An Australian rules football playing field is a venue where the sport

Sport

A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...

 of Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

 is played.

The playing field

Playing field

A playing field is a field used for playing sports or games. They are generally outdoors, but many large structures exist to enclose playing fields from bad weather. Generally, playing fields are wide expanses of grass, dirt or sand without many obstructions...

 is typically a large oval

Oval

An oval is any curve resembling an egg or an ellipse, such as a Cassini oval. The term does not have a precise mathematical definition except in one area oval , but it may also refer to:* A sporting arena of oval shape** a cricket field...

-shaped grass

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

 surface (often modified cricket field

Cricket field

A cricket field consists of a large circular or oval-shaped grassy ground on which the game of cricket is played. There are no fixed dimensions for the field but its diameter usually varies between 450 feet to 500 feet...

s). These fields may vary especially for variations of the game. However for official Australian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 matches, strict requirement specifications must be met for stadiums.

Standard specifications

Ground dimensions

The playing field may be approximately 150 metres (or more) long goal to goal and 135 metres (or more) wide boundary line to boundary line wing to wing. Approximately 3 to 5 metres of boundary line space from the boundary line to the fence is also required.

Ground markings

The centre square is 50 metres by 50 metres. The curved fifty metre line is 50 metres away from the centre of the goal. For professional Australian football the 50-metre lines should not intersect the front or back edge of the centre square (which is why 150 metres from goal to goal is considered about regulation size; most grounds are longer). Adjacent goal and behind posts are 6.4 metres apart. The goal square is 9 metres long.

Interchange areas are typically marked on either wing, but may both be on the same wing.

Surface

Playing surface is a controversial issue in Australian rules football due to possible injuries caused to players moving at high speed including marking (jumping), turning and being tackled

Tackle (football move)

Most forms of football have a move known as a tackle. The primary purposes of tackling is to disposses an opponent of the ball, to stop the player from gaining ground towards goal or to stop them from carrying out what they intend....

 without protective padding.

For these reasons the playing field standards imply use of lawn

Lawn

A lawn is an area of aesthetic and recreational land planted with grasses or other durable plants, which usually are maintained at a low and consistent height. Low ornamental meadows in natural landscaping styles are a contemporary option of a lawn...

 as a surface and hard surfaces and artificial turf

Artificial turf

Artificial turf is a surface manufactured from synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commercial applications as well...

 are avoided at all costs.

Goal posts

Goal posts should be taller than behind posts, although exact height and width may vary. Goal posts are typically padded with wall padding

Wall padding

Wall padding may go by a variety of names, including; Softwall, Wainscott, Cushion Wall, Safety Padding, and more.- Purpose :The primary purpose of wall padding is to provide a safe level of absorption for an individual making impact with an established object...

 to minimise injury due to players colliding with them.

Purpose-built stadiums

Very few purpose-built Australian rules football playing fields have been built and continue to be used. This is mainly due to most venues originating as multi-purpose venues or former cricket fields. Given the dimensions and location, however, it is possible that some have hosted cricket matches at some point in their history. Here is a brief list (with those still in use highlighted):

Stadium	Location	Opened	Built for	Capacity at Construction
Football Park	Adelaide, South Australia	1971	South Australian National Football League South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the governing body for the sport of Australian rules football in South Australia....	52,000
Carrara Stadium Carrara Stadium Carrara Stadium is a sporting venue on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Carrara....	Gold Coast, Queensland Gold Coast, Queensland Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...	1986	Brisbane Bears Brisbane Bears The Brisbane Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Bears was an Australian rules football club and the first Queensland-based club in the Victorian Football League . The club played its first match in 1987, but struggled on and off the field until it made the finals for the first time in 1995...	25,000
Kardinia Park	Geelong, Victoria Geelong, Victoria Geelong is a port city located on Corio Bay and the Barwon River, in the state of Victoria, Australia, south-west of the state capital; Melbourne. It is the second most populated city in Victoria and the fifth most populated non-capital city in Australia...	1941	Geelong Football Club Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...	25,000
Marrara Stadium	Darwin, Northern Territory Darwin, Northern Territory Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...	1991	Northern Territory Football League Northern Territory Football League The Northern Territory Football League is an 8 team Australian rules football semi-professional league operating in Darwin in the Northern Territory.The premier grade is the largest Australian rules football league in the Northern Territory...	15,000
Linkbelt Oval Linkbelt Oval Linkbelt Oval is currently the only sports stadium of the island nation of Nauru, besides Menen Stadium. It is located in Aiwo and was constructed by the Nauru Phosphate Corporation...	Nauru Nauru Nauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, to the east. Nauru is the world's smallest republic, covering just...	1995	Nauru Australian Football Association	3,000
Waverley Park Waverley Park Waverley Park was an Australian rules football stadium in Mulgrave, Victoria, Australia. For most of its history, its purpose was as a neutral venue and used by all Victorian based Victorian Football League/Australian Football League clubs. However, during the 1990s it became the home ground of...	Mulgrave, Victoria Mulgrave, Victoria Mulgrave is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 21 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Monash. At the 2006 Census, Mulgrave had a population of 16,280....	1959	Victorian Football League Australian Football League The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...	78,000
Moorabbin Oval Moorabbin Oval Moorabbin Oval, also known by its sponsorship name of Linen House Oval, is an Australian Rules Football ground in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia at Linton Street in the suburb of Moorabbin....	Moorabbin, Victoria Moorabbin, Victoria Moorabbin is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 15 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Kingston. At the 2006 Census, Moorabbin had a population of 5,170....	1952	St Kilda Football Club	25,000
Whitten Oval Whitten Oval Whitten Oval is a stadium in the inner-western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia located at 417 Barkly Street, West Footscray. It is the training and administrative headquarters of the Western Bulldogs Football Club, which competes in the Australian Football League.Formerly known as the...	West Footscray, Victoria West Footscray, Victoria West Footscray is a suburb 7 km west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Maribyrnong. At the 2006 Census, West Footscray had a population of 9776.-Medicine:...	1883	Footscray Football Club	15,000

Variations

Variations of the standard field dimensions and layout exist. For junior levels, smaller fields are often used. Rectangular fields have also been used in the past in Australia and also overseas, as well as adapted fields from other sports such as Association Football and American Football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

.