Timeline - the Growth of Australian Rules Football around the World
Initially compiled by Brett Northey from various sources, maintained by WFN editors
Most organised codes of football around the world began to be formalized in the 19th century, before which the various forms tended to overlap. The distinct game of Australian Rules football began to take shape in the 1850s, in Melbourne in the British colony of Victoria, which would go on to be a state of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 (the year of Australian federation). By the start of the 20th century the game had spread to all parts of the country, and New Zealand, and was already the primary sport in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania. By the 1990s, 140 years after it started, Australian football was clearly the dominant national Australian football code, and had begun to put down what appear to be permanent roots in several other countries. 2002 saw the first International Cup, and in the first decade of the 21st century, international growth of the game has reached unprecedented levels. The following is a selective Timeline of the key dates in the development of Australian football.
| pre-19th Century | Many forms of football played in communities, with games often involving one half of a town against the other, moving the ball over great distances for hours on end. Examples include the games played on the Orkney Islands off northern Scotland and a violent contest in Rome. There were also the ancient Gaelic sports, and Marn Grook, an Aboriginal game, played in south-eastern Victoria. |
|
1840s |
The various versions of football were under pressure to follow uniform rules in England as people travelled more and teams from different areas competed but used a variety of rules. Interestingly one source indicates the name foot-ball may not be due to kicking with the foot but to the aristocracy playing sports on horseback and the commoners on foot. The many football games were reducing down to several smaller sets of agreed on rules and the separate sports we recognise today were emerging. The pre-cursors to Rugby and to Association Football (also now called soccer) were taking on their distinct forms. It also seems likely something vaguely resembling modern Australian Football was played in Victoria (and possibly elsewhere including South Australia) - but as in England rules continued to vary from region to region (as they did for many more decades). |
| 1845 | Rugby rules officially codified at Rugby School England. |
| 1858 | On July 10 Tom Wills wrote his famous letter to the sport weekly Bells Life in Melbourne requesting that foot-ball clubs be formed to help the cricketers keep their fitness in the winter. In the late 20th century this year would become increasingly considered the founding of the code of Australian Football (variously referred to as Victorian Rules football, Australian Rules football, Australasian Rules football then Australian Football, though colloquially still Australian Rules, Aussie Rules or simply footy, or AFL, much to the frustration of many who point out it is a sport not a league). |
| Scotch College vs Melbourne Grammar on August 7 - start of first game recognised by historians (though almost certainly just the next step in the game's evolution to set rules). It was played over three Saturdays on Richmond Paddock near the MCG. | |
| 1859 | First clubs formed in Victoria - including Melbourne and Geelong. | First known written version of the rules, drafted by officials of the Melbourne Football Club on May 17 - some interpret this event as making Australian Rules the second oldest football code behind Rugby. |
| 1860s | First known clubs in Tasmania and South Australia (original Adelaide FC thought to be formed in 1860). |
| Game taken to New Zealand's South Island by Victorian Gold miners through until the 1870's | |
| 1863 | First Soccer rules officially drawn up on December 8 - it would be decades before the sport went on to become the dominant football code worldwide. |
| 1866 | Running with the ball and bouncing it every 5/6 yards officially codified. This rule takes the game on a different path to the other football codes, combined with the no throwing the ball rule in 1859. |
| 1869 | First University American football (not Australian football - included for comparison) game played on November 6 in New Jersey. |
| 1877 | South Australian Football Association formed (renamed the SANFL in 1927). |
| Victorian Football Association (VFA) formed. | |
| Rugby No 2 Oval ball now official, Round Ball banned. | |
| Number of players on ground reduced to 20. | |
| 1870s | Football spreads to Western Australia with some goldminers and garrison soldiers from Victoria. |
| 1880 | New South Wales Australian Football Association formed. |
| 1880s | Over 300 clubs playing in Queensland (Rugby Union and League yet to arrive in force). |
| 1884 | The first Gaelic Football rules drawn up in Dublin. This throws into serious doubt that our game evolved from that sport, although an ancient game of Gaelic football had previously existed. Since 2000 researchers now believe that some of Australian football's rules were incorporated into that game. An oval ball was used early on, and also the four field posts either end, without the crossbar at times. Quirks of history may have been all that prevented the two codes being the same. |
| 1885 | The West Australian Football Association formed, but Rugby was also popular. |
| 1888 | A touring English Rugby team in Australia to play Rugby in NSW, QLD and NZ also play a series of nineteen Australian Rules matches in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, and attract huge interest. All subsequent attempts to take an Australian Rules team to England and hold follow up exhibition matches failed. |
| There is now evidence that an Edinburgh University team (perhaps mostly Australians studying there) travelled to London and played a local University in a game of Victorian Rules in the same year. If the VFA had been successful in getting a tour to the UK underway, they intended to link up with the Edinburgh team and tour holding demo matches. There were a lot of Colonial Victorians studying at the Edinburgh Uni at the time. | |
| 1893 | In New Zealand, as many as 43 clubs in existence. |
| 1894 | Major Gold finds in Western Australia. These events brought thousands of gold seekers from Victoria (became almost 30% of WA population in the period) bringing Australian football with them. The game became the dominant code on the Goldfields and in Perth pushing aside Rugby in this period. The first 2 clubs formed on the WA goldfields were at Coolgardie in this year. |
| 1895 | Birth of Rugby League when twenty two Northern England Rugby Clubs breakaway to form their own comp, also played amended rules from Rugby Union, and reduced players on ground to thirteen. Became fully professional game. |
| 1896/97 | Victorian Football League (VFL) formed, splitting off from the VFA, leaving behind the weaker clubs, saying they were not exploiting interstate/overseas potential of the game. |
| Many rule changes implemented by the VFL - number of players on ground reduced by 2 to 18. Behinds included in the score for the first time. "Little mark" abolished. | |
| 1901 | Legend is that Australian football narrowly loses vote to make it the main private schools sport in Queensland, although the game continued to be played widely there, whilst struggling in parts of NSW (most notably Sydney). |
| Hundreds of Australian gold miners travel to the Goldfields of South Africa at Johannesburg. Evidence now exists that Australian Rules was played there. | |
| Early 1900s | Competitions in NZ - many expatriate Australians but also appeared to be growing with locals. |
| Recent research indicates that the game was still played in Edinburgh Scotland by Australian students. | |
| 1906 | Australian National Football Council formed to standardise rules and coordinate development (a difficult task that was never fully successful). |
| 1908 | First and only Australasian Football Carnival that included NZ held - to celebrate 50 years of the game. New Zealand wear an All Black jumper with a Silver Fern on front. |
| Rugby League introduced into Sydney and later Brisbane and becomes dominant football code in next 10 years pushing aside Rugby Union. This development relegates Australian football to a minor sport for decades in NSW and QLD. The game however remains strong along the VIC/NSW border and the Riverina District in NSW. | |
| 1916 | First game in the Northern Territory (NTFL formed the following year). |
| 1924 | Canberra's first regular Australian football season. |
| 1930s | The Depression blamed for killing off the game in New Zealand. |
| Game introduced into Nauru (an Australian dependency at the time). | |
| 1940s | Football introduced to Papua New Guinea (PNG, an Australian dependency at the time) by Australian school teachers and defence force personnel . |
| 1960s | Handball begins to become a big part of football, e.g. Polly Farmer (Aboriginal player from WA) uses it often for Geelong in VFL; Sturt dominate SANFL structuring their game around handball. |
| Attempts at a regular competition in England come and go, continuing on into the early 70s. | |
| 1968 | Nauru achieves independence, the republic becomes the only independent nation outside of Australia with regular competition. |
| 1970s | VFL increases its lead as the strongest competition as the game starts to become professional and players are recruited from other states (but many clubs get into financial difficulties which continue on for decades). |
| Game re-introduced to New Zealand, becoming the third independent nation with regular competition (after Australia, Nauru). | |
| 1975 | Papua New Guinea achieves independence, becoming probably the third nation outside of Australia with regular competition. |
| 1977 | State of Origin football introduced (matches/tournaments in which players represent their home state) - dominated by Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. |
| 1982 | South Melbourne moves games to NSW (become Sydney Swans in 1983). |
| 1980s | Although exhibitions had been played before, the VFL began a more regular series of overseas matches. |
| SANFL play WAFL in Canada. | |
| International (or Compromise) Rules football series begins - Australia vs Ireland. | |
| Jim Stynes recruited from Ireland to Melbourne Football Club. | |
| Due to neglect the Rugby codes push aside Australian football in the ACT and PNG to become the dominant sports. | |
| 1986 | VFL national draft to ensure no team can dominate the competition due to buying players. |
| 1987 | Brisbane formed to play in the VFL but with weak player base. |
| Strong incentives given to Western Australia to join VFL - West Coast Eagles entered, based on WAFL players and Western Australians playing in the VFL (first premierships in 1992 and 1994). Licence fees applied to new clubs to help pay off large VFL debts. | |
| Japanese Australian Football Association formed. | |
| 1989 | Expanded VFL, which had been steadily evolving into a national league, renamed the AFL, which then assumes responsibility for the game in Australia and its territories. |
| Canadian Australian Football Association (later AFL Canada) formed and plays first official local games in the Northern hemisphere as recognised by historians. | |
| 1990 | British Australian Rules Football League (BARFL) begins, although expat matches had been held on and off for decades. |
| SANFL turmoil as local team Port Adelaide offered deal by AFL - court injunction blocks move. | |
| 1991 | Adelaide Crows formed, based on SANFL players and some South Australians playing in the AFL (first premierships in 1997 and 1998). |
| Danish Australian Football League (DAFL) commences. | |
| Jim Stynes from Ireland wins Brownlow as best player in the AFL that year. Becomes the first international recruit to achieve that status. | |
| 1992 | First Swedish club formed (in Helsingborg). |
| 1993 | Brisbane move from Gold Coast to Brisbane proper. |
| 1995 | The Arafura Games in Darwin features International Australian football matches. |
| International Australian Football Council (IAFC) formed. | |
| Fremantle (from Western Australia) enter the AFL. | |
| First teams formed in Germany. | |
| 1996 | Financially stricken Victorian AFL team Fitzroy merge with Brisbane Bears to form the Brisbane Lions. |
| First "local" match in the US, with the beginnings of the game's dramatic growth there. | |
| 1997 | Port Adelaide enter AFL. |
| AFL fund junior football in NZ. | |
| First US Club National Championships (in Cincinnati). | |
| Preparations begin to develop football in South Africa. | |
| 1998 | Samoan Australian Rules Football Association formed. |
| Auskick program devised. | |
| Late 1990s | State of Origin ends as the AFL becomes the focus of top level football in Australia. |
| International Rules matches against Ireland resume. | |
| 1999 | Australian football begins in Argentina. |
| 2000 | Australian Rules Football League Ireland (ARFLI) formed. |
| 2001 | Brisbane begins golden era - 3 premierships in a row, spurring incredible growth in junior teams in Queensland. |
| 2002 | First International Cup involving eleven countries held in Melbourne - inaugural winners Ireland, defeating PNG (Australia not represented to allow competitive matches as the game develops internationally). Other nations, in finishing order, were New Zealand, Denmark, USA, Great Britain, Nauru, Canada, Japan and South Africa. Hosted by the AFL and IAFC, who dissolve in favour of the AFL's International Development Committee. Several splinter IAFCs form, but none appear to last beyond 2005. |
| First club formed in Madrid, Spain. | |
| 2003 | First clinics held in India - Indian Amateur Australian Football Association formed. Appear to be inactive thereafter. |
| Tonga Australian Football Association formed. | |
| Java Australian Football League formed in Indonesia (featuring locals, not expatriates). | |
| Footy South Africa officially re-organised with a formal structure of ten teams and about 200 players in three provinces. Stated goal is 10,000 players by 2008. | |
| First women's Australian football teams formed internationally - in USA and Japan (leagues already exist in Australia, with the Victorian one far larger than any other). | |
| Inaugural Central European Australian Football Championships held in Spain. | |
| AFL Queensland bring PNG juniors into their country football championships. Junior numbers exploding in PNG - perhaps 10,000 strong. | |
| AFL Canberra club Queanbeyan offer scholarships to several talented young NZ footballers. | |
| 2004 | First Scottish premiership season. |
| Solomon Islands Australian Football Association (SIAFA) formed. Ultimately loses momentum, but around the same time Australian military and police begin a program whilst in the country as part of the RAMSI peace keeping and assistance program. | |
| Fiji Australian Football Association (FAFA) formed (folds in 2005). | |
| Women's Australian Football Association formed in USA. | |
| Philippine Australian Football League formed in Manila. | |
| Several PNG footballers play for the Cobras in the Cairns AFL. | |
| AFL announce the 2nd International Cup to be held in Melbourne in August 2005. | |
| USAFL signs first known TV deal for a non-Australian league (although some Canadian matches were shown in the early 1990s). | |
| St Kilda tour South Africa (training and doing clinics), gathering unprecedented coverage in Australia of footy's potential in South Africa. Player numbers already around 1000 players. | |
| 2005 | Federazione Italiana di Football Australiano formed, but appear to become dormant. |
| AFL South Africa successfully apply for funding for 4 local staff. "Convicts" side (mixture of amateur players from around Australia) tours South Africa, conducting clinics and defeating the national side. | |
| More PNG players begin playing in leagues around Queensland. Several Samoans and Americans play in Melbourne, and some New Zealanders in other eastern states of Australia. | |
| The AFL's Multicultural Program launched to better involve Melbourne's migrant communities in Australian Football (to hopefully be expanded to other states later). | |
| New Zealand win the 2nd International Cup (in Melbourne and Wangaratta), defeating PNG. Ten nations attended, with the others finishing in the order USA, Ireland, Samoa, Great Britain, Canada, South Africa, Japan and Spain. Nauru and Denmark pulled out primarily with financial issues. | |
| Western Australian Football Commission announces desire to assist with international development of Indian Ocean countries and possibly to host 2008 IC. | |
| Melbourne Football Club propose building on the city of Melbourne's sister city ties with Tianjin and develop footy in China. | |
| First foundations of what becomes the Finland AFL. | |
| Irishman Tadhg Kennelly wins AFL Premiership with Sydney. Brisbane Lions international rookie list 2 Gaelic footballers and say they will pursue a relationship with Ireland. Carlton promote Setanta O'hAilpin to senior list and his brother Aisake continues on the international rookie list. | |
| Three clubs being developed in France (Strasbourg, Paris and Senlis), with all playing matches this year. | |
| 15 international players invited to AFL and Australian Institute of Sport December training camp. 7 are able to attend (from Japan, UK, NZ and PNG). | |
| Java league in Pancawati (Indonesia) develops beyond juniors, with hopes to include more villages and Universities in future. | |
| Aussie Rules UK (ARUK) begins in England, focussed on junior development | |
| 2006 | Kangaroos (North Melbourne) play Sydney at UCLA, USA and both clubs and the AFL assist the USAFL with coaching and training camps for US players. |
| Melbourne Football Club target development in Tianjin (near Beijing, China) through an Australian development/ambassador position (through AusAID, the AFL and Melbourne City Council) and plan a visit by their club later in the year. First two teams of Chinese formed and play demonstration with expat Aussie side. | |
| Japan's Michito Sakaki plays for Essendon in an AFL sanctioned trial match against Sydney. Samurai's team-mate Tsuyoshi Kase also trains with Essendon, as several US footballers had done in the past. Sakaki then signs with Ovens and Murray Football League club the Wodonga Raiders. | |
| AFL send indigenous youth squad to South Africa to play 3 games against the South African national side (1 International Rules, 2 Australian Football). | |
| PNG's Stanis Susuve becomes first internationally developed player to represent an Australian state - Queensland under 16s. | |
| Agreement between AFL South Africa and North-West Province Cricket Association to share facilities. Later in the year the AFL announced plans to dramatically expand the paid staff at AFLSA from 4 to 20, with intentions of expanding the game into several provinces. | |
| AFL announce major enhancement of approach to international footy, with a new high-powered International Development Committee and eight core areas to work with international leagues to develop the game. | |
| Barassi Youth Tournament in Canberra features South Africa and New Zealand under 16 sides versus a selection of Australian youth squads. | |
| England youth team defeat Denmark juniors in Copenhagen in first European youth international. | |
| Brian Dixon visits India, helping sew the seeds of AFL India. | |
| Hybrid International Rules series suspended by Ireland over GAA concerns regarding on-field violence and rule interpretations during the 2005 and 2006 series. | |
| 2007 |
South African youth side tours Australia, including playing against Aboriginal youth side in curtain-raiser to Aboriginal All-Stars vs Essendon in Darwin in February (other matches are in Jabiru, NT and Perth, WA). AFL announces Fremantle, West Coast and Collingwood will invest in South Africa - North West, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape provinces, respectively (Carlton later agree to work with the province of Gauteng). National side defeats touring Convicts team, the first side to do so. FootyWild program launched in the four targeted provinces. Costa Logistics sign on as a major sponsor of AFL South Africa. |
| Elite AFL-Australian Institute of Sport under 17s tour South Africa, conducting clinics, playing an internal trial including some South African players, and defeating a mixed (under 19s and open age) South Africa team comfortably, in the debut footy matches for Sedgars Park. | |
| PNG under 14s and under 16s compete as teams in their own right in the AFL Queensland state under 14 and under 16 championships, both winning one game. | |
| First senior leagues (9-a-side) of the part new, part breakaway ARUK season in the UK (previously established for junior development), including inaugural Wales AFL season. Partly results in BARFL Regional League cancelled. By the end of the year the turbulent on-again off-again BARFL and ARUK relationship appears to be on again, with talk of permanent re-structure of footy in the UK. | |
| Irishman Martin Clarke an almost instant success for Collingwood in the AFL. Along with the success of Colm Begley in Brisbane and the O'hAilpin's at Carlton (and ongoing success of Tadhg Kennelly in Sydney), spurs a major boost in AFL club interest in Ireland's Gaelic games players. At the end of the year, three more Irishmen are rookie listed by AFL clubs. | |
| Large numbers (1000s) of children taught footy in Suzhou, China, as a base is developed there and Tianjin. First ever all-Chinese senior match as Beijing SiShen Bombers defeat Tianjin Normal University Demons in Beijing. | |
| First women's international as US Freedom defeat Canadian Eagles in Vancouver, Canada in successive matches. Canada defeat US in first boys under 17s matches, and Canada score first win over US in men's. | |
| Significant increase in delivery of television coverage of AFL into Europe and North America through Irish network Setanta Sport. | |
| EU Cup begins to grow in significance as more teams with less expats attend the 9-a-side tournament. Also a significant increase in the number of full internationals between Ireland, Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden and Germany. | |
| Two PNG players attend AIS-AFL academy. | |
| West Coast first AFL club to stage a community camp in South Africa. | |
| 2008 | AFL-declared 150th year of Australian Football. |
| Collingwood, Carlton and Fremantle stage Community Camps in South Africa. Carlton play Fremantle (exhibition match) at SuperSport Park in Pretoria. Collingwood play Adelaide (NAB Cup) in Abu Dhabi, UAE (hosted from Dubai). | |
| Israeli-Palestine Peres Peace team in training for International Cup. Informal matches also being held by other groups in Israel. | |
| First two AFL India representatives undergo coaching clinics with AFL in Melbourne. | |
| AFL club Presidents back AFL Commission plans to create new AFL clubs (17th and 18th licenses) on the Gold Coast and in West Sydney. Some AFL officials link the need for an expanded player base with new recruiting regions internationally. | |
| AFL change International Scholarship rules to allow each club up to 8 players per year (24 total) and only $1000 in kind value if the player stays in their own country's system, to encourage clubs to more favourably consider international recruits. | |
| PNG's John James becomes first internationally developed player to represent an Australian state at under 18s level (for Queensland). | |
| Elite AFL-Australian Institute of Sport under 17s tour South Africa for the second time. |
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