Origins of Australian rules football
Encyclopedia
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...
("Aussie Rules") are obscure and still the subject of much debate.
The earliest accounts of "foot-ball" games in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
date back to July 1829 and the earliest accounts of clubs formed to play football
Football
Football may refer to one of a number of team sports which all involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball with the foot to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer"...
date to the late 1850s. Football in the early years was played by a variety of rules (and sometimes few rules at all). Though football became increasingly common between 1856 and 1858, written details are difficult to find as most of these matches were poorly documented.
Most modern historians generally recognise that football first became organised in Melbourne in 1858 with a series of experimental rules in a bid to keep cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
ers fit during the winter months. It was not until 1859 that the first known laws of the game
Laws of Australian football
The laws of Australian football describe the rules of the game of Australian rules football as they have evolved and adapted, with the same underlying core rules, since 1859....
were published by the Melbourne Football Club
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
.
Thomas Wentworth Wills is acknowledged by many to be the game's inventor.
Although there are many theories to the pre-1859 origins of the game, the predominant ones being that it:
- a) originated from early Irish games such as caidCaid (sport)Caid is the name given to various ancient and traditional Irish football games. "Caid" is now used by people in some parts of Ireland to refer to modern Gaelic football.The word caid originally referred to the ball which was used...
(an ancestor of Gaelic footballGaelic footballGaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
) brought to Australia by migrants;
- b) originated from English public school football gamesEnglish public school football gamesDuring the early modern era students, former students and teachers at English public schools developed and wrote down the first codes of football, most notably the Eton College...
, particularly early forms of rugby footballRugby footballRugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
;
- c) was partly inspired by traditional indigenous Australian pastimes, such as the ball game marn grookMarn GrookMarn Grook , literally meaning "Game ball", is a collective name given to a number of traditional Indigenous Australian recreational pastimes believed to have been played at gatherings and celebrations of up to 50 players. It is often confused with a separate indigenous game resembling Association...
;
- d) was a mixture of some or all of the above and that it shared multiple influences as a consequence of diverse historical circumstances.
Australian rules football was one of many dozens of sports whose modern rules were formulated during the mid- or late- 19th century. World-wide, this certainly includes many different football codes. The major impetus for this was the patenting of the world's first lawnmower in 1830. This allowed for the preparation of modern ovals, playing fields, pitches, grass courts, etc.
There are also theories on where the game originated in Australia and these places include Melbourne, early Victorian bayside towns (now part of Greater Melbourne), the Geelong region, the Goldfields region of Victoria
Goldfields region of Victoria
The Goldfields region of Victoria is a region commonly used but typically defined in both historical geography and tourism geography .-Description:...
, Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
and even Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
.
The AFL Commission
AFL Commission
The AFL Commission is the official governing body of the Australian Football League , the elite national Australian rules football competition....
, the game's current governing body, officially acknowledges the following with regards to the formation of Australian Football:
- a) that 1858 was the commencement date
- b) that the game was invented in Melbourne
In its official account of the game's history for its 150th celebrations, however, the AFL dismissed Wills as an inventor of the game and does not recognise any connection to traditional indigenous games. This stance was not without controversy. (Refer "The Founder of the Game" [below].)
However there are some discrepancies in the AFL's account of the game's birth. Firstly the official rules still used today were not in place until 1859. Secondly many claim that the origins can be traced back further.
This article explores developments and theories in the historical accounts of the early origins of the game in depth.
Pre-1858 accounts of "football"
The following are the earliest published accounts of "football" in Australia, some of which in the past have been used to claim the earlier origins of Australian rules football. Most of these prior to 1859 were vague, largely disorganised and with little reference to the actual rules being played (if any).- 1841 – Robert Brough SmythRobert Brough SmythRobert Brough Smyth was an Australian geologist, author and social commentator.Smyth was born in Wallsend, Northumberland, England, the son of Edward Smyth, a mining engineer, and his wife Ann, née Brough. Smyth was educated at a school at Whickham, afterwards studied geology, chemistry and...
observes indigenous Australian men playing a game of "foot ball" (most likely marngrook) - 1843 – IrishIrish AustralianIrish Australians have played a long and enduring part in Australia's history. Many came to Australia in the eighteenth century as settlers or as convicts, and contributed to Australia's development in many different areas....
settlers celebrating Saint Patrick's DaySaint Patrick's DaySaint Patrick's Day is a religious holiday celebrated internationally on 17 March. It commemorates Saint Patrick , the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of :Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. It is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion , the Eastern...
in South Australia played a "foot ball" match (Referred to as "Australian Rules" by the SANFL, possibly a variation of CaidCaid (sport)Caid is the name given to various ancient and traditional Irish football games. "Caid" is now used by people in some parts of Ireland to refer to modern Gaelic football.The word caid originally referred to the ball which was used...
) - 1844 – "footballing" noted at Batman's HillBatman's HillBatman's Hill in Melbourne, Australia was named for the Vandemonian adventurer and grazier John Batman. Now removed, the 18 metre high hill was located to the south of today's Collins Street and Southern Cross railway station, and is the site of a steel marker the same height as the original...
in Melbourne However hurlingHurlingHurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...
was played also, making it likely that this match was also caid. - 1845 – "football" kicking recorded at the temperanceTemperance movementA temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
picnic on Emerald HillSouth Melbourne, VictoriaSouth Melbourne is an inner city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Port Phillip and Melbourne...
Melbourne - 1849 - "foot-ball" recorded in BrisbaneBrisbaneBrisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, QueenslandQueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
. Although later matches were played under "Melbourne Rules" early scratch matches were more likely played under English rules. - 1850 – a "football match" was played as part of the week of Separation celebrations in Emerald Hill Melbourne, wherein a publican promoted "foot ball" between two teams of eleven players, and then afterwards a twelve-a-side match
- 1850 - a six-a-side "football match" was played in Geelong in November for a wager.
- 1851 – "football" noted in a public demonstration in HobartHobartHobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
February - 1853 – "football" in Richmond, TasmaniaRichmond, TasmaniaRichmond is a town in Tasmania about 25 km north-east of Hobart, in the Coal River region, between the Midland Highway and Tasman Highway. At the 2006 census, Richmond had a population of 880....
advertised in The Courier on 18 July - 1854 – "football" in Richmond, Tasmania advertised in the Courier on 25 October
- 1855 – "foot-ball" matches played on 1 September at the Jerusalem Inn outside of Hobart.
- 1857 – William BlandowskiWilliam BlandowskiWilhelm Blandowski born Johan Wilhelm Theodor Ludwig von Blandowski January 21, 1822 died December 18, 1878, a German zoologist and mining engineer, was born in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia ....
sketches indigenous Australians playing "foot ball" in Merbein (most likely marngrook) - 1857 – "foot-ball" match played at the Jerusalem Inn outside of Hobart in November.
Sean Fagan
Sean Fagan
Sean Patrick Fagan is a Sydney, Australia based sports historian, author and journalist, specialising in early Australian history and particular the origins and local development of the popular football codes in Australia. He has written articles for Australian national daily newspapers, numerous...
claims that early matches played in Tasmania may have been an early form of rugby football
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
, pointing to early mentions of goal posts with cross-bars and off-side rules of later Tasmanian clubs.
1858 – Earliest documented clubs and matches
Football became increasingly organised and ingrained in the colony of Victoria in 1858, particularly in the capital Melbourne and surrounds.The first written mentions of a football club in St Kilda appears in April 1858, however historians recognise it to be an informal version of the game.
On 15 June 1858 the earliest known record of Victorian football match was played with modified rules between St Kilda Grammar School (now defunct) and Melbourne Grammar School
Melbourne Grammar School
Melbourne Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, located in South Yarra and Caulfield, suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
on the St Kilda foreshore.
There are also reports from 1858 of "football" clubs in Albert Park
Albert Park, Victoria
Albert Park is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip. At the 2006 Census, Albert Park had a population of 5827....
and Richmond
Richmond, Victoria
Richmond is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
.
Media reports cited by various sources claimed that a man named George Bruce is alleged to have played for a team known as Richmond Cricketers and also for the Colony of Victoria and, in 1858, was allegedly voted by newspaper writers as the Champion Player of the Colony. The claim has dubious historical merit. The story is of him playing wearing an iron hook in place of a missing hand.
The first recorded club in South Australia was the Adelaide Football Club, in 1860 (This club has no link to the current Adelaide "Crows" Football Club in the AFL)
Although reports from the media of the time indicate that senior football was played and that some early clubs may have been formed no records from the clubs themselves are known to exist. It is typically assumed that they played by their own rules.
Tom Wills' letter
A little over a year after his return from England and the Rugby schoolRugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
where he played rugby football, Tom Wills promoted the idea of organised football in the colony of Victoria, most notably when he wrote the following letter, published in Bell's Life in Victoria on 10 July 1858:
Dear Sir,
Now that cricket has been put aside for some few months to come, and cricketers have assumed somewhat of the chrysalis nature (for the time being only, it is true), but at length again will burst forth in all their varied hues, rather than allow this state of torpor to creep over them and stifle their now supple limbs, why cannot they, I say, form a football club, and form a committee of three or more to draw up a code of laws?
If a club of this sort was got up, it would be of vast benefit to any cricket ground to be trampled upon, and would make the turf firm and durable, besides which it would help those who are inclined to become stout and having their joints encased in useless super-abundant flesh.
If it were not possible to form a football club, why should these young men who have adopted this new country as their motherland – why, I say, do not they form themselves into a rifle club, so at any date they may be some day called upon to aid their adopted land against a tyrant who may some time pop upon us when we least expect a foe at our own very doors. Surely our young cricketers are not afraid of a crack of a rifle when they face so courageously the leather sphere, and it would disgrace no one to learn in time to defend his country and hearth.
A firm heart and a steady hand and a quick eye are all that are requisite, and with practice all these may be attained.
Trusting that someone will take up this matter and form either of the above clubs, or at any rate some athletic games,
I remain,
Yours truly,
T.W. WILLS.
Experimental matches
A month after his letter appeared, Wills acted as co-referee of a game between Melbourne Grammar SchoolMelbourne Grammar School
Melbourne Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, located in South Yarra and Caulfield, suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
and Scotch College
Scotch College, Melbourne
Scotch College, Melbourne is an independent, Presbyterian, day and boarding school for boys, located in Hawthorn, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
, played in the parkland surrounding the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
. Played over three afternoons by teams comprising forty players with the goal-posts approximately 500 metres apart, only one goal was scored (by Scotch). The rules required the winner to score twice, so the match was deemed a draw. It appears that there were major differences between Australian rules football as it was to evolve and this early school game, but the match is important as some claim it led to Tom Wills calling a meeting in 1859 at the Parade Hotel (on the site of the present M.C.G. Hotel) at which rudimentary rules for Victorian rules football (later known as Australian rules Football) were drawn up.
In late July, Wills was organising practice matches at Yarra Park with Parade Hotel proprietor Jerry Bryant.
On 31 July, the earliest recorded senior match at Yarra Park was between a "St Kilda scratch team
Scratch team
A scratch team is a team, usually in sport, brought together on a temporary basis, composed of players who normally play for different sides. A game played between two scratch teams may be called a scratch match....
" and "Melbourne scratch team". Trees were used for goal posts and there were no boundaries and the match lasted from 1pm until dark. There were no rules and fights broke out. The media noted that each nationality (English, Irish and Scottish) played the match their own distinctive way.
Wills called a meeting for 1 August 1858 and this date is regarded by some as the formation date of the Melbourne Football Club
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
(although records of the earliest records of the club's incorporation are in 1859).
On 7 August 1858 a famous match between Melbourne Grammar School
Melbourne Grammar School
Melbourne Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, located in South Yarra and Caulfield, suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
and Scotch College
Scotch College, Melbourne
Scotch College, Melbourne is an independent, Presbyterian, day and boarding school for boys, located in Hawthorn, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
began at Richmond Park, which was umpired by Wills and McAdam and also involved Scotch headmaster Thomas H. Smith
Thomas H. Smith
Thomas Henry Smith was an Irish Australian who had a clear role in the origins of Australian football by being one of the first people to introduce school football games to Australian public schools in 1858 and as one of the founders of the Melbourne Football Club.Smith was a founding member and...
. A second day of play took place on 21 August and a third, and final, day on 4 September. While the full rules that were used is unknown, the match was played with a round ball, the distance between the goals was approximately half a mile (approximately 4 times longer than the modern MCG playing surface), there were 40 players per side and one goal each side was scored with the game being declared a draw. The two schools have competed annually ever since for the Cordner-Eggleston Cup
Cordner-Eggleston Cup
The Cordner-Eggleston Cup is the current name of a historic private school Australian rules football competition which has been played annually between Melbourne Grammar School and the Scotch College since 1858....
.
In Tasmania, "foot-ball" had been played for a decade and early clubs had already formed. A match in Hobart on 23 October 1858 at Queens Domain
Queens Domain
The Queens Domain, also known as The Domain to locals, is a small hilly area of bushland just north-east of the CBD of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, alongside the Derwent River...
was notable for attracting a "large crowd".
Some regard these early matches as the first matches of Australian rules football, however to many it is clear that the game was still in the process of evolving.
1859: first rules
The Melbourne Football Club rules of 1859 are the oldest surviving set of laws for Australian rules football. The eleven simple rules were drawn up on 17 May in a meeting was chaired by Wills and in attendance were journalists W. J. HammersleyWilliam Hammersley
William Josiah Sumner Hammersley was a prominent sports journalist for Bell's Life in Victoria and later The Australasian , one of the four men credited with setting down the original rules of the Australian rules football.-Life:He was educated at Aldenham School...
and J. B. Thompson
J. B. Thompson
James Bogne "J. B." Thompson was one of the creators of the original laws of Australian rules football, one of the founders and the inaugural secretary of the Melbourne Football Club, a cricketer for both Victoria and the Melbourne Cricket Club , and a journalist for Melbourne newspaper, The...
. Accounts of the people directly involved differ. Some sources also claim that Thomas H. Smith
Thomas H. Smith
Thomas Henry Smith was an Irish Australian who had a clear role in the origins of Australian football by being one of the first people to introduce school football games to Australian public schools in 1858 and as one of the founders of the Melbourne Football Club.Smith was a founding member and...
and H. C. A. Harrison were also present. The meeting was held at the Parade Hotel, East Melbourne hosted by owner and Melbourne Cricket Club member James (Jerry) Bryant. The publican was a friend of Tom Wills with a personal interest in introducing football to Melbourne's schools. Bryant had played a role in organising early football matches at the nearby Richmond Park and his son was one of the first players. The rules were signed by Tom Wills, William Hammersley, J. Sewell, J. B. Thompson, Alex Bruce, T. Butterworth and Thomas H. Smith. Importantly, the rules were widely publicised and distributed.
A hand-written copy of these first rules still exists.
Goldfields theories
Writing in Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Australian Rules Football ... in 1981, author Graeme Atkinson includes a chapter entitled "The Good Old Days". In it he makes the anecdotal claim that matches with similar rules to those later adopted were being played as early as 1853 during the Victorian gold rushVictorian gold rush
The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. In 10 years the Australian population nearly tripled.- Overview :During this era Victoria dominated the world's gold output...
on the Ballarat and Sandhurst (now Bendigo) goldfields, but also highlights the lack of supporting evidence.
The goldfields theory is one of the key planks for the theories of Irish origins.
English School Football
It is often speculated that the primary origins of Australian Football is English public school football gamesEnglish public school football games
During the early modern era students, former students and teachers at English public schools developed and wrote down the first codes of football, most notably the Eton College...
and university football codes.
Geoffrey Blainey
Geoffrey Blainey
Geoffrey Norman Blainey AC , is a prominent Australian historian.Blainey was born in Melbourne and raised in a series of Victorian country towns before attending Wesley College and the University of Melbourne. While at university he was editor of Farrago, the newspaper of the University of...
, Leonie Sandercock
Leonie Sandercock
Leonie Sandercock is an Australian academic currently teaching at the School of Community & Regional Planning at University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada...
, Ian Turner and Sean Fagan
Sean Fagan
Sean Patrick Fagan is a Sydney, Australia based sports historian, author and journalist, specialising in early Australian history and particular the origins and local development of the popular football codes in Australia. He has written articles for Australian national daily newspapers, numerous...
have all written in support for the theory that the primary influence was rugby football
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
and other other games emanating from English public schools
English public school football games
During the early modern era students, former students and teachers at English public schools developed and wrote down the first codes of football, most notably the Eton College...
.
Gillian Hibbins in her official account for the AFL also supports this theory.
Their arguments follow the premise that:
- a) all members of the Melbourne Football Club committee had experience of English games
- b) Tom Wills, himself an exceptional rugby footballRugby footballRugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
player, originally wanted to introduce Rugby SchoolRugby SchoolRugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
rules
- c) English school rules were debated extensively by the committee. The club is documented to have looked at the Rugby School Rules but also those of EtonEton CollegeEton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
(Eton field gameEton Field GameThe Field Game is one of two codes of football devised and played at Eton College. The other is the Eton Wall Game. The game is like football in some ways — the ball is round, but one size smaller than a standard football, and may not be handled — but the off-side rules — known as 'sneaking' — are...
), Winchester (Winchester College footballWinchester College FootballWinchester College Football, also known as Winkies, WinCoFo or simply "Our Game", is a code of football played at Winchester College. It is akin to the Eton Field and Wall Games and the Harrow Game in that it enjoys a large following from Wykehamists and old Wykehamists but is not played outside...
) and HarrowHarrow SchoolHarrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
(Harrow footballHarrow FootballHarrow football is a code of football played between two teams of eleven players, each attempting to win by scoring more bases than their opponent. Harrow Football is played predominantly with the feet, but players may use any part of their body including, in certain circumstances, their hands and...
)
- d) there are pronounced similarities to the Sheffield rulesSheffield RulesThe Sheffield Rules were a code of football devised and played in the English city of Sheffield between 1857 and 1877. They were devised by Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest for use by the newly founded Sheffield Football Club. The rules were subsequently adopted as the official rules of...
(which were being formed at a similar time). The most noticeable similarity was the absence of an offside rule and the prevalence of the fair catch (or mark). One theory claims that may have been due to the influence of Henry Creswick (possibly a relative of Nathaniel Creswick) who was born in SheffieldSheffieldSheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
but emigrated to Australia with his brother in 1840 (the town of CreswickCreswick, VictoriaCreswick is a town in west-central Victoria, Australia. It is located 18 kilometres north of Ballarat and 129 km northwest of Melbourne, in Shire of Hepburn. It is 430 metres above sea level. At the 2006 census, Creswick had a population of 2,485...
is named after them). He moved to Melbourne in 1854 and became involved in the local cricket scene. He played first class cricket for VictoriaVictorian BushrangersThe Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
during the 57/58 season alongside 3 of the founders of Melbourne Football Club including Tom Wills. The reports of the popularity of the Australian game on the goldfields in the 1850s came from the Creswick area. However such a link has not been proven and likely to be circumstantial.
However against this theory is that:
- a) the fact that other than Tom Wills, the members felt Rugby School’s rough play and offside rules would not suit players older than schoolboys or the drier Australian conditions.
- b) Wills made the now famous declaration "No, we shall have a game of our own".
- c) No games of rugby football had previously been recorded in Victoria
Indigenous link theories
Col Hutchison
Colin "Col" Hutchison is a veteran statistician, most notably in the Victorian/Australian Football League in the sport of Australian rules football...
postulate that Tom Wills could have been inspired by Marngrook.
Wills was raised in Victoria's western districts. As the only white child in the district, it is said that he was fluent in the local dialect and frequently played with local Aboriginal children on his father's property, Lexington, in outside of the town of Moyston
Moyston, Victoria
Moyston is a town in the Western District region of Victoria, Australia, near the Grampians mountain range. The town is located in the Rural City of Ararat Local Government Area, north west of the state capital, Melbourne...
. This story has been passed down through the generations of his family. The tribe was one that is believed to have played marngrook. However the relationship of the Wills family with local Djabwurrung
Gunditjmara
Gunditjmara, or Gundidj for short, are an Indigenous Australian group from western Victoria . Their neighbours to the west were the Buandig people, to the north the Jardwadjali and Djab wurrung peoples, and in the east the Girai wurrung people.The name may also be spelt Gournditch-Mara...
people is well documented.
Col Hutchison, former historian for the AFL wrote in support of the theory postulated by Flanagan, and his account appears on an official AFL memorial to Tom Wills in Moyston erected in 1998.
Gillian Hibbins in the AFL's official account of the game's history published in 2008 for the game's 150th celebrations sternly rejects the theory:
- Understandably, the appealing idea that Australian Football is a truly Australian native game recognising the indigenous people, rather than deriving solely from a colonial dependence upon the British background, has been uncritically embraced and accepted. Sadly, this emotional belief lacks any intellectual credibility.
Hibbin's account was widely publicised and caused significant controversy and deeply offended prominent indigenous Australians who openly criticised the publication.
Irish football theories
The question of whether Australian rules football and Gaelic footballGaelic football
Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
have shared origins arises because it is clear even to casual observers that the two games are similar
Comparison of Australian rules football and Gaelic football
A Comparison of Australian rules football and Gaelic football is possible because of the games' similarities and the presence of International Rules Football, a hybrid code developed to allow players from both codes to participate in tests....
.
Both Irish and Irish Australian
Irish Australian
Irish Australians have played a long and enduring part in Australia's history. Many came to Australia in the eighteenth century as settlers or as convicts, and contributed to Australia's development in many different areas....
historians, including Patrick O'Farrell
Patrick O'Farrell
Patrick O'Farrell was a historian known for his histories of Roman Catholicism in Australia, Irish history and Irish Australian history...
, Marcus De Búrca, Chris McConville, B. W. O'Dwyer and Richard Davis have supported the theory that Australian rules football and Gaelic Football have some common origins.
Other Australian historians, including Geoffrey Blainey
Geoffrey Blainey
Geoffrey Norman Blainey AC , is a prominent Australian historian.Blainey was born in Melbourne and raised in a series of Victorian country towns before attending Wesley College and the University of Melbourne. While at university he was editor of Farrago, the newspaper of the University of...
, Leonie Sandercock
Leonie Sandercock
Leonie Sandercock is an Australian academic currently teaching at the School of Community & Regional Planning at University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada...
and Ian Turner have specifically rejected any such connection,.
In 1843, Irish settlers celebrating Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day is a religious holiday celebrated internationally on 17 March. It commemorates Saint Patrick , the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of :Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. It is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion , the Eastern...
in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
played some kind of football. Football, cricket and shinty
Shinty
Shinty is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands, and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread, being once competitively played on a widespread basis in England and other areas in the...
were also commonly played in the early settlements of Hobart and Richmond in southern Tasmania during the 1840s and 1850s as well as part of St Patricks Day celebrations. In South Melbourne, football was also played on St Patricks Day. Since none of the modern football games had been codified at the time, these matches were a traditional gaelic form of football such as caid
CAID
Caid may refer to:* Caid , a type of governorship found in North Africa and Moorish Spain* Caid , a form of football popular in Ireland until the mid-19th century...
. Patrick O'Farrell has pointed out that another Irish sport with ancient origins, hurling
Hurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...
— which has similar rules to Gaelic football — was played in Australia as early as the 1840s, and may also have been an influence on the Australian game.
Thomas H. Smith
Thomas H. Smith
Thomas Henry Smith was an Irish Australian who had a clear role in the origins of Australian football by being one of the first people to introduce school football games to Australian public schools in 1858 and as one of the founders of the Melbourne Football Club.Smith was a founding member and...
was an Irish migrant who claimed that he was involved in the writing of the original Melbourne Football Club rules and co-ordinating early school matches, however there is no evidence that he had ever been linked to traditional Irish football or that it had an influence on the Australian game.
B. W. O'Dwyer suggested that there is circumstantial evidence
Circumstantial evidence
Circumstantial evidence is evidence in which an inference is required to connect it to a conclusion of fact, like a fingerprint at the scene of a crime...
that traditional Irish games influenced the founders of Australian rules, when the game was codified by Tom Wills
Tom Wills
Thomas Wentworth "Tom" Wills was an Australian all-round sportsman, umpire, coach and administrator who is credited with being a catalyst towards the invention of Australian rules football....
and others at Melbourne, in the Colony of Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
in 1858–59. O'Dwyer argued that both Gaelic football and Australian rules are distinct from other codes in elements such as the lack of limitations on the direction of ball movement — the absence of an offside
Offside
-Sport:* Offside , a rule in a number of field team sports designed to help ensure players move together as a team** Offside ** Offside ** Offside ** Offside ** Offside...
rule. According to O'Dwyer:
These are all elements of Irish football. There were several variations of Irish football in existence, normally without the benefit of rulebooks, but the central tradition in Ireland was in the direction of the relatively new game [i.e. rugby]...adapted and shaped within the perimeters of the ancient Irish game of hurling... [These rules] later became embedded in Gaelic football. Their presence in Victorian football may be accounted for in terms of a formative influence being exerted by men familiar with and no doubt playing the Irish game. It is not that they were introduced into the game from that motive [i.e. emulating Irish games]; it was rather a case of particular needs being met...
Geelong's game?
Mr C. Mullen wrote about early Geelong clubs Barwon, Bellarine, Corio Bay, Flinders, Kardinia and Moorabool in an unlocated publication Footballer's Australian Almanac published in 1951. Mullen claimed that these clubs were formed in 1856. While Mullen's work has been cited by several authors since, on the subject of the Geelong clubs there is no supporting evidence.Citing Mullen, Atkinson's 1981 publication Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Australian Rules Football ... attributes the formation of the Geelong clubs to Tom Wills and claims that they should be recognised as the foundation clubs.
Atkinson considers it likely that Geelong's rules were drawn up prior to the first rules of the Melbourne Football Club which were drafted on 17 May 1859.
In support of his theory are his "records" of the first recorded champion of formalised football in Victoria was Corio Bay (later Geelong) in 1856 and he also claims that an interclub match occurred between Melbourne Cricketers and Geelong in 1858 under compromise rules.
The rules allegedly used used by the Geelong Football Club in 1859 were originally written down by hand, however there is no record of them from earlier than 1866 when they were incorporated by way of compromise into the official Victorian Rules by H C A Harrison and committee:
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 [sic.] [182.9 metre] 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 yards [1.83 metres] on each side of the goal posts at both ends and in a straight line between them.
5. When kicked behind goal, ball may be brought 20 yards in front of any portion of the space between the kick off and kicked as nearly as possibly [sic.] in line with opposite goal.
6. Ball must be bounced every 10 or 20 yards if carried.
7. Tripping, holding, hacking prohibited. Pushing with hands or body is allowed when any player is in rapid motion or in possession of ball, except in the case of a mark.
8. Mark is when a player catches the ball before it hits the ground and has been clearly kicked by another player.
9. Handball only allowed if ball held clearly in one hand and punched or hit out with other. If caught, no mark. Throwing prohibited.
10. Before game captains toss for ends.
11. In case of infringements, captain may claim free from where breach occurred. Except where umpires appointed, opposing captain to adjudicate.
12. In all grand matches two umpires – one from each side – will take up position as near as possible between the goal posts and centre. When breach is made appeal to go to nearest umpire.
Significant Developments and discoveries
The history of Australian rules football is constantly evolving and rewritten with new clues to the origins of the game are continually unfolding.For example prior to recent times H C A Harrison was mistakenly believed to be the "father of the game". More recently, his contributions – if any – to the game prior to the 1860s has been largely downplayed.
Some significant discoveries which have influenced the historical record of the origins of Australian football include:
- 1876 – Thomas H. SmithThomas H. SmithThomas Henry Smith was an Irish Australian who had a clear role in the origins of Australian football by being one of the first people to introduce school football games to Australian public schools in 1858 and as one of the founders of the Melbourne Football Club.Smith was a founding member and...
writes to The Australasian on 26 February asserting that he was involved in the drafting of the Melbourne Football Club rules in 1859. - 1878 – Smyth publishes an account of his 1841 observations of indigenous football
- 1889 – Alfred HowittAlfred William HowittAlfred William Howitt was an Australian anthropologist and naturalist.-Background:Howitt was born in Nottingham, England, the son of authors William Howitt and Mary Botham. He came to the Victorian gold fields in 1852 with his father and brother to visit his uncle, Godfrey Howitt...
wrote an account of indigenous Australians playing a "football" game (most likely marngrook) - 1980 – A copy of the original Melbourne Football Club rules [1859] was discovered. Before this time, the 1866 Victorian Rules were believed to be the oldest.
- 2000 – records of a match in St Kilda played in June, 1858 were discovered, along with records of a senior club also from St Kilda. Subsequent details have since been uncovered by local historical societies. The most interesting aspect of these discoveries is that the match pre-dates Wills letter.
- 2007 – the records for the formation of the Castlemaine Football ClubCastlemaine Football ClubCastlemaine Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia and is currently a member of the Bendigo Football League.The club is notable for several reasons...
in 1859 was found, placing its formation between Melbourne FC and Geelong FC. The discovery lends credence to the theory that football was already widespread and established throughout regional Victoria during the Victorian gold rushVictorian gold rushThe Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. In 10 years the Australian population nearly tripled.- Overview :During this era Victoria dominated the world's gold output...
before being organised and taking off in suburban Melbourne. However there is no evidence of the game being played in CastlemaineCastlemaine, VictoriaCastlemaine is a city in Victoria, Australia, in the Goldfields region of Victoria about 120 kilometres northwest by road from Melbourne, and about 40 kilometres from the major provincial centre of Bendigo. It is the administrative and economic centre of the Shire of Mount Alexander. The...
or the goldfields prior to 1859. - 2008 – a lithograph of early indigenous Australian games was found in England. The 150 year old image showed clear similarities lending some credence to the theory of the game's indigenous origins.
- 2008 – The AFL releases an official history which states that the game began in 1858 as a variation of rugby football. the histories of the Melbourne FC and Melbourne University FC are released, including new evidence of both club's formative years. Melbourne FC claims 1858 as its formation and University claimed June 1859.
The Founder of the Game
In the 21st Century the pivotal role played by Tom Wills in the establishment of the game is virtually unchallenged. However, in the latter part of the 19th Century and much of the 20th, H.C.A. Harrison was accepted as "the father of Australian rules football". He was to become a vice-president of the Victorian Football AssociationVictorian Football League
The Victorian Football League which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association , taking its new name as from the 1996 season, is the premier Australian rules football league in Victoria The Victorian Football League (VFL) which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association...
and later the inaugural chairman of the 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...
and was actively associated with the Melbourne Football Club until the late 1920s.
The reason for the lack of prominence given to the part played in the early days by Tom Wills is often cited as Harrison's long life and his prominence, well into the 20th Century.
Respected journalist Martin Flanagan postulates that the game's administrators engaged in historical revisionism
Historical revisionism (negationism)
Historical revisionism is either the legitimate scholastic re-examination of existing knowledge about a historical event, or the illegitimate distortion of the historical record such that certain events appear in a more or less favourable light. For the former, i.e. the academic pursuit, see...
of the story of Tom Wills involvement in the origins of football because he was a drunkard and because he committed suicide.
History records Wills' role in the establishment of the game and is now generally accepted.
However the MFC continues to recognise Harrison as its preferred "father figure". This position may be accounted to an early falling out between Wills and the club.
Further reading
- History of Australian rules football in Victoria (1859-1900)
- Australian Rules FootballAustralian rules footballAustralian 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...
- Marn GrookMarn GrookMarn Grook , literally meaning "Game ball", is a collective name given to a number of traditional Indigenous Australian recreational pastimes believed to have been played at gatherings and celebrations of up to 50 players. It is often confused with a separate indigenous game resembling Association...
- CaidCaid (sport)Caid is the name given to various ancient and traditional Irish football games. "Caid" is now used by people in some parts of Ireland to refer to modern Gaelic football.The word caid originally referred to the ball which was used...