Football in Australia refers to numerous football codes which each have major shares of the mainstream sports market, media, broadcasting, professional athletes, financial performance and grassroots participation: Australian rules football, rugby league, rugby union and soccer (known in many other countries as "football"). There are four pre-eminent professional football competitions played in Australia: the Australian Football League (Australian rules), the National Rugby League (rugby league), Super Rugby (rugby union) and the A-League (soccer). Rugby league is the most watched sport in Australia based on television viewership, however, Australian rules football attracts larger live attendances. In the states of New South Wales and Queensland, rugby football (league and union) is overall the most watched and receives the most media coverage, especially the Rugby League State of Origin contested between the two states referred to as "Australian sport's greatest rivalry". In recent times, there has been an increase in popularity in Australian rules and corresponding decrease in popularity of rugby union in New South Wales and Queensland. Soccer, while extending its lead in participation rate, particularly in the large cities, and improving its performance at the FIFA World Cup and at the FIFA Women's World Cup, continues to attract the overall lowest attendance, as well as media and public interest, of the four codes.
In Australia, it is not unusual for football fans to follow or play more than one code of football and spectate major events from multiple different codes, though strong lifelong allegiances are evident in some where football cultures are most ingrained. Immigration to Australia and internal migration have had a significant effect on football followings in parts of Australia, and even have an influence on where Australians move.Your choice of footy team can predict where you'll move Aidan Devine, The Telegraph 4 Jun 2018
Prior to the Federation of Australia, there was no dominant football code and football was played under a variety of rules since 1829. By the 1860s, Australian rules football and rugby became entrenched in Melbourne and Sydney, respectively. The first intercolonial football matches were being played by the 1870s and led to the formation of the first intercolonial governing bodies in Australian rules and rugby. Soccer or "British Association Football" was first introduced in the 1870s; although it has struggled against the full contact codes, it has increased in popularity since the 1890s. Women's soccer dominated female participation from the 1920s until recent times, when the organisation of Women's Australian rules saw it boom in popularity. Strong Australian regional rivalries have helped keep a regional football code divide in Australia, popularly known as the "Barassi Line", strong for generations. This divide was still strongly evident in the 1980s after the first national competitions became established. Rugby continued to dominate in Queensland and New South Wales and Australian rules football, while still being played throughout, dominated the rest of the country. Other traditional divisions have also continued to some extent, including rugby league and rugby union's class/socio economic division and soccer's dominance amongst some minority migrant communities. Most attempts to move outside these traditional boundaries have been largely unsuccessful.
The different codes attract different participation levels that reflect historical trends. Soccer, nationally, has substantially more participants than any other code, and is particularly popular with junior participants. However, Australian rules has higher participation rates in outback Australia, amongst indigenous communities and women.
Australia competes internationally in almost all football codes with national football teams. Nationally the most popular are the "Matildas" & "Socceroos" (soccer), the "Wallabies" (rugby union) and "Kangaroos" (rugby league).
Terminology In Australia, "football" may refer to any of several popular codes. These include Australian rules football, rugby league, rugby union and association football.
As is the case in the United States and Canada, association football has traditionally been referred to in Australia as "soccer". Historically, the sport has been referred to as association football, English association football, British association rules and British football. It is also sometimes referred to in the media as "the round ball game" and "the world game" (the latter giving its name to a soccer television show).
Australian rules football can be referred to as Australian football (the official name of the sport), Aussie rules, football or footy (particularly in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania). In other states (Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory) it is often referred to as "AFL" (the AFL markets the sport under the name of its premier competition in these areas). Historically, the sport outside of Victoria has been referred to as Victorian rules, the Victorian game and association football (after its first intercolonial governing body, the Victorian Football Association).
Rugby league can be referred to as league, footy, football, league football, NRL or rugby.
Rugby union can be referred to as union, rugby football, football, footy or rugby.
The earliest-established clubs in each of the three non-soccer codes are all named "FC" (Football Club), including Melbourne FC and Geelong FC in Australian rules, Sydney University FC and Wallaroo FC in rugby union, and South Sydney DRLFC in rugby league.
National governing bodies and competitions All the major football codes are represented by national governing bodies which run the major competitions and game development initiatives in the country.
+Major codes of football in Australia Football code Australian Overview Main governing body National club competition/s National representative competition/s Semi-national competition/s Variants and participation sports Australian rules Australian rules football in Australia AFL Commission Australian Football League, AFL Women's AFL Under 19 Championships, AFL Women's Under 18 Championships Victorian Football League Auskick, AFL9s, AFL Masters, Women's Australian rules Rugby league Rugby League in Australia Australian Rugby League Commission National Rugby League, NRLW Rugby League State of Origin, Affiliated States Championship Touch football, Tag football Association football Soccer in Australia Football Australia A-League Men, A-League Women, Australia Cup Futsal Rugby union Rugby union in Australia Rugby Australia Super Rugby AU, Super W Super Rugby AU, Super W Rugby Sevens, Touch rugby, Women's rugby
+Minor codes of football in Australia Football code Australian Overview Main governing body National competition/s Gridiron Gridiron in Australia Gridiron Australia Australian Gridiron League Gaelic football Gaelic football in Australia Australasia GAA Australasian Championships
The timeline below outlines the history and evolution of the governing bodies and the respective major competitions of each code.
National club competitions Although contemporary professional competitions are represented by clubs from multiple states and national governing bodies, there are currently no truly national club competitions with clubs in all states due to the exclusion of Tasmania. This may change as the two competitions that are closest to national competitions (AFL/AFLW and A-League/W-League) expand to include Tasmania (see: Tasmanian AFL bid and Tasmanian A-League bid). A truly national competition would include territories as well. The AFL has to date declined to award licenses to bids for proposed clubs in the ACT and Northern Territory, while the A-League has declined bids from the ACT (see Canberra A-League Bid).
Men's Table below shows current fully professional clubs numbers in men's senior competitions for the big four football codes in each state and territory as at 2021 in the most populous states. This list includes full season competitions only (including finals systems) and excludes shorter season and knock-out type competitions. Some codes have second tier leagues, or reserves competitions with semi-professional teams competing in other state/territories (for example the Victorian Football League) however there are currently no such competitions which are national. This does not give a breakdown of metropolitan and regional clubs. TV viewership and participation numbers are generally determined by the number of clubs in the big 3 states: New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.
Football Code and National Competition Professional clubs(by State) Professional clubs(by Territory) Football code Competition Total NSW VIC QLD WA SA TAS ACT NT Australian rules AFL 18 2 10 2 2 2 -New licence awarded for entry in 2028 (see Tasmania Football Club) -Past bids. Current second home for GWS Giants. Past second tier club (Canberra). Regular matches played by visiting AFL clubs each year -Current bid for future entry in 2030. Past second tier club (NT Thunder). Regular matches played by visiting AFL clubs each year Rugby league NRL 16 10 1 4 1 -Past club Adelaide Rams: Super League (1997); NRL (1998) - 1 - Soccer A-League Men 10 5 2 1 1 1 -Current bid for entry in 2025/26 (see Tasmanian A-League bid) -Current bid for entry in 2024/25 (see Canberra A-League Bid) - Rugby union Super Rugby 4 1 1 1 1 - - 1 -
Football Code Representative team(by State) Representative team(by Territory) Football code Highest Competition NSW VIC QLD WA SA TAS ACT NT Rugby union Super Rugby New South Wales Waratahs (Super Rugby) Victoria (NRC Division 2) Queensland Reds (Super Rugby ) Western Force (Super Rugby) South Australia (NRC Division 2) Tasmania (NRC Division 2) ACT Brumbies (Super Rugby) Northern Territory (NRC Division 2) Rugby league Rugby League State of Origin New South Wales Queensland Australian rules AFL State of Origin Seriesdefunct since 1999 New South Walesdefunct since 1988, part of composite NSW/ACT side until 1993 VictoriaOnly plays on special occasions such as 2020 State of Origin for Bushfire Relief Match Queenslanddefunct since 1992 Western Australiadefunct since 1998 South Australia Tasmaniadefunct since 1993 Australian Capital Territory Northern Territorydefunct since 1988, played one season as composite QLD/NT Soccer - - - - - - - - -
Women's Table below shows current semi-professional clubs numbers in women's senior competitions for the big four football codes in each state and territory as at 2021 in the most populous states.
Football Code and National Competition Professional teams(by State) Professional teams(by Territory) Football code Competition Total NSW VIC QLD WA SA TAS ACT NT Australian rules AFLW 18 2 10 2 2 2 -New licence awarded for entry TBC (see Tasmanian AFL bid) -Current second home for GWS Giants -Not clear as to whether Northern Territory AFL bid includes a women's team though it is likely given the league's strategy for participation by all clubs Soccer A-League Women 10 4 21 additional team joining in 2023 1 1 1 -Not clear if women's team is part of Tasmanian A-League bid 1 - Rugby league NRLW 10 6 - 3 - - - 1 - Rugby union Super W 5 1 1 1 1 - - 1 -
National audience