Toowoomba is a city in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. It is 132 km (82 mi) west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 census was 142,163, having grown at an average annual rate of 1.45% over the previous two decades. Toowoomba is the second-most-populous inland city in the country after the nation's capital, Canberra. It is also the second-largest regional centre in Queensland, and is often referred to as the capital of the Darling Downs. It is the council seat of the eponymously named Toowoomba Region.
The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generally applied to an area approximating to that of the Condamine River catchment upstream of Condamine township but is now applied to a wider region comprising the Southern Downs, Western Downs, Toowoomba and Goondiwindi local authority areas. The name Darling Downs was given in 1827 by Allan Cunningham, the first European explorer to reach the area and recognises the then Governor of New South Wales, Ralph Darling.
The Queensland Rugby Football League (QRL) is the governing body for rugby league in Queensland. It is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission and selects the members of the Queensland rugby league team.
The Central Division of the Queensland Rugby League is responsible for the promotion, administration, and facilitation of rugby league throughout most of regional Queensland. Regional areas include the Darling Downs, Wide Bay–Burnett, the South West, the Central West, and Fitzroy & Mackay.
The Queensland Rugby Union, or QRU, is the governing body for the sport of Rugby union in Queensland in Australia. It is a member and founding union of Rugby Australia.
In Queensland, Australian rules football dates back to the colonial era in 1866, with organised competitions being continuous since the 1900s. Today, it is most popular in South East Queensland and the Cairns Region. There are 11 regional club competitions, the highest profile of which are the semi-professional Queensland Australian Football League and AFL Cairns. It is governed by AFL Queensland. With more than 55,000 registered adult players, it has the fifth largest of any jurisdiction.
AFL Capricornia is an amateur Australian rules football competition played across Central Queensland between the months of March to September, which are typically the cooler months of the Queensland climate. Spanning across three main regions of Central Queensland including: Rockhampton, Gladstone and Livingstone. The league is only mildly popular with rugby league being the much more popular football code in Central Queensland.
The Queensland Australian Football League is an Australian rules football competition organised by the AFL Queensland, contested by clubs from South East Queensland.
There are several Australian rules football leagues in regional Queensland.
Football Queensland Darling Downs is a Football Queensland administrative zone encompassing the Darling Downs region and parts of South West Queensland. The zone administers major regional areas including Toowoomba, Dalby, Roma, Charleville, St George, Goondiwindi and Stanthorpe. The premier men's soccer competition is the Football Queensland Premier League 3 − Darling Downs and the premier women's soccer competition is the Football Queensland Women's Premier League 3 − Darling Downs. Football Queensland Darling Downs also has a numerous variety of lower divisions for both men and women, as well as academy and junior competitions to develop soccer and fitness within the region.
In Queensland, Rugby league was introduced in 1908 and is the most watched winter sport in the state and the second most participated football code after soccer. Within its first decade it surpassed rugby union there to become the most popular football code as players switched to play professionally in the Queensland Rugby League (QRL). In the 1920s, Queenslanders began leaving to play professionally in the New South Wales Rugby League which became a more popular competition. However Queensland maintained a strong rugby league culture, with the state continuing to perform well in interstate rugby league. The later advent of the State of Origin series ensured that players would return to represent their state. Regarded as “Australian sport's greatest rivalry”, the term "Origin fever" is used by the media to describe the passion of the Queenslanders public for the competition and the chant "Queenslander!", attributed to Billy Moore in 1995, has become the state's battle cry. The Queensland Rugby League is the governing body and has 58,912 registered tackle players. Rugby league authorities often count an additional 70,000 registered touch football players as participants, though that sport is only loosely affiliated and is governed by Touch Football Queensland.
Rugby union in Queensland has traditionally been one of the most popular professional and recreational team sports in the state. Rugby union was introduced in the British colony's capital Brisbane in 1876. Initially it struggled to gain a foothold due to the popularity of Australian rules there until it got its break in 1882 with the first inter-colonial matches against New South Wales, and the formation of the Northern Rugby Union. Between 1885 and 1887 it became the dominant code after the leading schools association decided to play it exclusively and after 1890 spread virtually unopposed throughout the colony.
The AFL Wide Bay is a regional body that coordinates Australian rules football competitions in the Wide Bay–Burnett and northern Sunshine Coast regions of Queensland, Australia. The competition currently features teams from the cities of Bundaberg, Maryborough, Hervey Bay, Gympie and the town of Pomona. AFL Wide Bay operates men's senior, reserves and women's competitions as well as underage competitions including mixed and junior boys teams.
The Darling Downs District Rugby Union, or DDRU, is the governing body for the sport of rugby union within the District of Darling Downs, Queensland in Australia. It is a member of the Queensland Country Rugby Union.
The Queensland Country Rugby Union, or QCRU, is the governing body for the sport of rugby union within most of the state of Queensland in Australia. It is affiliated with the Queensland Rugby Union.
The Toowoomba Rugby League is a competition involving football clubs from the city of Toowoomba and surrounding towns and districts.
It is run under the auspices of Queensland Rugby League Central Division.
The Queensland Football Association (QFA) was the first club-independent governing body for football in the Colony of Queensland founded on 30 April 1880. Formed in the Colony of Queensland ts role was primarily to facilitate club and representative matches primarily in Australian rules football but also in Rugby union and ocassionally soccer.
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