Australian football, also called Australian rules 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.
Football in Australia refers to numerous codes which each have major shares of the mainstream sports market, media, broadcasting, professional athletes, financial performance and grassroots participation: Australian rules football, rugby league, rugby union and association football. There are four pre-eminent professional football competitions played in Australia: the Australian Football League, the National Rugby League, Super Rugby and the A-League (soccer). By most measures, including attendance, television audience and media presence across the most states, Australian football is the most popular nationally. However, in the states of New South Wales and Queensland, rugby football is overall the most watched and receives the most media coverage, especially the Rugby League State of Origin contested between the two states referred to as “Australian sport's greatest rivalry”. In recent times there has been an increase in popularity in Australian football and corresponding decrease in popularity of Rugby union in New South Wales and Queensland. Soccer, while extending its lead in participation rate particularly in the large cities and improving its performance at the FIFA World Cup, continues to attract the overall lowest attendance as well as media and public interest of the four codes.
The Dansk Australsk Fodbold Liga is the controlling body and main league for the sport of Australian rules football in Denmark. Founded in 1989, regular competition commenced in 1991. Despite being predominantly Danish, the league includes clubs in Scania.
The Geography of Australian rules football describes the sport of Australian rules football played in more than 60 countries around the world. By 2017 more than 26 nations had contested the Australian Football International Cup, the highest level of worldwide competition.
Women's Australian rules football, is the female-only form of Australian rules football, generally with some modification to the laws of the game.
Australian rules football in New Zealand is notable as the first colony outside of Australia to take up the sport as early as the 1860s and was home to the first club formed outside Australia in 1876. The sport's official name was changed in 1890 to Australasian Football acknowledge New Zealand's participation and remained for some time even after the country was expelled from the Australasian Football Council. After a half century hiatus of organised competition, it has grown rapidly as an amateur sport. Today five of New Zealand's sixteen regions have organised competitions: Auckland ; Canterbury ; Wellington ; Waikato and Otago. A four-team national competition with a national draft has been contested at the North Harbour Stadium in Auckland since 2016 for men and 2019 for women. The national team were crowned International champions at the 2005 Australian Football International Cup and competed annually against the AFL Academy between 2012 and 2019. Since the 2010s the game has also grown at junior level among New Zealand schools as the "Hawks Cup".
Farum Australsk Fodbold is a club under the Danish Australian Football League. Formed in 1994 as the Farum Lions, the team played their first season of DAFL Premier League 1995 finishing 2nd, after losing the grand final. The next year, the team, called Farum Lions at the time, won the DAFL Premier League. The team has won a total of 8 premierships, aside from 1996, they've also won 2005, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014. They are the only team to win four premierships in a row. The team changed names from the Farum Lions to the Farum Cats after an agreement with AFL club Geelong Cats. In 2015, the club changed name from Farum Cats Australsk Fodboldklub to Farum Australsk Fodbold to be more modern and to indicate that the club now runs two different teams.
Australian rules football in Japan describes the development of the team sport which dates back to 1910, but found its roots in the late 1980s mainly due to the influence of Australian Football appearing on Japanese television.
Australian rules football in England is a team sport and spectator sport with a long history. It is home to the longest running Australian rules fixture outside Australia, the match between Oxford and Cambridge Universities which has been contested annually since 1923. The current competitions originated in 1989 and have grown to a number of local and regional leagues coordinated by AFL England. In 2018, these regional divisions were the AFL London, AFL Central & Northern England and Southern England AFL.
Note: In order to be recognised as a true national team and not simply expatriates, the list is subject to International Cup eligibility rules.
Oxford University Handball Club (OUHaC) was founded and registered as a club at the University of Oxford in 2001and has since established itself as one of England's most successful clubs. It is a member of the England Handball Association since 2002 and the Association of British Universities Handball Clubs since 2011. Every year, OUHaC competes in the English Handball League, EHA Cup and the British University Championships. Beginning in 2014, the club has played in the varsity match against the Cambridge University Handball Club. In 2016 and 2017 respectively, the women's and men's teams were granted Half Blue status by the Blues committees of the University of Oxford.
Michael Clifford Fitzpatrick is an Australian businessman, sporting administrator and former professional Australian rules football player. He was chairman of the AFL Commission from 2007 to 2017.
Australian rules football in Asia dates back to 1910 but was only sporadically played until the 1980s after which it has boomed. Clubs have begun in most Asian countries and a governing body for the region, AFL Asia was formed in 2008 to coordinate the Asian Championship and promote its affiliated leagues. AFL Asia estimates that there are now more than 10,000 Australian Football players across the continent.
Australian rules football is played in Europe at an amateur level in a large number of countries. The oldest and largest leagues are those in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, in each of these nations there are several established clubs, and organised men's, women's and juniors programs. The British AFL has now expanded into Welsh, Scottish and English leagues. The Danish AFL has been responsible for the expansion of Australian Football into Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Norway. The governing body for Australian Football in Europe was founded in Frankfurt in January 2010; the body was initially called the European Australian Football Association, but changed its name to AFL Europe at a general assembly meeting in Milan in October of the same year. It currently has 22 member nations. AFL Europe, with backing of the AFL in Australia has overseen a large improvement in the organisation of Australian football in Europe.
AFL Europe is the regional governing body for Australian rules football in Europe. As of 2018, it organises the AFL Europe Championship and the Euro Cup, and previously managed the European Legion representative team as well being responsible for the organisation of the ANZAC Cup, Fitzpatrick Cup and AFL Europe Champions League.
Justin Clarke is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 2012 to 2016. Clarke grew up in the small town of Booleroo Centre in the southern Flinders Ranges region of South Australia. Throughout his childhood Clarke had a strong interest in aviation, but his application to join the Air Force was denied as he was too tall. He completed high school with an ATAR of 99.95.
The 2021 Victorian Football League season was the 139th season of the Victorian Football Association/Victorian Football League Australian rules football competition. The season commenced on 16 April was curtailed without a premiership awarded on 1 September 2021, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Caleb Poulter is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Collingwood Football Club.
Cambridge University Australian Rules Football Club, founded in the early 20th century, is the Australian rules football club for Cambridge University. Both men's and women's teams represent the club in the National University League, the Fitzpatrick Cup, and the annual Oxford-Cambridge Varsity match, among other things.
The annual Oxford-Cambridge Intervarsity Australian Rules Football Match is the longest running Australian rules football fixture outside Australia. Played as early as 1911, it has been contested annually by men's teams since 1923 between the two longest running clubs outside Australia, the Oxford University Australian Rules Football Club and the Cambridge University Australian Rules Football Club.
