AUSTRALIAN SPORTS LINKS

Australian
Football League

Tom Wills is considered the a founder of Australian Football. In 1857 Tom returned to Australia from England where he was a football captain of Rugby School as well as a brilliant cricketer. He introduced the game in Australia as a winter game as a way of keeping cricketers fit during off-season.

The first club Melbourne Football Club was formed on August 7, 1858 and the first recorded match was between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar School.

The Geelong Football Club was formed in 1859 and in 1866 the rules were altered to suit the Australian game and from there the competition started.

In 1896 the Victorian Football League was established. The first League started in 1897 with the foundation clubs – Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne.