and the visiting side is listed second The scoreline is written with respect to the home side For example Port Adelaide won in successive weeks once as the home side and once as the visiting side These would be written out thus Port Adelaide 23 20 158 defeated Essendon 8 14 62 68 West Coast 17 13 115 defeated by Port Adelaide 18 10 118 69 A draw would be written as Greater Western Sydney 10 8 68 drew with Geelong 10 8 68 70 Structure and competitions EditThe football season proper is from March to August early autumn to late winter in Australia with finals being held in September and October 71 In the tropics the game is sometimes played in the wet season October to March 72 The AFL is recognised by the Australian Sports Commission as being the National Sporting Organisation for Australian Football 73 There are also seven state territory based organisations in Australia all of which are affiliated with the AFL 74 These state leagues hold annual semi professional club competitions with some also overseeing more than one league Local semi professional or amateur organisations and competitions are often affiliated to their state organisations 75 The AFL is the de facto world governing body for Australian football There are also a number of affiliated organisations governing amateur clubs and competitions around the world 76 For almost all Australian football club competitions the aim is to win the Premiership The premiership is typically decided by a finals series The teams that occupy the highest positions on the ladder after the home and away season play off in a semi knockout finals series culminating in a single Grand Final match to determine the premiers Between four and eight teams contest a finals series typically using the AFL final eight system 77 or a variation of the McIntyre System 78 79 The team which finishes first on the ladder after the home and away season is referred to as a minor premier but this usually holds little stand alone significance other than receiving a better draw in the finals Many metropolitan leagues have several tiered divisions with promotion of the lower division premiers and relegation of the upper division s last placed team at the end of each year 80 At present none of the top level national or state level leagues in Australia utilise this structure Women and Australian football EditFurther information Women s Australian rules football Action from a women s match on the Gold Coast between Bond University and Burleigh Heads The high level of interest shown by women in Australian football is considered unique among the world s football codes 81 It was the case in the 19th century as it is in modern times that women made up approximately half of total attendances at Australian football matches a far greater proportion than for example the estimated 10 per cent of women that comprise British soccer crowds 82 This has been attributed in part to the egalitarian character of Australian football s early years in public parks where women could mingle freely and support the game in various ways 83 In terms of participation there are occasional 19th century references to women playing the sport but it was not until the 1910s that the first organised women s teams and competitions appeared 84 Women s state leagues emerged in the 1980s 85 and in 2013 the AFL announced plans to establish a nationally televised women s competition 86 Amidst a surge in viewing interest and participation in women s football the AFL pushed the founding date of the competition named AFL Women s to 2017 87 Eight AFL clubs won licences to field sides in its inaugural season 88 By the seventh season which began in August 2022 all 18 clubs fielded a women s side Variations and related sports EditFurther information Variations of Australian rules football Many related games have emerged from Australian football mainly with variations of contact to encourage greater participation These include Auskick played by children aged between 5 and 12 kick to kick and its variants end to end footy and marks up rec footy 9 a side footy masters Australian football handball and longest kick competitions Players outside of Australia sometimes engage in related games adapted to available fields like metro footy played on gridiron fields and Samoa rules played on rugby fields One such prominent example in use since 2018 is AFLX a shortened variation of the game with seven players a side played on a soccer sized pitch 89 International rules football Edit Main article International rules football See also Comparison of Gaelic football and Australian rules football The similarities between Australian football and the Irish sport of Gaelic football have allowed for the creation of a hybrid code known as international rules football The first international rules matches were contested in Ireland during the 1967 Australian Football World Tour Since then various sets of compromise rules have been trialed and in 1984 the International Rules Series commenced with national representative sides selected by Australia s state leagues later by the AFL and the Gaelic Athletic Association GAA The competition became an annual event in 1998 but was postponed indefinitely in 2007 when the GAA pulled out due to Australia s severe and aggressive style of play 90 It resumed in Australia in 2008 under new rules to protect the player with the ball Global reach EditMain article Geography of Australian rules football Australian football match at Linkbelt Oval in Nauru where Australian football is the national sport Countries in red have participated in the International Cup held triennially in Australia Australian rules football was played outside Australasia as early as 1888 when Australians studying at Edinburgh University and London University formed teams and competed in London 91 By the early 20th century the game had spread with the Australian diaspora to South Africa the United States and other parts of the Anglosphere however this growth went into rapid decline following World War I After World War II the sport experienced growth in the Pacific region particularly in Papua New Guinea and Nauru where Australian football is now the national sport 92 Today the sport is played at an amateur level in various countries throughout the world Twenty countries participated in the Euro Cup and 23 countries have participated in the International Cup with both competitions prohibiting Australian players Over 20 countries have either affiliation or working agreements with the AFL 93 There have been many VFL AFL players who were born outside Australia an increasing number of which have been recruited through initiatives and more recently international scholarship programs Many of these players have been Irish as interest in recruiting talented Gaelic footballers dates back to the start of the Irish experiment in the 1960s Irishmen in the AFL have since become not just starters for their clubs but also Brownlow Medalists Jim Stynes and premiership players Tadhg Kennelly Most of the current amateur clubs and leagues in existence have developed since the 1980s when leagues began to be established in North America Europe and Asia The sport developed a cult following in the United States when matches were broadcast on the fledgling ESPN network in the 1980s 94 As the size of the Australian diaspora has increased so has the number of clubs outside Australia This expansion has been further aided by multiculturalism and assisted by exhibition matches as well as exposure generated through players who have converted to and from other football codes In Papua New Guinea New Zealand South Africa Canada and the United States there are many thousands of players A fan of the sport since attending school in Geelong King Charles is the Patron of AFL Europe In 2013 participation across AFL Europe s 21 member nations was more than 5 000 players the majority of which are European nationals rather than Australian expats 95 The sport also has a growing presence in India 96 The AFL became the de facto governing body when it pushed for the closure of the International Australian Football Council in 2002 The Australian Football International Cup held triennially in Melbourne since 2002 is the highest level of international competition Although Australian rules football has not yet been a full sport at the Olympic Games or Commonwealth Games when Melbourne hosted the 1956 Summer Olympics which included the MCG being the main stadium Australian rules football was chosen as the native sport to be demonstrated as per International Olympic Committee rules On 7 December the sport was demonstrated as an exhibition match at the MCG between a team of VFL and VFA amateurs and a team of VAFA amateurs professionals were excluded due to the Olympics strict amateurism policy at the time The Duke of Edinburgh was among the spectators for the match which the VAFA won by 12 9 81 to 8 7 55 In addition when Brisbane hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games the sport was also demonstrated at the Gabba with a rematch on 6 October of that year s VFL Grand Final with Richmond winning by 28 16 184 to Carlton s 26 10 166 97 Cultural impact and popularity EditMain article Australian rules football culture South Melbourne s ruck combination of the 1920s left to right Mark Tandy Fred Fleiter and Roy Cazaly Fleiter coined the phrase Up there Cazaly as a signal for Cazaly to leap for the ball It entered popular idiom as a phrase of encouragement and was used as a battle cry by Australian soldiers during World War II It remains well known through Mike Brady s 1979 Australian football anthem of the same name Australian football is a sport rich in tradition and Australian cultural references especially surrounding the rituals of gameday for players officials and supporters Australian football is popular among Indigenous communities Australian football has attracted more overall interest among Australians than any other football code 98 and when compared with all sports throughout the nation has consistently ranked first in the winter reports and third behind cricket and swimming in summer 99 Over 1 057 572 fans were paying members of AFL clubs in 2019 100 The 2021 AFL Grand Final was the year s most watched television broadcast in Australia with an in home audience of up to 4 11 million 101 102 In 2019 there were 1 716 276 registered participants in Australia 100 including 586 422 females 34 per cent of the overall total and more than 177 000 registered outside Australia including 79 000 females 45 per cent of the overall total 100 In the arts and popular culture Edit Main article Australian rules football in popular culture Australian football has inspired many literary works 103 from poems by C J Dennis and Peter Goldsworthy to the fiction of Frank Hardy and Kerry Greenwood Historians Manning Clarke and Geoffrey Blainey have also written extensively on the sport Slang within Australian football has impacted Australian English more broadly with a number of expressions taking on new meanings in non sporting contexts e g to get a guernsey is to gain recognition or approval while shirt fronting someone is to accost them 104 In 1889 Australian impressionist painter Arthur Streeton captured football games en plein air for the 9 by 5 Impression Exhibition titling one work The National Game 105 Paintings by Sidney Nolan Footballer 1946 and John Brack Three of the Players 1953 helped to establish Australian football as a serious subject for modernists 106 and many Aboriginal artists have explored the game often fusing it with the mythology of their region 107 108 In cartooning WEG s VFL AFL premiership posters inaugurated in 1954 have achieved iconic status among Australian football fans 109 Australian football statues can be found throughout the country some based on famous photographs among them Haydn Bunton Sr s leap Jack Dyer s charge and Nicky Winmar lifting his jumper 110 In the 1980s a group of postmodern architects based in Melbourne began incorporating references to Australian football into their buildings an example being Building 8 by Edmond and Corrigan 111 112 Dance sequences based on Australian football feature heavily in Robert Helpmann s 1964 ballet The Display his first and most famous work for the Australian Ballet 113 The game has also inspired well known plays such as And the Big Men Fly 1963 by Alan Hopgood and David Williamson s The Club 1977 which was adapted into a 1980 film directed by Bruce Beresford Mike Brady s 1979 hit Up There Cazaly is considered an Australian football anthem and references to the sport can be found in works by popular musicians from singer songwriter Paul Kelly to the alternative rock band TISM 114 Many Australian football video games have been released most notably the AFL series Australian Football Hall of Fame EditMain article Australian Football Hall of Fame For the centenary of the VFL AFL in 1996 the Australian Football Hall of Fame was established That year 136 significant figures across the various competitions were inducted into the Hall of Fame An additional 115 inductees have been added since the creation of the Hall of Fame resulting in a total number of 251 inductees 115 In addition to the Hall of Fame select members are chosen to receive the elite Legend status Due to restrictions limiting the number of Legend status players to 10 of the total number of Hall of Fame inductees there are currently 25 players with the status in the Hall of Fame 115 See also Edit Sports portal Australia portalAustralian rules football attendance records Australian rules football positions List of Australian rules football clubs List of Australian rules football rivalries List of Australian rules football termsReferences EditCitations Edit a b Collins Ben 22 November 2016 Women s football explosion results in record participation Archived 22 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine AFL Retrieved 22 November 2016 About the AFL Australian Football Official title of the code Australian Football League Archived from the original on 3 December 2013 Retrieved 20 June 2017 2012 Laws of the game Archived 22 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine Section 14 page 45 History Archived 13 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine Official Website of the Australian Football League Wendy Lewis Simon Balderstone John Bowan 2006 Events That Shaped Australia New Holland p 61 ISBN 978 1 74110 492 9 Kwek Glenda 26 March 2013 AFL leaves other codes in the dust Archived 6 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine The Sydney Morning Herald Retrieved 18 December 2016 AFL is clearly Australia s most watched Football Code while V8 Supercars have the local edge over Formula 1 Archived 6 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine 14 March 2014 Roy Morgan Retrieved 18 December 2016 The richest codes in world sport Forget the medals 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The Definitive Guide to the Game State Library of Victoria Research Guide to Australian Football Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Australian rules football amp oldid 1133520591, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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