正文
Football in Australia
In the 19th century, Australia developed a rough-and-tumble sport called football. Although Australian Rules Football has little in common with the American version of the game, it garners just as much attention and enthusiasm from its fans.
Its rules are the oldest among any form of football in the world. Its field is the biggest. Its teams are the largest. And its traditions may be the most colorful.
Affectionately known as Footy, Australian Rules Football dates to the 1850s, when English and Irish colonists working in the gold mines of the Australian colony of Victoria played the game on makeshift fields to blow off steam. For decades, it was primarily a working-class sport, and for many years, the sport's motto was populi ludos populo—“the game of the people.”
Today, matches attract upwards of 100,000 spectators and are broadcast nationwide. The 16-team Australian Football League (AFL) is a multimillion-dollar operation. AFL standouts are revered as national heroes. The sport's growing international appeal has given rise to leagues in Canada, Denmark, England, Japan, New Zealand, and elsewhere.
Among rugby, soccer, and American-style football, Australian Rules Football most closely resembles rugby. Unlike rugby, however, competitors can't run with the ball for more than 15 m (16 y) without bouncing it off the ground or their foot; and, instead of throwing the ball, they must punch it—or “handball” it. About the only thing Australian football has in common with the American incarnation is that players score points by kicking a leather ball through goal posts or carrying it across a thin white line. Among many differences, the Australian football field is huge and oval-shaped, players roam wherever they want and wear no protective padding, tackling is tightly regulated, and fans snack on meat pies with tomato sauce instead of hot dogs with mustard.
To this day, the game's origins remain a mystery. Some historians say that pioneering players emulated Irish or Gaelic football as well as a game played by Aborigines with a ball made of opossum skin. Prevailing thought, however, tends to discount such beliefs. Instead, most students of Australian Rules Football contend that it was born of a variety of “kicking and handling” games played in English public schools.
One of the first organized games was staged on 18 November 1850, by 24 men celebrating the announcement of Victoria's independence from the colony of New South Wales. In 1857, rugby star Tom Wills suggested that cricket players could use the new game to stay in shape during the off-season. Early fields were enormous-up to 400 m (430 y) long and 180 m (195 y) wide. As a result, kicking, rather than passing, became the preferred way to transfer the ball from one player to another.
Within just a year of his proposal, Wills and his cousin Henry Harrison wrote a set of rules and helped create the Melbourne Football Club. The first official game pitted Scotch College against Melbourne Grammar School. Harrison, considered the father of the Australian game, insisted that the game be fast-paced and elegant, with just enough blood and guts to make it interesting. “Football,” he wrote, “is essentially a rough game the world over, and it is not suitable for ... milksops.”
The new sport thrived. In 1877 the Victorian Football Association was born. The eight-team Victorian Football League (VFL), the precursor of the AFL, was created on October 2, 1896. Unlike many other organized sports of the era, Australian football was not limited to men of social standing. Professionals of various stripes were represented, but so were butchers, miners, factory workers, and longshoremen. The Port Adelaide club of South Australia, in fact, is still known as the Wharfies. One Melbourne squad comprised mainly of butchers was called the Shinboners, because players tied colorful ribbons around the legs of cattle on game days.
The VFL’s size and popularity grew rapidly in the 20th century. As the game and its players attained a higher profile, however, disputes over compensation ensued. Historically, players had been paid equally to ensure fairness and the financial stability of teams. Concerns that the game would be corrupted by money led to the passage of a salary cap in 1930, the Coulter Law. It was not until the 1960s that the AFL began to operate like a modern sports enterprise, complete with marketing initiatives and free agency.
Until 1982, every VFL team was based in the state of Victoria. That changed when the South Melbourne Swans moved to Sydney, New South Wales. Reflecting the expansion outside of Victoria, the VFL became the AFL in 1990. By this time the game had taken on many characteristics of professional sports in the United States. Standout players were marketed like movie stars. Annual television revenues totaled tens of millions of dollars.
Still, the sport maintains many of its unique traditions. Regardless of their performance, umpires are showered with “boos” whenever they walk off the field. Some suspect that Australia’s history as a penal colony may be the impetus for this antiauthoritarian gesture. After the final whistle is blown, spectators are allowed onto the field for informal “kick-arounds.”
AFL teams play 22 games in a season that runs from March through August. The Grand Final, the culmination of an eight-team tournament, is held on the last Saturday in September. Modern fields are much smaller than the original versions, although they are still large by American and European standards, up to 185 m (200 y) long and 155 m (168 y) wide. Each goal is a set of four posts; the inner, or “goal,” posts are taller than the outer, or “behind,” posts. Six points are awarded for kicking the ball between the goal posts; kicking or carrying it between a goal post and a behind post is worth one point.
In recent years, women’s involvement in the sport has begun to increase. During the 1980s women began serving as mid-level managers, trainers, minor-league coaches, umpires, writers, and photographers. In 1987 the four-team Western Australian Women’s Aussie Rules Football League was created. It expanded to six teams in 1996, with further growth anticipated in the future.
In the 19th century, Australia developed a rough-and-tumble sport called football. Although Australian Rules Football has little in common with the American version of the game, it garners just as much attention and enthusiasm from its fans.
Its rules are the oldest among any form of football in the world. Its field is the biggest. Its teams are the largest. And its traditions may be the most colorful.
Affectionately known as Footy, Australian Rules Football dates to the 1850s, when English and Irish colonists working in the gold mines of the Australian colony of Victoria played the game on makeshift fields to blow off steam. For decades, it was primarily a working-class sport, and for many years, the sport's motto was populi ludos populo—“the game of the people.”
Today, matches attract upwards of 100,000 spectators and are broadcast nationwide. The 16-team Australian Football League (AFL) is a multimillion-dollar operation. AFL standouts are revered as national heroes. The sport's growing international appeal has given rise to leagues in Canada, Denmark, England, Japan, New Zealand, and elsewhere.
Among rugby, soccer, and American-style football, Australian Rules Football most closely resembles rugby. Unlike rugby, however, competitors can't run with the ball for more than 15 m (16 y) without bouncing it off the ground or their foot; and, instead of throwing the ball, they must punch it—or “handball” it. About the only thing Australian football has in common with the American incarnation is that players score points by kicking a leather ball through goal posts or carrying it across a thin white line. Among many differences, the Australian football field is huge and oval-shaped, players roam wherever they want and wear no protective padding, tackling is tightly regulated, and fans snack on meat pies with tomato sauce instead of hot dogs with mustard.
To this day, the game's origins remain a mystery. Some historians say that pioneering players emulated Irish or Gaelic football as well as a game played by Aborigines with a ball made of opossum skin. Prevailing thought, however, tends to discount such beliefs. Instead, most students of Australian Rules Football contend that it was born of a variety of “kicking and handling” games played in English public schools.
One of the first organized games was staged on 18 November 1850, by 24 men celebrating the announcement of Victoria's independence from the colony of New South Wales. In 1857, rugby star Tom Wills suggested that cricket players could use the new game to stay in shape during the off-season. Early fields were enormous-up to 400 m (430 y) long and 180 m (195 y) wide. As a result, kicking, rather than passing, became the preferred way to transfer the ball from one player to another.
Within just a year of his proposal, Wills and his cousin Henry Harrison wrote a set of rules and helped create the Melbourne Football Club. The first official game pitted Scotch College against Melbourne Grammar School. Harrison, considered the father of the Australian game, insisted that the game be fast-paced and elegant, with just enough blood and guts to make it interesting. “Football,” he wrote, “is essentially a rough game the world over, and it is not suitable for ... milksops.”
The new sport thrived. In 1877 the Victorian Football Association was born. The eight-team Victorian Football League (VFL), the precursor of the AFL, was created on October 2, 1896. Unlike many other organized sports of the era, Australian football was not limited to men of social standing. Professionals of various stripes were represented, but so were butchers, miners, factory workers, and longshoremen. The Port Adelaide club of South Australia, in fact, is still known as the Wharfies. One Melbourne squad comprised mainly of butchers was called the Shinboners, because players tied colorful ribbons around the legs of cattle on game days.
The VFL’s size and popularity grew rapidly in the 20th century. As the game and its players attained a higher profile, however, disputes over compensation ensued. Historically, players had been paid equally to ensure fairness and the financial stability of teams. Concerns that the game would be corrupted by money led to the passage of a salary cap in 1930, the Coulter Law. It was not until the 1960s that the AFL began to operate like a modern sports enterprise, complete with marketing initiatives and free agency.
Until 1982, every VFL team was based in the state of Victoria. That changed when the South Melbourne Swans moved to Sydney, New South Wales. Reflecting the expansion outside of Victoria, the VFL became the AFL in 1990. By this time the game had taken on many characteristics of professional sports in the United States. Standout players were marketed like movie stars. Annual television revenues totaled tens of millions of dollars.
Still, the sport maintains many of its unique traditions. Regardless of their performance, umpires are showered with “boos” whenever they walk off the field. Some suspect that Australia’s history as a penal colony may be the impetus for this antiauthoritarian gesture. After the final whistle is blown, spectators are allowed onto the field for informal “kick-arounds.”
AFL teams play 22 games in a season that runs from March through August. The Grand Final, the culmination of an eight-team tournament, is held on the last Saturday in September. Modern fields are much smaller than the original versions, although they are still large by American and European standards, up to 185 m (200 y) long and 155 m (168 y) wide. Each goal is a set of four posts; the inner, or “goal,” posts are taller than the outer, or “behind,” posts. Six points are awarded for kicking the ball between the goal posts; kicking or carrying it between a goal post and a behind post is worth one point.
In recent years, women’s involvement in the sport has begun to increase. During the 1980s women began serving as mid-level managers, trainers, minor-league coaches, umpires, writers, and photographers. In 1987 the four-team Western Australian Women’s Aussie Rules Football League was created. It expanded to six teams in 1996, with further growth anticipated in the future.
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