- Australian Rules and Aussie Rules redirect here. For the movie, see Australian Rules (film).
Australian football, which is also known as Australian rules football, or less formally as "Aussie rules" or simply as "footy" is a code of football which originated in Melbourne, Australia.
The game is played between two teams of 18 players (plus interchange players), on cricket ovals or similar-sized arenas which vary in size and may be up to 185 metres (200 yards) long; these are much larger than those used by other codes of football. The game is also distinguished from other games by the fast, relatively free movement of the ball (partly due to the absence of an offside rule) and the awarding of a free kick for any clean catch – known as a mark – of a ball which has been kicked more than 15 metres. Spectacular high marks, or "speccies", tackles and fast, fluid play are the game's main attributes as a spectator sport. The vast majority of players do not wear any of the protective clothing used in other football codes; the few who do typically do so for medical reasons. Although it is a winter sport, pre-season competitions usually begin in late February (that is, in the Australian summer); the football season proper is from March to August, with finals being held in September.
Popularity
Australian rules football has attracted more overall interest among Australians than any other winter sport for at least several years.[1][2] A recent survey has suggested that the sport recently took over from swimming as the most popular sport in Australia [3].
Cricket is the most common summer spectator sport in Australia, and is usually played on the same grounds as Australian football. In the past, many elite-level footballers played representative cricket, but the increasingly professional nature of the game made this impossible by the 1980s.
Audience
Attendance
Australian football is the most highly attended spectator sport in Australia: government figures show that more than 2.5 million people (16.8% of the population) attended games in 1999 [4]. In 2005, 6,283,788 people attended Australian Football League (AFL) premiership matches [5], a record for the competition. A further 307,181 attended NAB Cup pre-season matches and 117,552 attended Regional Challenge pre-season practice matches around the country [6].
As well as the AFL attendances, strong state competitions also drew large crowds. The South Australian SANFL drew an attendance of 303,354 in 2005, the Western Australian WAFL drew and official attendance of 202,797 in 2004 and the Victorian VFL (including a Tasmanian side, the Devils) also drew strong crowds (but with no available attendance figures).
As of 2005 the AFL is one of only five professional sports leagues in the world with an average attendance above thirty thousand (the others are NFL and Major League Baseball in the United States, and the top division soccer leagues in Germany, and England).
- See Also Sports attendances
Attendance records
The record attendance for a single game was 121,696 at the 1970 VFL Grand Final, between Carlton and Collingwood, at the MCG. The record for a game outside Victoria was the 72,393 who attended a game between Sydney and Collingwood at Telstra Stadium, Sydney in 2003. The record attendance for a non AFL/VFL match is 66,897 at the 1976 SANFL Grand Final, played between Sturt and Port Adelaide at Football Park, Adelaide. The record for State of Origin representative games was 91,960 for Victoria v. South Australia at the MCG in 1989. The record for a game outside Australia was 32,789 at an exhibition match between Melbourne and Sydney at B.C. Place, Vancouver, Canada in 1987.
Television
The 2005 AFL Grand Final was watched by a television audience of more than 3.3 million people across five of Australia's most highly populated cities, including 1.2 million in Melbourne and 991,000 in Sydney.[7] By comparison, the National Rugby League Grand Final was watched by 2.5 million, including 1.1 million in Sydney and 506,000 in Melbourne;[8] 2.4 million watched the soccer match in which the Australian team qualified for the 2006 World Cup, including 924,000 in Sydney and 797,000 in Melbourne.[9] Since Australian national television ratings were compiled in 2002, the AFL Grand Final has reached the top 5 of Australian programmes in [List of Australian television ratings for 2002|2002], [List_of_Australian_television_ratings_for_2003|2003], [List of Australian television ratings for 2004|2004] and [List of Australian television ratings for 2005|2005]. Australian rules football has achieved a #1 rating in the sports category in both [List of Australian television ratings for 2004|2004] and [List of Australian television ratings for 2005|2005].
Participation
Australian rules is the most popular form of football in the Northern Territory (NT), South Australia (SA), Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia (WA). In New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland overall, rugby league is the predominant winter sport. In the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) rugby union is arguably more popular. However, in both the ACT and south-western NSW, Australian football has rivalled the two varieties of rugby in popularity over many decades. In addition, ongoing net migration from Victoria, SA and Tasmania to Queensland and NSW, the winning of AFL premierships by teams in those states and the consequent growth of amateur football, means that the demographics of Australian football are changing.
In recent years, Australian rules has become increasingly popular in Brisbane, undoubtedly due to the recent success of the Brisbane Lions, who won three premierships in a row (2001-2003) and finished runner-up in 2004. In 2005, the Sydney Swans won their first premiership since relocating to Sydney in 1982, and the team's first since 1933.
With more than 400,000 participants, Australian football is also one of the most-played team sports in Australia. [10] South Australia is said to have the highest participation rate of people taking part in Australian football, with over 2.2% of the population aged 18 years and over participating in the sport [11].
Australian football is also now played as an amateur sport in more than 20 countries around the world. It is popular in two countries which are former Australian territories: Papua New Guinea and Nauru.
Structure and competitions
The most powerful organisation and competition within the game is the elite, professional, Australian Football League (AFL). There are also seven state (and/or territory)-based organisations: AFL NSW/ACT, Football Tasmania, the Northern Territory Football League, the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), the Queensland Australian Football League, the Victorian Football League (VFL), and the Western Australian Football League (WAFL). Most of these hold annual semi-professional club competitions, while the others oversee more than one league. Local semi-professional or amateur organisations and competitions are also affiliated to these state leagues.
Unlike most soccer competitions, there are usually no separate "league" and "cup" trophies. In the AFL, The McClelland Trophy is awarded to the team that finishes the league in first position (sometimes called the minor premiership), but this is not afforded a high level of prestige as the major objective is the Premiership. The teams that occupy the highest positions (usually four in most amateur leagues, but eight in the AFL) play off in a "semi-knockout" finals series (in the AFL, the top four sides get a second chance if they lose their first final), with the two successful teams meeting in the Grand Final to contest the premiership. The winner is awarded the premiership cup.
Rules of the game
Both the ball and the field of play are oval in shape. No more than 18 players of each team 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. There is no offside rule nor are there set positions in the rules - unlike soccer players from both teams disperse across the whole field before the start of play. 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. (Throwing is defined in the rules quite broadly.)
A player may run with the ball but it must be bounced or touched on the ground at least every 15 metres. 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.
If a player takes possession of the ball that has travelled more than 15 metres from another player's kick (there are different styles of kicking, mainly revolving around how the ball is held in the hand, of which punt or drop punt are two) by way of a catch, it is claimed as a mark and that player may then have a free kick (meaning that that the game stops while he prepares to kick from the point at which he marked). Apart from free kicks, or when the ball is in the possession of umpires 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
At each end of the field are four vertical posts. The middle two are the goal posts, and the two on either side, which are shorter, are the behind posts. A goal is scored when it 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 or bounce through, as long as it is not touched by any player from either team. A goal cannot be scored from the foot of an opposition (defending) player. A behind is scored when the ball goes across the line between a goal post and a behind post, or if the ball hits a goal post or is touched (a rushed behind) before passing between the goalposts. A goal is worth 6 points, whereas a behind is worth one.
The team that scores the most points at the end of play wins the game. Thus a score of 10 goals and 10 behinds equals 70 points. A score of 9 goals and 18 behinds equals 72 points. The latter score would win the game despite the fact that that team scored one goal less. The result would usually be written as
Team A 9.18 (72) def Team B 10.10 (70).
History
Origins of the game
Tom Wills began to devise Australian rules in Melbourne, in 1858. (Although H.C.A. Harrison, Wills' cousin, was also named much later as an official "father of the game", his role does not now seem to have been significant at this very early stage.) A letter by Wills was published in Bell's Life in Victoria & Sporting Chronicle on July 10, 1858,[12] calling for a "foot-ball club" with a "code of laws" to keep cricketers fit during winter. An experimental match, played by Wills and others at the Richmond Paddock (later known as Yarra Park, next to the MCG) on July 31, 1858, was probably the first game of Australian football. However, few details of the match have survived.
On August 7, 1858, two significant events in the development of the game occurred: the Melbourne Football Club was founded, one of the world's first football clubs in any code, and a famous match between Melbourne Grammar School and Scotch College began, umpired by Wills. A second day of play took place on August 21, and a third and final day on September 4. The two schools have competed annually ever since. However, the rules used by the two teams in 1858 could not have had much in common with the eventual form of Australian football, since Wills had not yet begun to write them..
The Melbourne Football Club rules of 1859 are the oldest surviving set of laws for Australian football. They were drawn up at the Parade Hotel, East Melbourne on May 17, by Wills, W. J. Hammersley, J. B. Thompson and Thomas Smith (some sources include H. C. A. Harrison). The 1859 rules did not include some elements which soon became important to the game, such as the requirement to bounce the ball while running, and Melbourne's game was not immediately adopted by neighbouring clubs. Before each match, the rules had to be agreed by the two teams involved. By 1866, however, several other clubs had agreed to play by an updated version of Melbourne's rules.
It is often said that the founders were partly inspired by the ball games of the local Aboriginal people in western Victoria. Aborigines did play a sport called Marn Grook, which used a ball made out of possum hide, and included play resembling the high marking ("speccie") in Australian football. There is considerable debate over the connection between the two. Wills did have a deep knowledge of Aboriginal culture, and Harrison had grown up in an area near present day Moyston, Victoria where he may have seen Marn Grook.
The influence of British public school and university football codes, while also undetermined, was clearly substantial. Wills had been educated at Rugby School in England (where Rugby football had been codified since 1845). Wills had also, like W. J. Hammersley and J. B. Thompson, been to the University of Cambridge. The Cambridge Rules, drawn up in 1848, included some elements which are important in Australian football, such as the mark. Thomas Smith was Irish and had attended Trinity College, Dublin, where the Rugby School rules were popular at a very early stage. These men would have been familiar with other public school and university games. They may also have been inspired by surviving forms of Medieval football and other traditional sports, played among the thousands of immigrants who poured into Victoria from the UK, Ireland and many other countries during the gold rushes of the 1850s.
Similarities to Gaelic football
While it is clear even to casual observers that Australian rules football is similar to Gaelic football, the exact relationship is unclear, as the Irish game was not codified by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) until 1887. The historian B. W. O'Dwyer points out that Australian football has always been differentiated from rugby football by having no limitation on ball or player movement (in the absence of an offside rule), the need to bounce the ball (or toe-kick it, known as a solo in Gaelic football) while running, punching the ball (hand-passing) rather than throwing it, and other traditions. As O'Dwyer says:
- These are all elements of Irish football. There were several variations of Irish football in existence, normally without the benefit of rulebooks, but the central tradition in Ireland was in the direction of the relatively new game [i.e. rugby]...adapted and shaped within the perimeters of the ancient Irish game of hurling... [These rules] later became embedded in Gaelic football. Their presence in Victorian football may be accounted for in terms of a formative influence being exerted by men familiar with and no doubt playing the Irish game. It is not that they were introduced into the game from that motive [i.e. emulating Irish games]; it was rather a case of particular needs being met... [B. W. O'Dwyer, March 1989, "The Shaping of Victorian Rules Football", Victorian Historical Journal, v.60, no.1.]
After 1887, the two games developed in isolation from each other. A number of players, most notably Jim Stynes have successfully made the transition from Gaelic football to Australian rules.
International rules football
Since 1967, there have been many matches between Australian and Irish teams, under various sets of hybrid, compromise rules. In 1984, the first official representative matches of International Rules football were played, and these are now played annually each October.
In 1999, a record Australian International Rules crowd of 65,000 at the MCG attended a game that saw Ireland defeat Australia but Australia win the series. In 2002, a record Irish International Rules crowd of 71,532 at Croke Park, Dublin witnessed a draw which also saw Australia win the series.
The rules are a compromise between the two codes, using the round ball and the rectangular field of Gaelic football. The fierce tackling of the Australian code is allowed, although this has often caused controversy with the Irish players, who play a mostly non-contact game.
History of clubs and competitions
The modern day Australian Football League (AFL) has many teams dating back to the beginnings of the game: apart from the Melbourne Football Club, other early clubs still in existence include: Geelong (1860), Carlton (1864), North Melbourne (aka Hotham, now Kangaroos) (1869), Port Adelaide (1870), Essendon and St Kilda (1873), South Melbourne (now Sydney Swans) (1874) and Footscray (now the Western Bulldogs) (1877).
The first league
In 1877, the Victorian Football Association (VFA), the game's first league, was formed by 14 clubs: Albert Park, Ballarat, Barwon, Beechworth, Carlton, Castlemaine, East Melbourne, Essendon, Geelong, Hotham (later North Melbourne), Inglewood, Melbourne, Rochester and St Kilda. Six of these clubs were from the Victorian country. At the time, Essendon was regarded as a semi-junior club rather than a full member, and was allowed concessions such as fielding teams of 25 players, instead of the standard 20.
Leagues in other states
Gradually the game – known at first as "Melbourne Rules", "Victorian Rules or sometimes as "Australasian Rules" – spread from Victoria into other Australian colonies, especially South Australia (SA), Tasmania and Western Australia (WA). The first intercolonial match, between Victoria and SA, was held in 1879.
Competitions also began in Queensland and New South Wales in the 1880s. In Newcastle, New South Wales the Black Diamond league was founded by Victorian goldminers and the Black Diamond Challenge Cup remains Australia's oldest sporting trophy.
The precursors of the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and the Western Australian Football League (WAFL) were strong, separate competitions by the 1890s.
Formation of the VFL
A rift in the VFA led to the formation of the Victorian Football League (VFL), which commenced play in 1897 as an eight-team breakaway of the stronger clubs in the VFA competition: Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne.
Another five VFA clubs joined the VFL later: Richmond and University joined the VFL in 1908, although University withdrew in 1915. Footscray, Hawthorn and North Melbourne joined in 1925, by which time VFL had become the most prominent league in the game.
Interstate competition
For most of the 20th century, the absence of a national club competition – and the inability of players to compete internationally – meant that matches between state representative teams were regarded with great importance. Because VFL clubs increasingly recruited the best players in other states, Victoria dominated these games. However, State of Origin rules were introduced in 1977, and in the first such game, at Subiaco Oval in Perth, Western Australia defeated Victoria, 23.13 (151) to 8.9 (57), a huge reversal of the results in most previous games. Western Australia and South Australia began to win many of their games against Victoria. However, during the 1990s, following the emergence of the Australian Football League, state of origin games declined in importance especially after an increasing number of withdrawals by AFL players, who were under increasing pressure from clubs concerned by the risk of injuries. Australian football State of Origin matches ceased in 1999. The second-tier state and territorial leagues still contest interstate matches.
A national league
In 1982, in a move which heralded big changes within the sport, one of the original VFL clubs, South Melbourne Football Club, relocated to the Rugby League stronghold of Sydney and became known as the Sydney Swans. In the late 1980s, strong interstate interest in the VFL led to a more national competition; two more non-Victorian clubs, the West Coast Eagles and the Brisbane Bears began playing in 1987.
The league changed its name to the Australian Football League (AFL) following the 1989 season. In 1991, it gained its first South Australian team, Adelaide. West Coast's local derby rival Fremantle was admitted in 1995. Fitzroy merged with Brisbane after 1996 due to financial difficulties to form the Brisbane Lions and the proud old SANFL club, Port Adelaide joined in 1997, immediately becoming fierce local rivals to Adelaide. The AFL, currently with 16 member clubs, is the sport's elite competition.
Today's state leagues
For much of the 20th century the SANFL and the WAFL were considered peers of the VFL. Although the VFL was generally accepted as the strongest league, clubs from all three leagues frequently played each other on an even footing in challenge matches and occasional nationwide club competitions.
With the introduction of the AFL, the SANFL, WAFL and other state leagues rapidly declined to a secondary status. Apart from these there are many semi-professional and amateur leagues around Australia, where they play a very important role in the community, and particularly so in rural areas.
The VFA, still in existence a century after the original schism, merged with the former VFL reserves competition in 1998. The new entity adopted the VFL name.
- See also: Official SANFL site, Official WAFL site, Official Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) site
Traditions of the game
Gameday Traditions
At the elite level, the game still retains some links to its suburban roots. At the start of each game, AFL players run on to the field through a crêpe paper banner depicting some message (for instance, congratulating players on a milestone number of games) constructed by volunteer supporter groups.
Games begin by tossing a coin, for the winning captain to select the end of the field of their goal for the first quarter. Unlike other forms of football, Australian football begins similarly to basketball. After the first siren, the umpire bounces the ball on the ground, and the two ruckmen (typically the tallest man from the each team), battle for the ball in the air on its way back down.
All AFL clubs also have a club song, most of which were composed during the early 20th century, or mimic the musical styles of that era (exceptions being the newer teams of West Coast, Fremantle, Port Adelaide and the former Brisbane Bears each with non-traditional songs). Some teams use club songs set to the tunes of well-known American marches. Both teams songs are played as they enter the ground, and the winners song is sung at the end of the game.
The goal umpire signals a goal with 2 hands raised at elbow height, or one for a behind, and then confirms the signal with the other goal umpire by waving flags above his head. Some traditions change, however, and the goal umpire no longer wears a white coat and broad brimmed hat.
Supporter Traditions
See also List of nicknames used in Australian rules.
Australian rules is often referred to as the people's game [13] due to its ability to transcend class and racial boundaries, unify supporters and attract crowds.
Aussie rules fans barrack for their team rather than support or root for. The term barrack is believed to have from early matches between soldiers stationed in army barracks near the MCG. One of the first things many Melburnians will ask when meeting someone new is which team they barrack for.
Typical supporter wear includes the team scarf and sometimes beanie (mostly in the cooler states) in the colours of the team. These traditions originated from Melbourne where winters are colder than in most other parts of Australia. Team flags are sometimes flown by supporters, and official club cheersquads behind the goals will sometimes wave large coloured pompons after the umpire has signalled a goal.
Meat pies and beer are the popular consumables for supporters at Australian rules matches.
At the end of the match, it is traditional for a pitch invasion where supporters run onto the field to celebrate the game and play games of kick-to-kick with their families. In recent years, this has been more strictly controlled with security guards to ensure that players and officials can safely leave the ground. Sometimes a mid-game pitch invasion is expected for various landmark achievements, such as a player kicking a record number of goals and players are protected by bodyguards.
Australian football internationally
Australian football is a major spectator sport only in Australia and Nauru, although occasional exhibition games are staged in other countries. However, amateur competition has grown in countries such as New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom, Denmark, the USA, Canada, Germany, Japan, Samoa, China, South Africa, Tonga and Indonesia, since the late 1980s. Many of these were initially established by Australian expatriates but collecting growing numbers of native players. The largest such competition is the Ontario Australian Football League, in Canada, with 12 teams scheduled to compete in 2006. There are now youth development programs in several of these countries; since 1998, the Barassi International Australian Football Youth Tournament, endorsed by the AFL as part of its International Policy, has hosted several of junior teams from other countries.
Australian football is not yet large enough internationally for a FIFA-style governing body, so the AFL is primarily responsible for funding and governance and provides around A$500,000 annually for international development, especially junior programs.
The Arafura Games, held in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia is a multisport competition for teams from northern Australia, South East Asia and the Pacific Islands. They have Australian football as a permanent competition sport, rather than a demonstration sport, as at other international events. Papua New Guinea won the gold medal and retained it in subsequent games. Other teams that have competed at Australian Rules in the games include Japan, Nauru and a Northern Territory indigenous team.
The International Australian Football Council (IAFC) was formed after the 1995 Arafura Games. Following internal divisions in the IAFC, another organisation, Aussie Rules International was set up in London.
Inspired by successful Arafura Games competitions, the inaugural Australian Football International Cup was held in Melbourne in 2002, an initiative of the newly formed IAFC. The 2002 cup was contested by 11 teams from around the world made up exclusively of non-Australians. Ireland won the 2002 cup, defeating Papua New Guinea in the final.
Australian Football Hall of Fame
For the centenary of the VFL/AFL in 1996, an Australian Football Hall of Fame was established. That year 136 identities were inducted, including 100 players, 10 coaches, 10 umpires, 10 administrators and 6 media representatives.
The selections have caused some controversy, partly because of the predominance of VFL players at the expense of those who played in other leagues, in the years before there was a national competition. Gary Ablett's induction was deferred for several years until 2005 due to a controversy associated with the death of a young woman acquaintance shortly after his retirement, which was felt to be likely to bring the Hall into disrepute.
The elite Legend status was bestowed on 12 members of the Hall of Fame in 1996; seven other football identities have subsequently received this honour.
| The original legends (in alphabetical order) are: | Later additions:
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