This is another major step in the AFL’s 150 year history that continually reinforces its status as the biggest and most popular sport in Australia. The announcement comes after months of delays and speculation the Gold Coast would not be granted the license due to the global financial crisis, despite the proposed club meeting all of its requirements set by the AFL. However, the recent Queensland state election gave the AFL its final answer, with the elected Premier Anna Bligh pledging a $60 million upgrade of Carrara stadium.
With Western Sydney next on its’ hit list in the next few years, the new and exciting era of Australian Rules Football is sure to create added excitement and pride in this truly national game. From its humble beginnings as a recreational activity created for cricketers in the winter, AFL has risen to become the most popular sport in Australia which saw over 100,000 people attending the Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground last September.
Australian Football League's 150 Year History
It was in 1858 that the first recorded game of Australian Rules football was played between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar School. A year earlier, it was a strong, athletic, young footballer and cricketer by the name of Tom Wills who drafted up the first rules of football. Wills was a known figure on the sporting scene, having been sent from Australia to the prestigious Rugby School in England at age 14 and excelled. He returned to Australia at 21 and wrote a letter to the local newspaper that proposed a winter activity be played to keep the cricketers fit in the off-season. And it was then that the game was born.
In 1859 the Geelong Football Club was formed and by 1896, the Victorian Football League was established. The foundation clubs of the league included Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne. Richmond and University joined the league in 1908, however after the 1914 season; University had left the competition due to most of its players serving in the First World War.
The game continued to grow with Footscray (now the Western Bulldogs), Hawthorn and North Melbourne joining the VFL in 1925. This 12-team competition would remain unchanged for 62 years until 1987 when two interstate teams were formed. It was the West Coast Eagles (Western Australia) and the Brisbane Bears (Queensland) that caught the football fever. Two years earlier, in one of the most controversial periods in AFL history, the South Melbourne Swans were re-located to Sydney due to financial stress.
With now three teams interstate, the game was fast expanding and earning credentials as our national game. The Victorian Football League was renamed the Australian Football League in 1990. What followed was another two teams in South Australia (Adelaide formed in 1991 and Port Adelaide in 1997), one in Western Australia (Fremantle in 1995) and the Fitzroy Lions merged with the Brisbane Bears to create the Brisbane Lions in 1997.
Gold Coast Football Club Loses In Debut Match
The Gold Coast FC lost their first TAC (Under-18) Cup clash against the Eastern Rangers at Carrara Stadium last Saturday night. The Rangers got the jump early and never looked in doubt with a comprehensive 16.6 (102) to 9.10 (64) win. After fifteen weeks of solid training this was the club's first match since a committee formed to create the Gold Coast FC in August 2008. The side is currently competing in the Victorian Under-18 Competition (The TAC Cup) for 2009 before moving onto the Victorian Football League in 2010 and finally the AFL in 2011.
