History of Australian Rules Football

History Of Australian Rules Football

Australian rules football was invented in Melbourne, Australia, and the first match identified as a unique Australian code of football was organised and refereed by Tom Wills in 1858. This match was played at Richmond Paddock on 31 July 1858 between Melbourne Grammar School and Scotch College, Melbourne, although there is some evidence of other forms of football played in Victoria before this. The oldest surviving set of rules of Australian rules football were drawn up the next year on 17 May 1859, three days after the formation of the Melbourne Football Club. Tom Will's cousin Henry Harrison, a fellow New South Welshmnan, was instrumental in the playing and development of football at the Melbourne club.

The game in the very early years was very different to the Australian rules football played today. The origins of Australian football before 1858 are still the subject of much debate, as there were a multitude of football games in Britain, Ireland and Australia whose rules influenced the early football games played in Melbourne. Teams would have to agree before each match which rules would be followed, and different aspects of association football, Gaelic football, rugby football, Sheffield rules, Cambridge rules, Winchester College football, Harrow football and the Australian indigenous game of Marngrook were used in those early games. Tom Wills himself was a boarder at Rugby school in England, and participated in different types of football during their formative years.

The earliest leagues were the South Australian National Football League at the time called the South Australian Football Association and the Victorian Football Association formed in 1877. The first intercolonial matches were played shortly after in 1879. The game was first known as Melbourne rules football then as the game spread thought the country it became known as Victorian rules football and then Australian rules football.

By Federation in 1901, the game was the main winter sport in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania, with the Victorian Football League, South Australian National Football League and the West Australian Football League operating as separate competitions. The game was played in New South Wales and Queensland but was second in popularity to rugby union as the main winter sport.

In the 1990s, the VFL became the Australian Football League, a national body and the premier league in Australia and later became the de facto world governing body for the sport.

See also: Australian rules football - Early years in Victoria