when was the first australian football competition held
History of Australian rules football Australian rules football was invented in Melbourne, Australia, in 1858. The first match identified as a direct precursor to the codification of Australian football was organised and umpired by Tom Wills and contested on 31 July between Melbourne Grammar School and Scotch College, adjacent to the Melbourne Cricket Ground at the Richmond Paddock. The oldest surviving set of rules of Australian rules football were drawn up on 17 May 1859, three days after the formation of the Melbourne Football Club.
The Gabba The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba,[1][2] is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located.
Football The earliest form of football can be traced back to China (Han dynasty), originating from cuju, an ancient Chinese football game, as recognized by FIFA.[3][4][5] Contemporary codes of football can be traced back to the codification of these games at English public schools during the nineteenth century.[6][7] The expansion of the British Empire allowed these rules of football to spread to areas of British influence outside the directly controlled Empire.[8] By the end of the nineteenth century, distinct regional codes were already developing: Gaelic football, for example, deliberately incorporated the rules of local traditional football games in order to maintain their heritage.[9] In 1888, The Football League was founded in England, becoming the first of many professional football competitions. During the twentieth century, several of the various kinds of football grew to become some of the most popular team sports in the world.[10]
AFL Grand Final The concept of a "grand" final gradually evolved from experimentation by the Victorian Football League (VFL) in the initial years of competition following its inception in 1897. During the 19th century, Australian football competition adopted the approach that the team on top of the ladder at the end of the home-and-away series was declared the premiers. However, the fledgling VFL decided that a finals series played between the top four teams at the end of the season would generate more interest and gate money. For 1897, the VFL scheduled a round robin tournament whereby the top four played each other once and the team that won the most matches was declared the winner.