ABSTRACT
Australian football, commonly known as Australian rules football (or simply “Aussie rules”), is a code of football invented in Australia which has expanded to other countries. The only professional league in the sport is wholly in Australia. Though Australia is a relatively young country, Australian football is the oldest modern codified form of football in the world with official rules agreed from the late 1850s. The sport was invented initially in Melbourne, then capital of the Victoria colony in Australia. The game was initially known as Melbourne, or Victorian, rules football and was an amalgam of various football rules that were in use at English public (independent) schools. Although Australian football is one of several football codes played today in Australia, the national professional Australian Football League (formerly known as the Victorian Football League) is the country’s most popular sports competition in terms of attendance and television viewing.
