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A crude brand of football, a mixture of Rugby and Gaelic Football, was first introduced in Victoria, but it was not until 1858 that the distinctive code of Australian Football emerged.
In 1857 Tom Wills returned to Australia after schooling in England where he was football captain of Rugby School and a brilliant cricketer. Initially he advocated the winter game of football as a way of keeping cricketers fit during their off-season.
The new game was devised by Wills, his cousin H.C.A. Harrison, W.J. Hammersley and J.B. Thompson. The Melbourne Football Club was formed on August 7, 1858, the year of the code’s first recorded game between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar School.
Australian Football quickly blossomed. The Geelong Football Club was formed in 1859 and in 1866 an updated set of rules were put in place.
The Victorian Football League was established in 1896 and the following year the League’s first games were played among the foundation clubs – Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne.
In 1908, Richmond and University clubs joined, but after the 1914 season, University left the competition.
In 1996, the League celebrated its centenary under the name, the Australian Football League. The name change was made in 1990 in recognition of the fact that the game has a firmly national outlook.
The game is a way of life. Australia’s biggest and most vocal spectator sport has its power base in Victoria, but is played in every state and territory. It commands tremendous media attention. Players are household names and are treated like film stars.
For many years the AFL had its administrative headquarters at the MCG in Melbourne (having recently relocated to Colonial Stadium). The MCG is the nation’s biggest stadium, seating almost 100,000 spectators. It is at the MCG that the biggest games are played, including the grand final.
Chronology
| 1858 | August 7: First recorded match of Australian Football, Scotch College v Melbourne Grammar |
| 1866 | Time limit for matches introduced |
| Behind posts used for first time | |
| 1872 | Field umpires introduced |
| 1873 | Team uniforms introduced |
| 1877 | Victorian Football Association established |
| 1879 | First night match using electric light |
| 1886 | Four quarter games instead of two halves |
| 1887 | Umpire required to bounce ball instead of throwing it up in the air |
| Flags waved to signify goals | |
| 1891 | Introduction of centre bounce at start of quarters and after every goal |
| Players required to take up set field positions | |
| 1896 | October 2: Delegates from Geelong, Essendon, Collingwood, Fitzroy, Melbourne and South Melbourne meet to form the VFL as the breakaway competition |
| Carlton and St Kilda invited to join | |
| 1897 | New scoring system: six points for a goal, one for a behind – previously, only goals were counted |
| First finals system implemented | |
| May 8: First round of VFL matches played | |
| 1902 | Carlton appoints Jack Worrall as first ever VFL coach |
| 1904 | First appointments of boundary umpires |
| 1908 | Richmond and University enter competition |
| 1909 | Boundary umpires given power to report players |
| 1910 | Goal Umpires: power to report players |
| 1911 | Official player payments approved |
| 1912 | Players wear numbers in all matches |
| Stewards appointed with power to report players | |
| Football Record first published | |
| 1913 | League independent tribunal instituted |
| 1915 | University no longer in competition |
| 1918 | Steward system of reporting players abolished |
| 1919 | Reserve Grade competition formed |
| 1923 | All league venues required to display quarter by quarter scores |
| 1924 | Brownlow Medal instituted |
| New rule: black shorts for home team and white shorts for away team | |
| 1925 | Radio descriptions introduced during finals |
| Footscray, Hawthorn and North Melbourne enter competition | |
| 1930 | Coulter Law adopted, restricting payments to players |
| 1933 | Experimental siren used |
| 1942 | Geelong in recess due to war-time restrictions |
| 1944 | Geelong resumes participation |
| 1946 | Under 19 competition begins |
| 1947 | Players’ advocates first permitted to defend players at tribunal hearings |
| 1956 | First night competition |
| 1957 | Last quarter of AFL matches televised live |
| Reserved seating for finals matches introduced | |
| 1959 | Reserve grade competition first played as curtain raiser to seniors |
| 1960 | First Anzac Day game |
| 1962 | TV stations permitted to play replays of AFL games but no live telecasts |
| 1970 | April 5: First Sunday game – Fitzroy v Richmond (MCG) |
| 1973 | Ten year automatic clearance rule introduced, then rescinded in May |
| 1975 | Clubs permitted to wear colour shorts for colour television coverage |
| Video tape become admissible evidence at Tribunal hearings | |
| 1976 | Two field umpire system introduced |
| 1977 | First live telecast of Grand Final |
| 1979 | Norm Smith Medal introduced for best afield in Grand Final |
| 1982 | South Melbourne relocates to Sydney |
| 1983 | August 5: First Friday match for premiership points |
| 1984 | League Commission formed |
| First Sunday finals match | |
| Salary Cap introduced for use in 1985 | |
| 1985 | Independent League Commission becomes the decision making body |
| 1986 | Introduction of 50 metre arc ground markings |
| Video investigation first used to examine on-field incidents | |
| Introduction of National Player Draft | |
| 1987 | ABC televises matches during Channel Seven’s one season of non-coverage |
| West Coast Eagles and Brisbane Bears enter competition | |
| 1988 | Emergency umpires empowered to report players |
| 1990 | VFL renamed the AFL |
| 1991 | Last season of under 19 competition |
| Final six introduced | |
| Adelaide Crows enter competition | |
| 1992 | MCG colour video scoreboard used |
| May 4: AFL relocates to MCG Great Southern Stand | |
| 1993 | Introduction of three field umpire system |
| 1994 | Blood rule introduced |
| 1995 | Fremantle Dockers enter competition |
| 1996 | Fitzroy plays its last AFL match |
| Brisbane Bears merge with Fitzroy | |
| 1997 | Footscray renamed the Western Bulldogs |
| Brisbane Bears renamed the Brisbane Lions | |
| Port Adelaide Power enters competition | |
| 1999 | North Melbourne renamed the Kangaroos |
| 2000 | AFL matches first played at Colonial Stadium |
