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Names of Australian rules football

December 15, 2023

The sport of Australian rules football has been called by a number of different names throughout its history. Since 1905, with the formation of the Australasian Football Council, the game has been called "Australian football". The name has been codified by the AFL Commission, as the game's name in the "Laws of Australian football".[1][2] Historically, the sport has been referred to as "Victorian rules" (referring to its origins in Melbourne), the "Victorian game", "Australasian rules", the "Australian game" and "Australian national football", "national football", the "bouncing game" and, derisively, "aerial ping pong" as well as several other names. Today, the common names for the sport are "Australian Football" and "Australian rules football" and it is referred to as "football", "footy", "Aussie rules" or sometimes as "AFL" (a genericised abbreviation of Australian Football League, the sport's pre-eminent and professional competition).[3]

A New South Wales player outmarks a Western Australian opponent in the goal square at the 1933 Australian Football Carnival at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Historical names edit

The first "Rules of the Melbourne Football Club" (also known as the "Rules of the Melbourne Football Club" or, informally, the "Melbourne Rules") were established in Melbourne in 1859 by Tom Wills of the Melbourne Football Club.

By 1860, the widespread adoption of the Melbourne Rules led to it being rebranded as the "Victorian Football". It was informally referred to as "the Victorian Game" or "Victorian Rules",[4] although in Victoria, the general term was just "football" as early as 1860.[5]

Australian rules football in Queensland prior to the turn of the 19th Century was referred to as "Association Football" as the league had affiliated with the Victorian Football Association (VFA). However, as late as 1954, the term "Melbourne Rules" was used by newspapers in New South Wales and Queensland due to a long-held cultural rivalry.[6][7] Another term was "the bouncing game", used mostly in Western Australia in the 1880s and 1890s to differentiate from the other codes, where bouncing was not permitted.[8] The term "Bouncing Football" was introduced by West Australians early on to both the United States and Canada.

The informal name of "Australian football" was in use outside Victoria by the late 19th century. A variant of this, adopted by the Australasian Football Council acknowledging the participation of its voting member New Zealand, was "Australasian football".[9] The 1908 Jubilee Australasian Football Carnival featured a team from New Zealand. In 1927, the Council, as part of its new focus on Australian nationalism changed its name to the Australian National Football Council. Dropping reference to Australasian also officially acknowledged that the sport was no longer being played competitively in New Zealand. The Council officially renamed the sport to "Australian National Football" (later "National Football" and "National Australian Football") in an effort to emphasize its Australian origin and further differentiate it from rugby and soccer which were becoming more popular in New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory.[10][11] Its members' premier competitions were encouraged to include the term "Australian National Football" in their title, with the South Australian Football League (SAFL) becoming the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) in 1927, the Tasmanian Football League (TFL) becoming the Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL) in 1928, and the West Australian Football League (WAFL) becoming the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL) in 1931. It was proposed that the Victorian Football League (VFL) become the Victorian Australian National Football League; however, this did not occur.[12]

Internationally, some countries chose to drop references to Australia from the name to aid its popularity and differentiate it from rugby (because rugby sides sent by Australia to these countries were branded as the "Australian football team"). Most notably Australian rules football in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s was known simply as "Field Ball" or "Fieldball",[13] during its revival in the 1990s, clubs chose to adopt the "Footy" moniker to differentiate it from rugby which many Americans associated with Australia.[14] Australian rules football in Nauru was simply called "Football", despite the presence of other codes including soccer. Likewise Australian rules football in Papua New Guinea was until the 1980s referred by locals simply as "Rules" or "Rules Football". The name variations were typically also adopted by the respective governing bodies.[15] The sport's popularity plummeted shortly after the NFL mandated that the Papua New Guineans call it Australian Rules. Branding of overseas competitions as AFL rather than Australian Football has helped standardise the sport's international brand.

Several distinctions were made in the three major footballing states regarding the quality of play across different leagues. In Victoria, the League football was considered superior to Association football (not to be confused with English association football (known as soccer); and for a time in the 1930s and 1940s, the distinction between the two competitions was necessary because they had sufficiently significant differences in rules that they were considered to be separate codes, similar to the eventual distinction between rugby league and rugby union.[16] In Western Australia, this distinction was also made between the West Australian Football League and the West Australian Football Association (formerly the 1st Rate Juniors competition), though the latter integrated into the WAFL reserves in 1921. There was also a distinction made in WA between the "coastal" (WAFL) and "'fields" (Goldfields Football League) leagues, who played each other regularly in the state premiership.[17] In the 19th century, there was also a distinction made in most leagues between "senior" and "junior" football; this was not to do with age, rather with quality of play.

In December 1948, a controversy occurred when Dame Enid Lyons, the Member for Darwin, referred to Australian football as "our national game" in Parliament.[18] This was rebuffed by the Prime Minister at the time, Ben Chifley, a New South Welshman, who suggested Lyons was "treading on dangerous ground". The secretary of the ANFC, Percy Page, sent a telegram reading: "Congratulations on your stand. The Prime Minister's obvious lack of knowledge of Australian sport is most regrettable."[19]

In 1958, the Australian National Football Council sought to officially rename "Australian Rules Football" to make it more accessible, "Mark" was the outright winner of the "Rename The Game" newspaper poll, with "Rules" and "Footy" being the other popular choices.[20] Despite the poll, a name change was not initiated.

In 1990, the AFL Commission adopted the informal name "Australian Football" as the sport's official name to reflect its governance at the highest level. In 2005, Football Federation Australia began to challenge use of the name "football" in Australia, though the AFL and its fans continue to use its official name.

Nicknames edit

The most common nicknames for the sport are "footy" and "Aussie rules". For much of the middle part of the 20th century, particularly in Canberra, the latter was shortened further to simply "Rules",[21] this usage is generally obsolete in Australia.

The term "AFL" (abbreviation of Australian Football League) is mistakenly used to refer to the sport, mostly by newcomers to Australian Football in areas where the sport has not been widely played and the name of the pre-eminent competition is better known than the name of the sport. The Australian Football League has encouraged competitions to include the term "AFL" in their name[citation needed]: the Queensland Football League changed its name to AFL Queensland in 1999. The Australian Football League took over the business of the New South Wales Australian Football League Ltd and changed the name of the competitions from Sydney Football League (SFL) to Sydney AFL in 1998 and Australian Capital Territory Football League to AFL Canberra in 1999. Leagues outside of Australia affiliated to the AFL also make use of this term. Most major newspapers in Australia use either "AFL" or "football" to refer to the sport.[citation needed]

The derogatory term "aerial ping-pong" is sometimes used mockingly to refer to the sport.[22][23]

References edit

  1. ^ "About the AFL: Australian Football (Official title of the code)". Australian Football League. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  2. ^ "AFL Rules – Laws of the Game". Australian Football League. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  3. ^ Connolly, Rohan (22 March 2012). "Name of the game is up in the air in NSW". The Age. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  4. ^ THE VICTORIAN GAME. – Brisbane Courier. Published 27 July 1903. Retrieved from Trove, 9 November 2011.
  5. ^ FOOTBALL. MELBOURNE V. RICHMOND – The Argus. Published 14 May 1860. Retrieved from Trove, 9 November 2011.
  6. ^ Melbourne Rules – Sunday Herald. Published 21 September 1952. Retrieved from Trove, 9 November 2011.
  7. ^ Melbourne Rules – The Courier-Mail. Published 15 June 1954. Retrieved from Trove, 9 November 2011.
  8. ^ FOOTBALL RULES. – The West Australian. Published 16 May 1882. Retrieved from Trove, 9 November 2011.
  9. ^ THE AUSTRALASIAN GAME. – The West Australian. Published 3 May 1911. Retrieved from Trove, 9 November 2011.
  10. ^ ""NATIONAL" COUNCIL". The Examiner (Tasmania). Vol. LXXXV, no. 188. Tasmania, Australia. 9 August 1927. p. 3 (DAILY). Retrieved 14 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "NATIONAL FOOTBALL". Canberra Community News. Vol. 2, no. 11. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 18 August 1927. p. 6. Retrieved 23 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ National Game. – The Advocate. Published 9 August 1927. Retrieved from Trove, 9 November 2011.
  13. ^ "Field Ball" will be adopted here. The San Francisco call. 7 April 1911, Page 12, Image 12
  14. ^ US Footy Ten Year Commemorative Book
  15. ^ "RULES CHALLENGE FROM AUSTRALIA". Papua New Guinea Post-courier. International, Australia. 9 March 1971. p. 22. Retrieved 26 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ^ Rover (2 October 1939). "Gallant win by W'Town". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 13.
  17. ^ COASTAL EIGHTEEN V. GOLDFIELDS – The West Australian. Published 23 July 1901. Retrieved from Trove, 9 November 2011.
  18. ^ National Game – The Examiner. Published 10 December 1948. Retrieved from Trove, 9 November 2011.
  19. ^ AUSTRALIA'S "NATIONAL" GAME UPHELD – The West Australian. Published 9 December 1948. Retrieved from Trove, 9 November 2011.
  20. ^ Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28511, 14 February 1958, Page 6
  21. ^ "Soccer, Rules or Rugby??? It's all football in Australia". Good Neighbour. 1 May 1950. p. 6.
  22. ^ An old favourite: aerial ping-pong v biff and barge – smh.com.au. Written by Richards Hinds. Published 26 March 2005. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  23. ^ Pearl, Cyril (1974). Australia's Yesterdays: A look at our recent past. Sydney: Reader's Digest Services Pty Ltd. p. 178. ISBN 0-909486-23-9.

December 15, 2023
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The sport of Australian rules football has been called by a number of different names throughout its history Since 1905 with the formation of the Australasian Football Council the game has been called Australian football The name has been codified by the AFL Commission as the game s name in the Laws of Australian football 1 2 Historically the sport has been referred to as Victorian rules referring to its origins in Melbourne the Victorian game Australasian rules the Australian game and Australian national football national football the bouncing game and derisively aerial ping pong as well as several other names Today the common names for the sport are Australian Football and Australian rules football and it is referred to as football footy Aussie rules or sometimes as AFL a genericised abbreviation of Australian Football League the sport s pre eminent and professional competition 3 A New South Wales player outmarks a Western Australian opponent in the goal square at the 1933 Australian Football Carnival at the Sydney Cricket Ground Historical names editThe first Rules of the Melbourne Football Club also known as the Rules of the Melbourne Football Club or informally the Melbourne Rules were established in Melbourne in 1859 by Tom Wills of the Melbourne Football Club By 1860 the widespread adoption of the Melbourne Rules led to it being rebranded as the Victorian Football It was informally referred to as the Victorian Game or Victorian Rules 4 although in Victoria the general term was just football as early as 1860 5 Australian rules football in Queensland prior to the turn of the 19th Century was referred to as Association Football as the league had affiliated with the Victorian Football Association VFA However as late as 1954 the term Melbourne Rules was used by newspapers in New South Wales and Queensland due to a long held cultural rivalry 6 7 Another term was the bouncing game used mostly in Western Australia in the 1880s and 1890s to differentiate from the other codes where bouncing was not permitted 8 The term Bouncing Football was introduced by West Australians early on to both the United States and Canada The informal name of Australian football was in use outside Victoria by the late 19th century A variant of this adopted by the Australasian Football Council acknowledging the participation of its voting member New Zealand was Australasian football 9 The 1908 Jubilee Australasian Football Carnival featured a team from New Zealand In 1927 the Council as part of its new focus on Australian nationalism changed its name to the Australian National Football Council Dropping reference to Australasian also officially acknowledged that the sport was no longer being played competitively in New Zealand The Council officially renamed the sport to Australian National Football later National Football and National Australian Football in an effort to emphasize its Australian origin and further differentiate it from rugby and soccer which were becoming more popular in New South Wales Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory 10 11 Its members premier competitions were encouraged to include the term Australian National Football in their title with the South Australian Football League SAFL becoming the South Australian National Football League SANFL in 1927 the Tasmanian Football League TFL becoming the Tasmanian Australian National Football League TANFL in 1928 and the West Australian Football League WAFL becoming the Western Australian National Football League WANFL in 1931 It was proposed that the Victorian Football League VFL become the Victorian Australian National Football League however this did not occur 12 Internationally some countries chose to drop references to Australia from the name to aid its popularity and differentiate it from rugby because rugby sides sent by Australia to these countries were branded as the Australian football team Most notably Australian rules football in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s was known simply as Field Ball or Fieldball 13 during its revival in the 1990s clubs chose to adopt the Footy moniker to differentiate it from rugby which many Americans associated with Australia 14 Australian rules football in Nauru was simply called Football despite the presence of other codes including soccer Likewise Australian rules football in Papua New Guinea was until the 1980s referred by locals simply as Rules or Rules Football The name variations were typically also adopted by the respective governing bodies 15 The sport s popularity plummeted shortly after the NFL mandated that the Papua New Guineans call it Australian Rules Branding of overseas competitions as AFL rather than Australian Football has helped standardise the sport s international brand Several distinctions were made in the three major footballing states regarding the quality of play across different leagues In Victoria the League football was considered superior to Association football not to be confused with English association football known as soccer and for a time in the 1930s and 1940s the distinction between the two competitions was necessary because they had sufficiently significant differences in rules that they were considered to be separate codes similar to the eventual distinction between rugby league and rugby union 16 In Western Australia this distinction was also made between the West Australian Football League and the West Australian Football Association formerly the 1st Rate Juniors competition though the latter integrated into the WAFL reserves in 1921 There was also a distinction made in WA between the coastal WAFL and fields Goldfields Football League leagues who played each other regularly in the state premiership 17 In the 19th century there was also a distinction made in most leagues between senior and junior football this was not to do with age rather with quality of play In December 1948 a controversy occurred when Dame Enid Lyons the Member for Darwin referred to Australian football as our national game in Parliament 18 This was rebuffed by the Prime Minister at the time Ben Chifley a New South Welshman who suggested Lyons was treading on dangerous ground The secretary of the ANFC Percy Page sent a telegram reading Congratulations on your stand The Prime Minister s obvious lack of knowledge of Australian sport is most regrettable 19 In 1958 the Australian National Football Council sought to officially rename Australian Rules Football to make it more accessible Mark was the outright winner of the Rename The Game newspaper poll with Rules and Footy being the other popular choices 20 Despite the poll a name change was not initiated In 1990 the AFL Commission adopted the informal name Australian Football as the sport s official name to reflect its governance at the highest level In 2005 Football Federation Australia began to challenge use of the name football in Australia though the AFL and its fans continue to use its official name Nicknames editThe most common nicknames for the sport are footy and Aussie rules For much of the middle part of the 20th century particularly in Canberra the latter was shortened further to simply Rules 21 this usage is generally obsolete in Australia The term AFL abbreviation of Australian Football League is mistakenly used to refer to the sport mostly by newcomers to Australian Football in areas where the sport has not been widely played and the name of the pre eminent competition is better known than the name of the sport The Australian Football League has encouraged competitions to include the term AFL in their name citation needed the Queensland Football League changed its name to AFL Queensland in 1999 The Australian Football League took over the business of the New South Wales Australian Football League Ltd and changed the name of the competitions from Sydney Football League SFL to Sydney AFL in 1998 and Australian Capital Territory Football League to AFL Canberra in 1999 Leagues outside of Australia affiliated to the AFL also make use of this term Most major newspapers in Australia use either AFL or football to refer to the sport citation needed The derogatory term aerial ping pong is sometimes used mockingly to refer to the sport 22 23 References edit About the AFL Australian Football Official title of the code Australian Football League Retrieved 18 November 2013 AFL Rules Laws of the Game Australian Football League Retrieved 18 November 2013 Connolly Rohan 22 March 2012 Name of the game is up in the air in NSW The Age Retrieved 4 April 2012 THE VICTORIAN GAME Brisbane Courier Published 27 July 1903 Retrieved from Trove 9 November 2011 FOOTBALL MELBOURNE V RICHMOND The Argus Published 14 May 1860 Retrieved from Trove 9 November 2011 Melbourne Rules Sunday Herald Published 21 September 1952 Retrieved from Trove 9 November 2011 Melbourne Rules The Courier Mail Published 15 June 1954 Retrieved from Trove 9 November 2011 FOOTBALL RULES The West Australian Published 16 May 1882 Retrieved from Trove 9 November 2011 THE AUSTRALASIAN GAME The West Australian Published 3 May 1911 Retrieved from Trove 9 November 2011 NATIONAL COUNCIL The Examiner Tasmania Vol LXXXV no 188 Tasmania Australia 9 August 1927 p 3 DAILY Retrieved 14 September 2022 via National Library of Australia NATIONAL FOOTBALL Canberra Community News Vol 2 no 11 Australian Capital Territory Australia 18 August 1927 p 6 Retrieved 23 September 2022 via National Library of Australia National Game The Advocate Published 9 August 1927 Retrieved from Trove 9 November 2011 Field Ball will be adopted here The San Francisco call 7 April 1911 Page 12 Image 12 US Footy Ten Year Commemorative Book RULES CHALLENGE FROM AUSTRALIA Papua New Guinea Post courier International Australia 9 March 1971 p 22 Retrieved 26 September 2021 via National Library of Australia Rover 2 October 1939 Gallant win by W Town The Argus Melbourne p 13 COASTAL EIGHTEEN V GOLDFIELDS The West Australian Published 23 July 1901 Retrieved from Trove 9 November 2011 National Game The Examiner Published 10 December 1948 Retrieved from Trove 9 November 2011 AUSTRALIA S NATIONAL GAME UPHELD The West Australian Published 9 December 1948 Retrieved from Trove 9 November 2011 Press Volume XCVII Issue 28511 14 February 1958 Page 6 Soccer Rules or Rugby It s all football in Australia Good Neighbour 1 May 1950 p 6 An old favourite aerial ping pong v biff and barge smh com au Written by Richards Hinds Published 26 March 2005 Retrieved 9 November 2011 Pearl Cyril 1974 Australia s Yesterdays A look at our recent past Sydney Reader s Digest Services Pty Ltd p 178 ISBN 0 909486 23 9 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Names of Australian rules football amp oldid 1160084989, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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