Australian Football League


The AFL: An Aussie Made Sport





Little bit of history

The sport started off as the Victorian Football League (VFL) with its season debut in 1897, where teams were exclusively from the state of Victoria. After expanding to further Australian states during the 1980's, the VFL changed to the Australian Football League for the 1990 season.

So why isn't AFL played in other countries?

In 1888, a team from England toured Australia and played 25 matches against Australian teams in which they won 14. It was planned that Australian teams would make a return tour to England but it didn't go through. Therefore international expansion of the game subsided and it it went on to become a unique game to Australia.

The sport today

AFL is a contact sport played with an oval shaped ball, involving 2 sides of 18 players on a large oval shaped field.
Play - main rules

  • Players must always dispose of the ball by either a kick or a hand-pass
  • The ball must be bounced or touched to the ground once every 15 metres
  • Players are allowed to tackle the player with the ball
  • When a player with the ball is tackled correctly, he must immediately dispose of the ball by kicking or hand-passing.
  • When a player catches a kicked ball on the full that has travelled more than 15 metres

Here are some highlights from last years AFL Grand Final, check them out to get a taste of the sport!

By Myles Waller

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