Football in Victoria (Australia) - Paperback

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 24. Chapters: Australian rules football in Victoria (Australia), Football (soccer) in Victoria (Australia), Rugby league in Victoria (Australia), Rugby union in Victoria (Australia), History of Australian rules football in Victoria, 2011 Mirabella Cup, Football Federation Victoria, Australian rules football in Victoria, Australia, Gridiron Victoria, Victoria Australian rules football team, Victorian Institute of Sport Football Program, Association football in Victoria, Dockerty Cup, GRFA, Victorian Country Football League, AFL Victoria, Victorian Rugby Union, Melbourne Rugby League, Victorian Rugby League, Ballarat & District Soccer Association, Goulburn Murray Rugby League, Victorian State Football League, Central Highlands Rugby League, Cordner-Egglestone Cup, Northern Umpires Association. Excerpt: Australian rules football, also known as Australian football and known colloquially as Aussie rules, was first organised in Victoria in 1859 when its first rules were written by the Melbourne Football Club. By 1900, it had become the most popular sport in Victoria. Tom WillsThe complex origins of the game go back to the early 1840s and are covered in The Origins of Australian rules football On 17 May 1859, the first rules for a local code of football were written during a meeting of four members of the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC): Tom Wills, William Hammersley, J. B. Thompson and Thomas Smith. The meeting was held at the Parade Hotel on the site of the present MCG Hotel. Wills, a renowned cricketer, was secretary of the MCC at the time. He had attended Rugby School and was familiar with the argument between the proponents of allowing players to handle the ball (ie, Rugby football) and those who wanted players to use their feet only, the style later adopted by the Football Association. Below are the rules for Australian Rules Football, alleged to have been used by the Geelong Football Club in 1859. They were originally written down by hand. Graeme Atkinson, writing in Everything You Wanted Know About Australian Rules Football ... considers it likely that these Geelong rules were drawn up prior to the first rules of the Melbourne Football Club which were drafted on 17 May 1859.: 1. Distance between goals and the goal posts to be decided by captains. 2. Teams of 25 in grand matches, but up to 30 against odds. 3. Matches to be played in 2 halves of 50 minutes. At the end of first 50 teams may leave ground for 20 minutes for refreshments but must be ready to resume on time otherwise rival captain can call game off or (if his side has scored) claim it as a win. 4. Game played with 200 yard space, same to be measured equally on each side of a line drawn through the centre of the two goals, and two posts to be called "kick off" posts shall be erected at a distance of 20 ya