Names of Australian rules football

The sport of Australian rules football has been called by a number of different names throughout its history. Since 1905, with the formation of the Australasian Football Council, the game has been called "Australian football". The name has been codified by the AFL Commission, as the game's name in the "Laws of Australian football". Historically, the sport has been referred to as "Victorian rules" (referring to its origins in Melbourne), the "Victorian game", "Australasian rules", the "Australian game" and "Australian national football", "national football", the "bouncing game" and, derisively, "aerial ping pong" as well as several other names. Today, the common names for the sport are "Australian Football" and "Australian rules football" and it is referred to as "football", "footy", "Aussie rules" or sometimes as "AFL" (a genericised abbreviation of Australian Football League, the sport's pre-eminent and professional competition).

Historical names

The first "Rules of the Melbourne Football Club" (also known as the "Rules of the Melbourne Football Club" or, informally, the "Melbourne Rules") were established in Melbourne in 1859 by Tom Wills of the Melbourne Football Club.

By 1860, the widespread adoption of the Melbourne Rules led to it being rebranded as the "Victorian Football". It was informally referred to as "the Victorian Game" or "Victorian Rules", although in Victoria, the general term was just "football" as early as 1860.

Australian rules football in Queensland prior to the turn of the 19th Century was referred to as "Association Football" as the league had affiliated with the Victorian Football Association (VFA). However, as late as 1954, the term "Melbourne Rules" was used by newspapers in New South Wales and Queensland due to a long-held cultural rivalry.