ABSTRACT
Australian Rules football was organized in the colony of Victoria in 1859, with Cup competitions in the 1860s, a premier competition in 1870, and the development of close community identification between club and suburb or town in the 1870s and 1880s, an identification which is only now dissipating. By the end of the century it was the major winter sport not only in Victoria, but in West Australia, South Australia and Tasmania. The eastern seaboard has taken less affectionately to the game but both Queensland and New South Wales have bought licences to enter teams (the Brisbane Bears and the Sydney Swans) in the recently expanded inter-state competition. This, run by the Australian (formerly Victorian) Football League from Melbourne, is acknowledged the best in standard of play and in attendance. Melbourne is Victoria’s capital city and when over 100,000 fans surge into its enormous Cricket Ground for the Victorian Football League grand final each September, Australia’s biggest annual sporting event is in full roar.
