An Australian rules football playing field is a venue where Australian rules football is played.
The playing field is typically a large oval-shaped grass surface, usually a modified cricket field, hence often known as an oval. These fields may vary especially for variations of the game. However, for official Australian Football League matches, strict requirement specifications must be met for stadiums.
Australian rules football grounds, even at the highest level of the game, have no fixed dimensions. For senior football, the playing field is an oval between 135–185 metres (148–202 yd) long goal-to-goal and 110–155 metres (120–170 yd) wide wing-to-wing. Grounds can vary from long and narrow to almost circular, and are not necessarily symmetrical, depending upon how and where the field was constructed. At least 5 metres (5.5 yd) of space between the boundary line and any fence is required for safety. [1]
Smaller fields are generally used for junior football; some are purpose-built, and some are temporarily marked out within the confines of full-sized oval; as for a senior match, there are no fixed dimensions for a junior-sized field. The Western Australian Football Commission advises that a good rule of thumb is to set the length of the field equivalent to 3+1⁄2 times the length of an average kick of the age group playing. [2]
By definition in the laws of the game, the portion of the field inside the goal line and boundary lines is called the playing surface. The combination of the playing surface and the space between the boundary line and any perimeter fence, as well as any gaps in the perimeter fence, is called the arena. [1]
A top-level Australian rules football ground has the following markings: [2]
Grounds at lower or junior levels will lack many of these markings, or paint them in lower detail. [4]
At each end of the ground there are two goal posts, spaced 6.4 m (7 yd) apart, and a further 6.4 m (7 yd) on either side of these are behind posts, 5 metres (16 ft) in height. The goal posts are conventionally painted white, and in South Australia, the behind posts are customarily painted red. [5] All posts are typically padded with wall padding to minimise injury due to players colliding with them. [2]
Due to possible injuries caused to players moving at high speed by marking, jumping, turning and being tackled without protective padding, the playing field standards imply use of lawn as a surface.
Almost all Australian rules football fields are of a suitable size and shape for cricket; and in the majority of cases, the fields are used for cricket in the summer and Australian rules football in the winter, a seasonal strategy which is part of the history of Australian sport. As a consequence of this, there are very few fields which were purpose-built for and used by Australian rules football to the exclusion of cricket and all other sports.[ citation needed ] Like the cricket oval, the field is usually referred to and named as an oval. [6] [7]
However, there are many grounds – particularly those built more recently – which were built with Australian rules football as the primary intended purpose, but upon which other sports, including cricket, have been played.
Variations of the standard field dimensions and layout exist. For junior levels, smaller fields are often used. Rectangular fields have also been used in the past in Australia and also overseas, as well as adapted fields from other sports such as association football and American football.
Australian rules football, also called Australian football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by kicking the oval ball between the central goal posts, or between a central and outer post.
Gaelic football, commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kicking or punching the ball into the other team's goal or between two upright posts above the goal and over a crossbar 2.5 metres above the ground.
Football Park, known commercially as AAMI Stadium, was an Australian rules football stadium located in West Lakes, a western suburb of Adelaide, the state capital of South Australia, Australia. It was built in 1973 by the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and opened in 1974. Until the end of the 2013 AFL season, it served as the home ground of South Australia's AFL clubs, the Adelaide Football Club and Port Adelaide Football Club. It also hosted all SANFL finals from 1974 to 2013. Demolition of the stadium's grandstands began in August 2018, and finished in March 2019.
International rules football is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed to facilitate international representative matches between Australian rules football players and Gaelic football players.
A football pitch is the playing surface for the game of association football. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play". The pitch is typically made of natural turf or artificial turf, although amateur and recreational teams often play on dirt fields. Artificial surfaces are allowed only to be green in colour.
The laws of Australian rules football were first defined by the Melbourne Football Club in 1859 and have been amended over the years as Australian rules football evolved into its modern form. The Australian Football Council (AFC), was formed in 1905 and became responsible for the laws, although individual leagues retained a wide discretion to vary them. Following the restructure of the Victorian Football League's competition as a national competition and the League's renaming to be the Australian Football League (AFL), since 1994, the rules for the game have been maintained by the AFL through its Commission and its Competition Committee.
A free kick in Australian rules football is a penalty awarded by a field umpire to a player who has been infringed by an opponent or is the nearest player to a player from the opposite team who has broken a rule.
A cricket field or cricket oval is a large grass field on which the game of cricket is played. Although generally oval in shape, there is a wide variety within this: perfect circles, elongated ovals, rounded rectangles, or irregular shapes with little or no symmetry – but they will have smooth boundaries without sharp corners, almost without exception. There are no fixed dimensions for the field but its diameter usually varies between 450 and 500 feet for men's cricket, and between 360 feet (110 m) and 420 feet (130 m) for women's cricket.
A pitch or a sports ground is an outdoor playing area for various sports. The term pitch is most commonly used in British English, while the comparable term in Australian, American and Canadian English is playing field or sports field.
A comparison of American football and rugby union is possible because of the games' shared origins, despite their dissimilarities.
A comparison between American football and rugby league is possible because of their shared origins and similar game concepts. Rugby league is arguably the most similar sport to American football after Canadian football: both sports involve the concept of a limited number of downs/tackles and scoring touchdowns/tries takes clear precedence over goal-kicking.
Australian rules football and Gaelic football are codes of football, from Australia and Ireland respectively, which have similar styles and features of play. Notably both are dominated by kicking from the hand and hand passing as well as rules requiring the ball is bounced by a player running in possession, both have a differentiated scoring system, with higher and lower points values for different scoring shots, both have no offside rule, and both allow more physical contact and players on the field than other football codes - 15 in gaelic football, 18 in Australian Rules.
Australian rules football was first organised in Victoria in 1859 when its rules were codified by the Melbourne Football Club.
Variations of Australian rules football are games or activities based on or similar to the game of Australian rules football, in which the player uses common Australian rules football skills. They range in player numbers from 2 up to the minimum 38 required for a full Australian rules football.
This list is an alphabetical glossary of Australian rules football terms, jargon and slang. While some of these entries are shared with other sports, Australian rules football has developed a unique and rich terminology.
The rugby league playing field, also referred to as a pitch or paddock, is the playing surface for the sport of rugby league football and is surfaced exclusively with grass.
In sports, out of bounds refers to being outside the playing boundaries of the field. The legality of going out of bounds, and the ease of prevention, vary by sport. Sports that use this term include American football, Canadian football, field lacrosse, basketball, rugby union, rugby league, and association football.
Comparison of association football (football/soccer) and rugby union is possible because of the games' similarities and shared origins.
A hockey pitch is the playing surface for the game of field hockey. Historically, the game was played on natural turf (grass) and nowadays it is predominantly played on an artificial turf. The transition to artificial pitches came during the 1970s and was made mandatory for major competitions in 1976. All the lines, markings and goal specifications are outlined by the International Hockey Federation in "The Rules of Hockey".
The 2018 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the West Coast Eagles and the Collingwood Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 29 September 2018. It was the 123rd annual grand final of the Australian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 2018 AFL season. The match, attended by 100,022 spectators, was won by West Coast by a margin of five points, marking the club's fourth premiership and first since 2006. West Coast's Luke Shuey won the Norm Smith Medal as the player judged best on ground.