HISTORY ABOUT THE GAME
Australian Rules Football is a sport unique to Australia that was established in Melbourne Australia, where the first official match was refereed by one of the creators of the game, Tom Wills, which was played on the 31st of July 1858 between the sides Melbourne Grammar School and Scotch College.
The birth of the major league that is to become the ‘AFL’ , was established by the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1896, with the six strongest teams (Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy,Geelong,Melbourne and South Melbourne and later on Carlton and St Kilda) competing in the inaugural season in 1897 which saw Essendon take first blood with the premiership.
The years following 1897 the game of AFL has changed profoundly throughout the years becoming a much more quicker and efficient game that keeps fans on the edge of their seats, and has become Australia’s national sport.
The birth of the major league that is to become the ‘AFL’ , was established by the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1896, with the six strongest teams (Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy,Geelong,Melbourne and South Melbourne and later on Carlton and St Kilda) competing in the inaugural season in 1897 which saw Essendon take first blood with the premiership.
The years following 1897 the game of AFL has changed profoundly throughout the years becoming a much more quicker and efficient game that keeps fans on the edge of their seats, and has become Australia’s national sport.
The VFL
The VFL as stated was established in 1896 and was played by the strongest teams in Victoria. One of the new initiatives the VFL had that was new and innovative was the introduction of an annual finals tournament rather the awarding the premiership to the team with the best record at the end of the season, which provided clubs with more or a winning chance than before. At around the year of 1925 the league expanded by adding in the teams Richmond, Footscray, Hawthorn and North Melbourne.
In 1959 the VFL decided to build a stadium specifically built for Australian Rules Football which was known as VFL Park (Waverly Park) which was to be built around Mulgrave, as it was predicted to have a near demographic centre as Melbourne in the years to come. It was planned to hold up to 155,000 spectators, which would of easily made it one of the largest stadiums in the world, however the final plan was reduced to 78, 000 in capacity. VFL Park was built to give the game some independence from relying on the MCG for matches and reduced the conflictions between the Australian Cricket Team.
It was only till 1986 when teams from outside Victoria were allowed to join the league as expansion clubs in the likes of the West Coast Eagles and the Brisbane Bears. In 1987 the salary cap was introduced into the AFL which helped to minimise the contrast between the richer clubs dominating the league.
In 1959 the VFL decided to build a stadium specifically built for Australian Rules Football which was known as VFL Park (Waverly Park) which was to be built around Mulgrave, as it was predicted to have a near demographic centre as Melbourne in the years to come. It was planned to hold up to 155,000 spectators, which would of easily made it one of the largest stadiums in the world, however the final plan was reduced to 78, 000 in capacity. VFL Park was built to give the game some independence from relying on the MCG for matches and reduced the conflictions between the Australian Cricket Team.
It was only till 1986 when teams from outside Victoria were allowed to join the league as expansion clubs in the likes of the West Coast Eagles and the Brisbane Bears. In 1987 the salary cap was introduced into the AFL which helped to minimise the contrast between the richer clubs dominating the league.
THE AFL
It was in 1990 that the name Victorian Football League (VFL) was changed to become known as the Australian Football League (AFL), to reflect on the new teams being added to the league. The AFL finally accepted the two strongest clubs from the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), Port Adelaide and Adelaide Crows, to be apart of the league. In 1994, the Fremantle Football Club joined the AFL, to become the fifth interstate club.
There were many rules changes throughout the 1990's that have great impact on modern football today such as the introduction of three field umpires in 1994, the blood rule in 1994, the introduction of the the third and fourth interchange player in 1994 and 1998 respectively and that the final series was change from six teams to the top 8 in 1998.
Through the 1990's clubs started to abandon small grounds that could hold 20,000 to 30,000 seats such Windy Hill, Western Oval, Victoria Park and Princes Park for much larger venues like the MCG and Waverly Park. This transition was complete when Carlton finally abadoned Princes Park and these surbaban venues are usually used as training grounds for their respective clubs.
In 1999 the league sold Waverly Park, due to the difficulties for people to get around towards the stadium as efficient public transport wasn't made. As a replacement the AFL built a much smaller stadium with a capacity of 55, 000 known as the Etihad Stadium which is situated near the Sourthern Cross Station, Melbourne.
There were many rules changes throughout the 1990's that have great impact on modern football today such as the introduction of three field umpires in 1994, the blood rule in 1994, the introduction of the the third and fourth interchange player in 1994 and 1998 respectively and that the final series was change from six teams to the top 8 in 1998.
Through the 1990's clubs started to abandon small grounds that could hold 20,000 to 30,000 seats such Windy Hill, Western Oval, Victoria Park and Princes Park for much larger venues like the MCG and Waverly Park. This transition was complete when Carlton finally abadoned Princes Park and these surbaban venues are usually used as training grounds for their respective clubs.
In 1999 the league sold Waverly Park, due to the difficulties for people to get around towards the stadium as efficient public transport wasn't made. As a replacement the AFL built a much smaller stadium with a capacity of 55, 000 known as the Etihad Stadium which is situated near the Sourthern Cross Station, Melbourne.
THE NEW FACE OF AFL
The logo changed in 2000, to provide a new page of history for the game of Australian Rules Football. New rules were set up in 2006 intended to speed the game up such as allowing full backs to kick in more quickly after a behind, limiting the time a player is allowed to hold the ball after marking to 8 seconds and only letting 30 seconds for a set shot on goal. In the 2010's the game introduced it's latest expansion clubs in Gold Coast Suns (2011) and Greater Western Sydney Giants (2012), which brought the the number of clubs in the AFL up to to 18.