Geography of Australian rules football

There have been several players in the VFL/AFL who were born outside Australia and since 1982, an increasing number of players have been recruited from outside Australia through initiatives such as the Irish experiment and more recently, international scholarship programs. There are currently limited pathways for amateur players overseas into the AFL and AFL Women's, however talented players may be identified via international tournaments.

In 2020 American Danielle Marshall made history by becoming the first player from an overseas club, the Arizona Hawks (in the USAFL) to play in the AFL Women's competition. Marshall was not recruited directly from the US, she was offered a professional try-out in 2018 with the Western Bulldogs before being offered a contract with the club's VFLW team. In 2022 Papua New Guinean Hewago Oea in 2022 made history becoming the first male player from an overseas club (Gordon Kokofas in the Port Moresby AFL) to play in the AFL. Oea was signed in 2018 as part of the Gold Coast Academy program after playing for Papua New Guinea and the South Pacific and was hosted on the Gold Coast playing for Broadbeach in the local competition prior to his rookie listing and debut in the AFL.

The latest figures released in 2019 indicate that there are 185,173 players outside of Australia growing at around 10% per annum.[7] The majority of the growth since the 2010s has been in the Asia, with the largest increases in participation being registered in the Indian subcontinent.

The table below includes officially reported numbers from countries that have had a representative team compete in a major international tournament.

Country	Administrative Region/Body	Overview	Clubs	Registered males*[8]	Registered females*[9]	Best international result/s (men's)	Best international result/s (women's)
Australia		Overview	2,672	442,812	119,447	1st (Undefeated)
Pakistan	AFL Asia	Overview	11	2,715	1,455[10]	12th (IC 2014)	8th (IC 2017)
India	AFL Asia	Overview	11	2,845	518[11]	16th (IC 2008)
Papua New Guinea	AFL South Pacific	Overview	64[12]	1,920	200	1st (IC 2008, 2014, 2017)	5th (IC 2017)
United States	North America	Overview	50	2,000[13]	230	3rd (IC 2011)	3rd (IC 2014)
South Africa	Africa	Overview	138	2,000[14]		3rd (IC 2008)
China	AFL Asia	Overview	14	1,689	1,230[15]	13th (IC 2017)
Canada	North America	Overview	41	876	120[16]	5th (IC 2014)	1st (IC 2014)
United Kingdom	AFL Europe	Overview	59	750		6th (IC 2017), 1st (AFL Europe 2016, 2019)	3rd (IC 2017)
New Zealand	AFL South Pacific	Overview	20	700[17]	2,700[18]	1st (IC 2005)
Nauru	AFL South Pacific	Overview	18	680	120	5th (IC 2017)
Japan	AFL Asia	Overview	15	236	26	8th (IC 2008)
Fiji	AFL South Pacific	Overview	12	200	30	8th (IC 2017)	5th (IC 2014)
Sweden	AFL Europe	Overview	9	257[19]		11th (IC 2011)
Ireland	AFL Europe	Overview	9	200		1st (IC 2002, 2011)	1st (IC 2011, 2017)
Sri Lanka	AFL Asia	Overview	1	65		15th (IC 2017)

In 2007 there was just 34,845 players outside of Australia.[19] This figure had grown to 106,000 in 2016 and at least 20 leagues recognised by the game's governing body.[20] By 2017 the figure was 170,744 (11% of total players) growing at a rate of 25% per annum.[1] Since 2017, regional bodies such as AFL Asia and AFL Europe have published annual censuses of participation, providing a better picture of the sport's global participation.

Australian Football teams in Durban, Colony of Natal in 1900. The game survived in South Africa until 1914.

As the game was becoming established in Australia, it was also establishing outposts around the world.

It was played in New Zealand as early as 1868 and possibly earlier with clubs at Nelson and Wellington adopting the code despite the rapid growth of rugby there, though the game struggled until its eventual disappearance by 1914. Australian rules football in Ireland is suggested by some Irish historians including Paddy Begley to have originated with returning Irishmen from the Australian goldfields in County Kerry as early as 1874, which other Irish historians claim formed the early basis for Gaelic football in that country.[22][23][24]

Australian rules football in Scotland began in Edinburgh in 1888 [25] followed by Australian rules football in England in London, with some involvement in these countries in the following years.[25][26][27] The game in the United Kingdom survived over the following century, though failed to grow due to established soccer and rugby codes.

Australian rules football in South Africa began with the Witwatersrand Gold Rush bringing an influx Australians to Johannesburg in 1886, and there were a large number of migrants across the goldfields of South Africa.[28] A 1904 recollection of the Australian game in South Africa cites a book called "Martin's Australian Football Guide" that claims that on the goldfields early footballers of various nationalities would alternate between soccer, rugby and Australian rules, and this happened prior to the outbreak of the war, with Australians beating the other nationalities at their own games contributing to the impression that the Australian game was the more skillful of the codes.[29] The Wanderers Football Club based at Old Wanderers in Johannesburg formed by Australian Association cricket members as an off-shoot in December 1896 was the first known club in the country.[28][30] Among the early instigators of the game in Durban was George Cornelius in 1896 who left as Port Melbourne Football Club's youngest ever captain at age 20 and began organising and captaining matches there.[31] The game there lasted there until 1914.

Australian rules football in Canada began in British Columbia in 1905,[32] when Canadian-born Captain Robert Nelson Davy of the 6th Regiment began training students of the 101st Canadian Cadet corps in preparation for a planned visit to Australia.[33] The game did not spread outside BC and did not continue after World War I.

Australian rules football in the United States began in Wisconsin in 1906 when Australian grid-iron punter Pat O'Dea along with his older brother and kicking mentor Andrew (of the Wisconsin University Athletic Club and its American Football coach)[34] were able to attain a copy of the Victorian Football Association's rules (as this league was not affiliated with the AFC)[35] and had begun training college students at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. By 1909 it had spread to schools in California, Illinois and Pennsylvania and the game in the country persisted in California until the 1920s.

Australian rules football in Japan began with a four high schools in Tokyo in 1910[36] however it was shortlived in the country and believed to have lasted only until 1912.

The silver fern announces New Zealand's admission to the 1908 Jubilee Carnival

USA schoolboys vs Young Australia. Presidio of San Francisco. 1 October 1911. The game continued in the US up until the early 1920s.

Seisoka Football Club, Tokio 1911, one of four Japanese teams regularly competing between 1909 and 1912.

In New Zealand, where proximity to Australia saw a formidable league, the sport quickly grew to a sizeable 115 clubs by the turn of the 20th century. As the game spread there, it became known as Australasian Football, with delegates from New Zealand added to the newly formed Australasian Football Council (AFC). The AFC was initially presided by Victorian interests, with the VFL's Con Hickey in charge. New Zealand never competed against Australia, though it successfully lobbied to send a side to the 1908 carnival held in Melbourne to celebrate 50 years of Australian Football, defeating both New South Wales and Queensland. Two years later, Australia's Victorian and South Australian representatives began a campaign to exclude it from the council[37] which was ultimately successful in 1914.[38]

In 1906 delegates from newly formed clubs in South Africa requested a representative senior match against the VFL featuring players from clubs in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban, which the Victorian league replied it would consider, however the proposed match did not proceed.[39] The "Father of the game" in Australia H C A Harrison expressed some regret at the AFC's decision to exclude South Africa from the 1908 Carnival.[2]

The United States and Canada would compete against each other and against a Western Australian sponsored junior team between 1911 and 1912.[40][41][42] While the tours were mostly successful, the AFC's refusal to sanction the tours caused significant stress to the fledgeling governing bodies of both countries. Nevertheless growth of the code in the US was such that in 1914 it requested the Australasian Football Council send its a senior Australian team to tour,[43] to which the AFC never responded.

Japan also requested international matches in 1911. While the AFC, the Western Australian sponsored tour to North America also was also proposed to include Japan before it ran short of funds.[44]

Post-Federation of the Australian colonies, the game's governing bodies became highly insular in their approach. In particular, until the middle of the century, the game's premier leagues, the newly formed and increasingly professional VFL (and to a lesser extent the South Australian league), were preferential in the support they provided to overseas competitions to those areas perceived to pose the least potential threat to their status. They had become staunchly opposed to the game's development in larger first world nations. Faced with the growth of British sports and their increasing professionalism in Australia and growing interest around the world in the Australian game the Australasian Football Council (led by the VFL) implemented a domestic policy for game development in 1906. The Council's policy reflected the strong Australian nationalism of the time "one flag, one destiny, one football game" - that as the national code, all matches should be played under an Australian flag, with an Australian manufactured ball where possible on Australian soil, by the whole nation.[45] Council members believed that they could better defend their premier status in Australia by allocating all its promotional resources to grow its marketshare in New South Wales and Queensland. Coexistence with rugby and the promise of a universal football code was part of its ambition of keeping growth of the game in Australia under its national (and international) control. While it allowed voting member New Zealand to send a team to the 1908 carnival, the policy meant no touring sides and the phasing out of financial support which stymied the game outside Australia creating significant financial and logistic barriers for overseas sides to compete. The nationalistic policies were reinforced by the 1908 Prime Ministerial speech of former player Alfred Deakin delivered at the opening of the 1908 carnival[46] and would underpin the governing body's international policy for more than half a century.

In 1907, then AFC president Con Hickey declared that despite the game being played overseas the primary focus should be on inter-state competition and that there was no intention to "oust rugby" in places where it was growing in popularity.[47] Despite rapid growth, the Council allocated just 20% of its promotional budget for promote the game internationally (entirely to New Zealand), but with the majority allocated to New South Wales (50%) and Queensland (30%).[48] The move would prove short-sighted as the promotional effect of the code switch of Dally Messenger, known for displaying spectacular Victorian Rules-like skill, proved a devastating blow and facilitated the rapid rise of rugby league in New South Wales.[49] Rugby league's rise there was followed by strong growth in both Queensland and New Zealand helping to push Australian Football further into obscurity.

World War I saw the game being played by Australian servicemen around the world, particularly in Egypt, and in Europe in France, Belgium, and England.

Canada's junior Australian Football Team in August 1912. The game survived there from 1905 to at least 1914.

It is generally believed that international interest and support for Australian rules football died following World War I, though there is evidence of a small continuous supporter base spanning several decades and that the administrators of the game, at least in Victoria, had showed very little if any interest in promoting the sport overseas. By 1920, it was obvious to Australian observers that the game in outside Australia was struggling, with rugby league commentators in Sydney gloating that the Australian code had all but died in South Africa and New Zealand, while the rugby codes in contrast, through strong assistance from Britain, were now thriving.[50]

Nauru after the war had already become established as by far the preferred sport[51] with thriving senior and junior local competitions.

Police team lining up for a football match at Nauru in 1916. The game there received continued support from Australia.

International competition in the sport became non-existent for three quarters of the 20th century. The return of many Australian expatriates from overseas gold fields and tours of duty, combined with Australia's low profile on the world stage, offered few opportunities for the game to grow during this time. With the withdrawal of its New Zealand delegates, the sport returned to the title of Australian Football, governed by the Australian Football Council. Concerned primarily with the growth of their own domestic competitions, the Australian leagues and governing bodies made little effort to develop or promote the game until the 1950s, and the council's role was mainly to oversee the growing importance of interstate test matches.

Action from the Pioneer Exhibition Game in London.
(From Excelsior, 20 November 1916.)

Nevertheless, the longest running fixture outside of Australia, the annual Varsity match between Oxford and Cambridge in England, has been held annually since 1921, and has emerged into a fierce rivalry, worthy of half-blue status at Oxford.[52] Apart from this match, however the game was rarely played in England.

Australia's High Commissioner in London with the captains of the Oxford and Cambridge teams for their Annual Varsity match (contested since 1911) in 1949

Army Australia Rules Team Port Moresby 1968

Australian Football was also introduced to the Territory of New Guinea in 1944 and the Territory of Papua in 1948.

World War II saw some servicemen play the game overseas, particularly in Malaysia, Indonesia, Egypt, and Algeria. During the Vietnam War, matches were even played by servicemen against the local Vietnamese.

In the 1960s, Australian leagues began to show some interest in expansion of the game outside of Australia. 1963 saw the first Australian rules football exhibition matches played in the United States. Australian state leagues began occasionally promoting themselves in this way over the following decades.

Since 1967, there have been many matches between Australian and Irish teams, under various sets of hybrid, compromise rules. In 1984, the first official representative matches of International rules football were played, and these games have continued to be played annually each October, now attracting considerable public interest, drawing sizable crowds, and receiving regular television coverage. New Zealand resumed a local competition in 1974.

The first full international test played between the national sides of Papua New Guinea and Nauru in front of a crowd of over 10,000 at Sir Hubert Murray Stadium in Port Moresby was won by PNG by 129 points.[5] This was followed by the first ever full international match involving Australia was played in 1977 at under 17 level against Papua New Guinea in Adelaide, with Australia taking the honours.[53] Since then, Australia have been peerless in the sport and seldom compete at international level.

Despite these advancements and others to the international aspects of the game, progress overseas is rarely covered in the Australian media.

In the late 1980s, successful VFL exhibition matches attracted large crowds and spawned fledgling local competitions in both Japan and Canada. The Australian media showed only a token interest in the matches in London and Japan involving VFL clubs. It was during this decade that the sport was first televised in North America and the United Kingdom.

Some nationalities respond well to less formal means, however, and many trends in sporting activities are achieved outside formally organized programs. For instance, although Australian football was not formally established in Tonga until 2003 however informal matches had been introduced to schools as early as 1985.

The largest barriers to growth of Australian Football internationally have traditionally been distance, field availability, and player numbers. With a total of 36 players normally required for a game, and a cricket sized oval, organising games can be difficult in countries where space is a premium and devotees are spread widely. While these factors have not been a problem in Papua New Guinea or New Zealand, they did pose large problems to leagues in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. This disadvantage has been turned into an advantage with some organisers accepting modified versions of the game, such as nine-a-side, requiring fewer players and less space.

In the late 1980s, as organisers adapted, amateur leagues were established in Japan (1987), England, Denmark, and Canada (1989). In the case of Japan and Canada, these were directly sparked by VFL exhibition matches.

In the 1990s, the Australian diaspora had spread and amateur competition had grown in countries such as Sweden (1993), Germany (1995), the USA (1996), Argentina, Spain, Samoa (1997), and South Africa (1998), as well as a number of mainly expatriate teams, mainly based in South East Asia.

In 1993, interest in South Africa increased to the point where plans were made for powerful WAFL club Subiaco and Norwood from the SANFL to play two games in Johannesburg in 1994.[54]

During this time, the VFL expanded to become the AFL and began to command a greater national and international audience. Word of the sport grew out of AFL exhibition matches, cult television followings, and Internet communication. North American fans formed an organisation, AFANA, specifically to work for improved media coverage of Australian Football.

The traditionalists in the governing bodies of Australia (which became the AFL) were reluctant to sanction any games which were not played exactly according to the Laws of the Game, and the AFL initially did not recognise leagues that played the game on fields that did not closely match the proper dimensions, or had less than 16 players per side. Since the 1990s, these attitudes have changed somewhat, and the AFL and other development bodies have directly contributed to the development of the game overseas.

The International Australian Football Council (IAFC) was formed after football first featured at the Arafura Games in 1995. Since 1998, the Barassi International Australian Football Youth Tournament, endorsed by the AFL as part of its International Policy, has hosted several junior teams from other countries.

Since 2000, fledgling competitions have been established in countries such as Ireland (2000), Tonga (2002), Scotland, France, and China (2005). Television and the internet have since helped to increase the awareness of the game outside of Australia.

Inspired by successful Arafura Games competitions, the inaugural Australian Football International Cup was held in Melbourne in 2002, an initiative of the IAFC and the AFL. The first International Cup also marked the beginnings of a very small media interest in the international aspects of the game in Australia.

At the 2002 International Cup, meetings held between the AFL, IAFC, and international teams saw a unanimous vote amongst member countries that the AFL become the de facto world governing body for the sport, with the leagues linked to the teams affiliating with the AFL. The IAFC's public relations officer, Brian Clarke, disputed this move and continued the organisation in name. This organisation was finally dissolved in 2005, dropping all public claims to being the world governing body for the sport and being replaced by the development organisation Aussie Rules International.

Action from a CEAFL match between Austria and Finland in 2007

Action from the 2010 ECAFL Grand Final in Quebec, Canada

In recent years, the game has grown particularly strongly in Papua New Guinea and New Zealand. In percentage terms, their increases are high in comparison to the growth of the sport in Australia, and their total player numbers are at least 100,000, making senior competition involving Australia at open level unlikely for some time.

In 2004, a volunteer group known as World Footy News began documenting the growth of Australian football internationally through their website, becoming a major source of international football news, and for the first time providing a source of detailed coverage for the International Cups (2005 and 2008). Its website states that it "was created to foster awareness of Australian Football around the globe and to aid communication between clubs, leagues and individuals playing and supporting Aussie Rules". At various times between 2004 and 2007, other regularly updated sources included OziRulzGlobal, Fourth Quarter, and with slowly improving quantity, an International Leagues section of the AFL website.[55]

In 2005, after eight years of growing domestic competition, the South African government declared Australian Football to be the sport for "the new South Africa", injecting government funding into the sport.[56]

In 2006, Pakistan, Indonesia, Catalonia, Croatia, Norway, Bermuda and East Timor joined the list of playing nations.

On 3 July 2006, the AFL announced that it had formed an International Development Committee to support overseas leagues. The AFL hopes to develop the game in other countries to the point where Australian football is played at an international level by top-quality sides from around the world. The AFL plans to host the International Cup regularly every three or four years, beginning in 2008, the 150th anniversary of the code.[57] Following the AFL's interest in the internationalisation of the game, coverage in the Australian media grew substantially.

On 14 April 2007, the Australian Institute of Sport Under 17 squad competed against the South African national Australian rules football team in the first international match between the two countries at North West Cricket Stadium in Potchefstroom, South Africa.[58] The Australians won by a score of 162-12. In the same month, a massive junior program called "FootyWILD", similar to Auskick, was launched in the country.

Jiangwan Stadium the venue for the first Australian Football League matches played in China in 2010

On 25 April 2013, the first premiership match outside of Australia was held at Westpac Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand, between the Sydney Swans and the St Kilda Saints, and attracted a crowd of over 22,000 spectators.[59] In the two subsequent years crowds at this event dwindled, and the matches in New Zealand were scrapped after 2015.[60]

Although the AFL is regarded as the world governing body, it does not publish statistics for matches that it does not specifically sanction. By 2009, the only attempt to consolidate all world rankings was created by the World Footy News website, which for 2008 listed 22 countries, from Australia (1st) through to India (22nd). Detailed criteria were given as to whether a country qualified for consideration, though ultimately the rankings were listed as unofficial, and are only noteworthy because of the lack of any other system. The unofficial 2008 Australian Football World Rankings.

A series of hybrid International rules matches between the Australian Football League's best professional players and a representative Gaelic football team from Ireland's Gaelic Athletic Association amateur players known as the International Rules Series were staged annually between 1998 and 2017. The rules are a compromise between the two codes, using a round ball and a rectangular field. The fierce tackling of the Australian code is allowed, although this has caused controversy with the Irish players. The series have remained evenly matched with each side winning 10 of their encounters. The Irish team is known for its speed and skill and the Australians for their strength and power — both inherent skills in their respective codes.

Although international football has a low profile within Australia, the issue is getting increased media exposure as several high-profile Australians have become advocates for international football. High profile Australian Football identities that are involved in, have expressed interest in or are passionate about international footy at some stage include Ron Barassi, Kevin Sheedy, Jim Stynes, Paul Roos, Robert DiPierdomenico, Michael Long, Garry Lyon, Peter Schwab, Guy McKenna, Glenn Archer, Jason McCartney, Wayne Schwass, and Mal Michael. Other players who have expressed views or interest on the topic include David Rodan, Alipate Carlile, Jimmy Bartel, Jason Akermanis, Aaron Edwards, and Brad Moran. Former AFL players Mark Zanotti and John Ironmonger have been directly involved in living and establishing clubs overseas. Other non-players such as John So, Eddie McGuire, and Tiffany Cherry have also expressed interest in the media about the game being played or watched overseas.

An AusAID funded project is South African junior development began in 2003, which is assisted by aid agency Australian Volunteers International in partnership with programs such as AFL Auskick, and sponsored by Tattersalls as well as the South African North West Academy of Sport.

Another funded junior project is Aussie Rules Schools UK, which is funded by Sport England and co-ordinated by AFL England and AFL Europe. This project has seen up to ten English schools adopt Aussie Rules as part of the school curriculum to combat obesity.

In February 2006, a joint project between the AFL, Melbourne Football Club, Melbourne City Council, and AusAID to post an Australian Youth Ambassador in Tianjin, a city of 10 million, about 120 kilometres (75 mi) southeast of Beijing in an effort to kickstart Australian Football in China was announced.[72]

There have been full-time development officers in Tonga and Samoa, as part of AusAid projects, since 2005.

Michito Sakaki from Japan became the first international player to play at AFL level when selected to play for the Essendon Football Club against the Sydney Swans at an exhibition match at North Sydney Oval in February 2006. Mike Pyke, a former Canadian rugby player, was drafted to the Sydney Swans in 2009, and played his first game in Round 7 of 2009 against Geelong, becoming the first non-Irish international player to play an official league game.

Australia has recruited several Irish Gaelic footballers to play Aussie Rules. As Gaelic football is primarily an amateur competition and the AFL competition is professional, there is a strong financial lure. In the 1980s, the Melbourne Football Club recruited Jim Stynes, who would turn out to be the most successful Irish player in the history of the VFL/AFL, winning the Brownlow medal. At around the same time, the club recruited the Scot Sean Wight. In more recent years, the Sydney Swans recruited Irishman Tadhg Kennelly, who played in a premiership with the club and has also represented Ireland against Australia. Carlton Football Club experimented with brothers Setanta Ó hAilpín and Aisake Ó hAilpín also Carlton Football Club has selected defender Zach Tuohy who now plays for Geelong. The Collingwood Football Club has recruited Martin Clarke, and the Brisbane Lions recruited Colm Begley and Brendan Quigley to their international rookie list. Due to increasing concern from the Gaelic Athletic Association, in 2006 the AFL made a deal with the GAA to limit the number of junior Gaelic drafts.

Australia has exported players to the NFL. Since the 1980s, many AFL players have tried out as American football punters. The special teams position requires the long range kicking skills often used by Australian football players, particularly those playing centre half-forward and full-forward. Although the punter position is one of the least valuable on an NFL team, punters and kickers have an average salary of around US$860,000[73] which surpasses the wages of AFL players, who average A$221,000.[74] As the position is less physically demanding, it has also become attractive for players heading into retirement.

• de Moore, Greg; Hess, Rob; Nicholson, Matthew; Stewart, Bob (2021). Australia's Game: The History of Australian Football. Hardie Grant Books. ISBN 9781-74379-657-3.
• Williamson, J. (2003). Football's forgotten tour : the story of the British Australian Rules venture of 1888. Applecross, W.A.: J. Williamson. ISBN 0-9581018-0-9.