Australian rules football exhibition matches

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Australian rules football has been introduced to a wide range of places around Australia and the world since the code originated in Victoria in 1858. Much of this expansion can be directly attributed to exhibition matches in countries where the code has been played as a demonstration sport.

Contents 1 International expansion 1.1 Future International Australian Football exhibition matches 1.2 History of official International Australian rules football exhibition matches 2 Interstate expansion 2.1 Regional AFL exhibition matches 2.2 AFL exhibition matches played in New South Wales 2.3 AFL exhibition matches played in Canberra/ACT 2.4 AFL exhibition matches played in Northern Territory 2.5 AFL exhibition matches played in Queensland 2.6 AFL exhibition matches played in Tasmania 3 See also 4 References

[edit] International expansion

After the 1960s, the Victorian Football League, realising that finding new markets were essential to the prosperity of the competition began to belatedly pursue a series of international exhibition matches to raise the profile of the game overseas.

The longest and most persistent of these was Great Britain, which was seen as an opportunity primarily due to the high number of ex-patriate Australians living there, and the availability of cricket grounds.

Serious efforts to grow the game were not realised until the 1980s. Games played in this decade began to spawn infant leagues in Japan named the "Aussie Bowl", the United States of America and Canada, which have been represented at the Australian Football International Cup since 2002.

During the 1990s, regular exhibition matches became part of the growth strategy of the renamed Australian Football League, which began to realise that the effects of globalisation would threaten the future of the sport in the face of world sports like soccer. The focus of the AFL in this decade was New Zealand and South Africa.

[edit] Future International Australian Football exhibition matches

Exhibition matches are regularly scheduled for The Oval in London, which has in the past been an event for ex-patriate Australians. The event has been annual as the "AFL Challenge Trophy" since 2002 and although it has not always been annual event, a small amount of interest in the games has grown amongst locals.

Since sell-out game in Los Angeles, USA in early 2006, club officials of the Sydney Swans have called for regular games (similar to the London matches) including the possibility of a premiership match.

The WAFL announced intentions to play an exhibition match in Mumbai, India in late 2006 between the grand finalists.^[1] However this match did not go ahead.

In November 2005, AFL club Melbourne made an announcement that it was investigating playing an exhibition match in 2006 or 2007 in the Chinese metropolis Tianjin, with Beijing or Shanghai possible alternative hosts. [3] The match was delayed by the Melbourne Football Club's CEO.

In February 2006, AFL club Essendon's CEO indicated the possibility of an exhibition match in Japan in 2007 to mark 20 years since the last Aussie Bowl between the Bombers and Hawthorn. [4]

[edit] History of official International Australian rules football exhibition matches

See also: Australian rules football attendance records#Exhibition matches

Exhibition matches

DATE/YEAR	LOCATION	STADIUM	COMPETITION	TEAMS	CROWD
9/02/2008	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	Ghantoot Polo and Racing Club	NAB Cup	Collingwood vs Adelaide[2]	6,102 [3]
2/02/2008	Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa	SuperSport Park	AFL pre-season practice	Carlton vs Fremantle	3,500[4] - 5,222[5] (reports vary)
21/10/2006	London, England	The Oval	AFL pre-season practice	Geelong v. Port Adelaide	12,129
15/1/2006	Los Angeles, USA	Intramural Field, UCLA	AFL pre-season practice	Kangaroos v. Sydney	3,200 (sell-out)
8/10/2005	London, England	The Oval	AFL pre-season practice	West Coast Eagles v. Fremantle	18,884
11/10/2003	London, England	The Oval	AFL pre-season practice	Collingwood v. Fremantle	12,847
12/10/2002	London, England	The Oval	AFL pre-season practice	Richmond v. Essendon	13,000
17/2/2001	Wellington, New Zealand	Westpac Stadium	2001 pre-season cup game – group stage	Brisbane Lions v. Adelaide	7,500
7/10/2000	London, England	The Oval		Melbourne v. Adelaide	4,500
29/01/2000	Wellington, New Zealand	Westpac Stadium		Western Bulldogs v. Hawthorn	11,666
9/10/1999	London, England	The Oval		Essendon v. Hawthorn	?
10/10/1998	London, England	The Oval		Western Bulldogs v. St Kilda	12,000
1/03/1998	Wellington, New Zealand	Basin Reserve		Melbourne v. Sydney	7,820
22/02/1998	Cape Town, South Africa	Newlands Cricket Ground		Brisbane v. Fremantle	10,123
12/10/1997	London, England	The Oval		West Coast v. Collingwood	14,000
16/10/1994	London, England	The Oval		Richmond v. Carlton and Adelaide v West Coast	6,000
13/10/1991	London, England	The Oval		West Coast v. Hawthorn	10,000
5/10/1991	Auckland, New Zealand			Geelong v. St Kilda	8,500
14/10/1990	London, England	The Oval		Collingwood v. Essendon	9,000
12/10/1990	Portland, USA	Civic Stadium		Melbourne v. West Coast	14,787
22/10/1989	London, England	The Oval		Melbourne v. Essendon	12,000
14/10/1989	Miami, USA	Joe Robbie Stadium		Essendon v. Hawthorn	10,069
12/10/1989	Toronto, Canada	Toronto Skydome		Geelong v. Melbourne	24,639
16/10/1988	Toronto, Canada	Varsity Stadium		Collingwood v. Hawthorn	18,500
9/10/1988	London, England	The Oval		Hawthorn v. Carlton	10,000
8/10/1988	Miami, USA	Joe Robbie Stadium		Collingwood v. Geelong	7,500
25/10/1987	Yokohama, Japan	Yokohama Stadium		Hawthorn v. Essendon	13,000
18/10/1987	Vancouver, Canada	B.C. Place		Melbourne v. North Melbourne	7,980
11/10/1987	London, England	The Oval		Carlton v. North Melbourne	?
9/10/1987	Vancouver, Canada	B.C. Place		Melbourne v. Sydney	32,789 (record to date)
3/11/1986	Yokohama, Japan	Yokohama Stadium		Carlton v. Hawthorn	25,000
12/10/1986	London, England	The Oval		Carlton v. North Melbourne	?
29/10/1972	London, England	The Oval		Carlton v. Orlando All-Stars	?
1972	Athens, Greece			Carlton v. Orlando All-Stars	?
1972	Singapore			Carlton v. Orlando All-Stars	?
1969	New Delhi		WAFL practice	East Perth v. Subiaco	3,500
1967	London, England	Crystal Palace National Sports Centre	Australian Football World Tour	Australia vs Britain (expat)	?
26/10/1963	San Francisco, USA	Big Rec Stadium		Geelong v. Melbourne	3,500
20/10/1963	Honolulu, USA			Geelong v. Melbourne	1,500
1916	London, England	Queen's Club		Australian Division vs Training Groups	3,000

Sources : International Australian Football Council, SurreyCricket.com, Matchday programmes, VFL/AFL

On Saturday October 28, 1916, the former Olympic champion swimmer and the later Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Lieutenant Frank Beaurepaire, organized an Australian Rules football match between two teams of Australian servicemen in aid of the British and French Red Cross.^[6]

The match was promoted as a "Pioneer Exhibition Game of Australian Football in London". It was held at Queen's Club, West Kensington before an estimated crowd of 3,000,^[7] which included the (then) Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII), and King Manuel II of Portugal.

    An Australian football match (an Australian Division v. Training Groups) will be played at Queen's Club, West Kensington, tomorrow, at 3 p.m., in aid of the British and French Red Cross Funds. The game, played by 18 players a side, will show how Australians have combined "Soccer" and Rugby.
        The Times, Friday, 27 October 1916.^[8]

The members of the competing teams, Australian Training Units and The Third Australian Divisional Team, were all highly skilled footballers, the majority of which had already played senior football in their respective states.

A news film was taken at the match.^[9]

In order to celebrate the match Beaurepaire commissioned a set of team photographs that were inserted into a mounting board decorated with a British Union Jack and an Australian Red Ensign, that had "Australian Football in London. Pioneer Exhibition Game. At Queen's Club, West Kensington. Saturday 28th Oct. 1916" at its head, and "Organizer of Match & Donor of Photos to Club Lieut. Frank Beaurepaire" at its foot.^[10]

The names that follow are taken from the names of the team members and officials that appear beneath each of the photographs on the mounted set; some of the names have been corrected from VFL, A.I.F. records, etc.

[edit] Interstate expansion

Further information: History of Australian rules football

Australian rules football was introduced early in the 1880s to most of the states of Australia through a series of exhibition matches.

Leagues quickly formed in all states, and in many of these states, the code has become the most popular sport.

Although drawing significant crowds and interest early, the states of Queensland and New South Wales elected at official level to adopt the rugby codes in 1908. This was widely recognised as being due to the game's association with the tag "Melbourne Rules" or "Victorian Rules" and the fierce rivalry that Sydney has with Melbourne. With a lack of players, and grounds, support for Australian rules football decreased dramatically.

Support in these states has since grown in recent years, with local clubs established in the national competition in both Queensland and New South Wales during 1980s. Although the game is followed by the majority of the Australian population and states, there are still many in New South Wales (the most populous state) that associate the game with Melbourne or "the game they play in Victoria". For other states without teams in the national competition, the AFL has tried to maintain participation through regular exhibition games.

[edit] Regional AFL exhibition matches

Main article: NAB Cup

In 2005, to bring the game to regional centres, the AFL began a series of pre-season practice matches before the Wizard Cup called the Wizard Regional Challenge Series.

The 2005 series included such Morwell, Port Lincoln, Joondalup, Lavington, Carrara, Alice Springs, Newcastle and Bendigo with a total attendance of 117,552. Features of the competition included a game between Collingwood vs Sydney in Newcastle in front of 5,002 spectators and Essendon vs Geelong in Bendigo in front of 13,000.

[edit] AFL exhibition matches played in New South Wales

Although the Sydney Swans Australian football club are based in Sydney, the AFL holds an annual exhibition match between the Essendon Bombers and Sydney Swans at the North Sydney Oval. Regional NAB Challenge matches have been played in Newcastle and Albury.

Further information: Australian rules football in New South Wales

[edit] AFL exhibition matches played in Canberra/ACT

With no team in the national competition, and heavy competition with both rugby league and rugby union, the VFL/AFL has long shown interest in the nation's capital, largest inland city and 8th largest urban area. The city of Canberra and the Australian Capital Territory, formed in the 1920s and due to proximity generally followed the lead of New South Wales to adopt rugby league, but later adopted Rugby Union after the success of the ACT Brumbies. Since 2001, the Kangaroos Football Club have been working to build up a local supporter base by playing home games at Manuka Oval [5]. Crowds at Manuka have averaged around 10,000, with a record of 14,891 set in 2004 for the Kangaroos vs Sydney Swans.

Further information: Australian rules football in the Australian Capital Territory

[edit] AFL exhibition matches played in Northern Territory

With no team in the national competition, and heavy competition with rugby league, the VFL/AFL has maintained a strong following in the Northern Territory through exhibition matches. Like the Kangaroos in Canberra, the Western Bulldogs have recently experimented with home games in Darwin at Marrara Oval. Other exhibition matches have included the Aboriginal All-Stars in pre-season practice matches against various AFL clubs. The games at Marrara have averaged about 10,000 spectators, with a record of 17,500 witnessing the Aboriginal All-Stars vs Carlton match in 2002. Alice Springs has also hosted pre-season matches. In 2004, an AFL pre-season Regional Challenge match between Collingwood Football Club and Port Adelaide Football Club at Traeger Park attracted a sell-out crowd of 10,000.

Further information: Australian rules football in the Northern Territory

[edit] AFL exhibition matches played in Queensland

Before the advent of the Brisbane Bears, VFL/AFL exhibition matches were occasionally played at the Brisbane Cricket Ground. Exhibition matches have more recently been played in the Gold Coast and Cairns.

Further information: Australian rules football in Queensland

[edit] AFL exhibition matches played in Tasmania

Australian rules football is very popular in Tasmania, however there is no team in the national competition due to lack of corporate sponsorship. The population is sparsely spread and possibly not able to support an AFL team despite several bids and backing of the Tasmanian government. The Tasmanian Devils were recently created to participate in the Victorian Football League and has a large following, but has not quelled the desire for elite matches. As a result, many exhibition matches have been played in Tasmania.

The first VFL match was played on the 14th of June 1952 at North Hobart Oval between Fitzroy and Melbourne before 18,387 fans.

Since 2001, both Hawthorn and St Kilda have played AFL home games at Aurora Stadium in Launceston, Tasmania. Average crowds of around 15,000 have attended these games, with a record of 18,112 witnessing Hawthorn vs Port Adelaide in 2002.

Further information: Australian rules football in Tasmania

[edit] See also

• The "Pioneer Exhibition Game" in London (1916)

[edit] References