Women's Australian Rules football
The first ball up of the inaugural 2017 AFL Women's season between Carlton and Collingwood at Princes Park
Highest governing bodyAFL Commission
First played1917; Perth, Western Australia
Registered players530,166 (2021)
Characteristics
Team members16 per side + 5 interchange (differs to men's 18 per side + 4 interchange)
Type
EquipmentModified ball
VenueAustralian rules football playing field (Australian rules ground, cricket pitch or similar sized field)

Women's Australian rules football (in areas where it is popular, known simply as women's football or women's footy or women's AFL), is the female-only form of Australian rules football, generally with some modification to the laws of the game.

The first Australian rules football matches involving women were organised late in the 19th century, but for several decades it occurred mostly in the form of scratch matches, charity matches and one-off exhibition games. The first all-female matches began early in the 20th century, and regular competition first emerged after World War II.

State-based leagues emerged between the 1980s and 2000s: the first was the Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL) formed in Melbourne in 1981, with others including the West Australian Women's Football League (WAWFL) formed in Perth in 1988 and the South Australian Women's Football League (SAWFL) formed in Adelaide in 1991. The AFL Women's National Championships were inaugurated in 1992.

Women's football was professionalised in the 2010s with the establishment of a national league, AFL Women's, that commenced its inaugural season in 2017, with eight teams formed by existing Australian Football League (AFL) clubs: all 18 AFL clubs have fielded women's teams in Season 7 (the second season of 2022).

The highest level of semi-professional competition, the AFLW, attracts a large audience of more than one million attendees[1] and over two million viewers,[2] and has managed to maintain its high levels of interest despite moving to primarily ticketed and subscription broadcasting models in 2021.

The AFLW competition is the most attended women's football competition in Australia, and one of the most popular women's football competitions in the world. With an average attendance in 2019 of 6,262 a game, it has the second highest of any domestic women's football competition. The record attendance is 53,034 which was set at the 2019 AFL Women's Grand Final which, prior to the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup, held the record for the most attended fixture in Australian women's sport.

With 119,447 Australian adult and 66,998 youth female participants in 2023 it is the second most played code among women and girls in Australia behind soccer.

Women's Australian rules has also grown rapidly outside of Australia since the 2000s with 530,166 players worldwide in 2021: the Women's International Cup has been run since 2011, and players from around the world have made it to the highest level of the sport, include Laura Duryea, Clara Fitzpatrick and Cora Staunton (Ireland), Brooke Walker (New Zealand), Danielle Marshall (USA), and Kendra Heil (Canada).

History

Nellie Stewart, Florence Maude Young, Jennie Lee and other female celebrities participated in a charity football match, 1894, East Melbourne Cricket Ground

The game's governing body, the AFL Commission, has been criticised for its lack of acknowledgement of the history of women's football, taking credit only for the virtually overnight "revolution" of the AFLW while making only passing reference to its origins and development.[3]

While the Australian Football League has, in fact, played some role in the development of women's football in Australia, especially from the 2010s, it operated for 120 years without any official female teams, and was one of the last sporting competitions in the country to affiliate with a women's league. Overall public support for women's football in the league's home of Melbourne has also lagged behind the rest of the country to an extent.

Codified in 1859, Australian football had been played by men for almost half a century before the first all-women's football matches were played: exceptions to this included charity matches, such as patriotic fundraisers, which occasionally featured women players. Despite this, women have nonetheless followed the Australian game passionately since the mid-19th century, accounting for approximately 50% of spectators at matches, a uniquely high figure among football codes. As early as 1862 women publicly questioned why they would not be able to play.[4]

Women's soccer became popular in the 1920s, and while documented mentions of football matches are often difficult to differentiate as to whether they were played under Australian rules, there is significant evidence of a continuity in competition from the end of World War I spanning several Australian states.

Both world wars were a great liberator for women; as the men fought in the war, women were often called to perform many tasks typically done by men, including spectator sports.

Earliest women's teams and matches

In August 1880, a group gathered at Sandhurst (Bendigo) in Victoria responding to a postcard from signed "Lover of Football" to form an all-ladies football club. The idea was considered a novelty at the time, and did not proceed, though generated some attention across regional Victoria.[5] In 1886, a local paper reported that a group of women in Williamstown were seen playing kick-to-kick.[6] In the same year a call for a ladies football club affiliated with the North Williamstown Football Club suggesting a hybrid match against a women's lacrosse club was made in the Williamstown Chronicle.[7]

Costume football matches were popular from the late 1870s as a form of outdoor fancy dress theatre amusement mixing opera, comedy and pantomime. While early events were poorly documented, accounts from the time were over the top and gaudy affairs. However such matches provided a gateway for female participation and over time these there were more and more documented accounts of the inclusion of female characters. In 1887 one of the earliest accounts of numerous "young ladies" participating was held in Ballarat, at the Eastern Oval in front of a huge crowd of 6,000.[8]

In 1892, a Bendigo woman was charged with nuisance for kicking a football in the street.[6]

In 1894, a high profile costume match was played to raise funds for the Australian Dramatic and Musical Association which featured one of the earliest all-female teams which included Nellie Stewart, Florence Maude Young, Jennie Lee, Violet Varley and Flora Graupner. Played at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground the match attracted one of the largest crowds ever seen to the ground and was declared a draw and the media lauded the performance of the female team: "the ladies, in fact, carried all before them".[9] A repeat female vs male match was played at the Theatrical Carnival at the Royal Exhibition Building in 1895.[10]

Records exist of a football side in Perth, Western Australia made up of department store staff playing as Foy & Gibson's as early as 1915.[11] Some of the first organised matches were played on Perth Oval, including one on 14 October 1917.[12]

North vs South. Jubilee Oval, Adelaide. 21 September 1918

In September 1918 matches were played across Australia. In South Australia, North took on South at the Jubilee Oval in Adelaide on the 21st. In Victoria the Federal Khaki Clothing Factory "Khaki girls" team (playing in khaki and white) travelled to Ballarat to play the Ballarat Eleanor Lucas's lingerie factory "Lucas girls" team (playing in pink and white and coached by Charlie Clymo) at City Oval in Ballarat, Victoria in August which was, according to reports, a highly physical contest in front of a "huge crowd" and the even was met with substantial fanfare.[13] The match funded the Ballarat Arch of Victory.[14][15] The Lucas girls won the match 3 goals 6 (24) to the Khakis 1 goal 2 (8) in front of 7,000 people, then the largest football crowd in Ballarat history.[16] A photograph of the Lucas Girls Football team appears in the Ballarat Star in December 1918.[17]

There are photographs from a match played in Perth, Western Australia, though only the year (1918) is known,[18] however these matches were played on and off through the 1910s and 20s and were known as the Shopgirl's competition.[19]

Left: 1918 Port Adelaide team from the clubs 'Ladies Football Match' against a team representing Thebarton held on Alberton Oval.[20]
Right: This match helped raise funds to construct the Port Adelaide Workers Memorial (pictured).[20]

In South Australia, an early example of Women's football was a Port Adelaide Women's team in November, 1918 where a game took place at Alberton Oval between Port Adelaide and another club representing Thebarton. Port Adelaide was captained by Eileen Rend.[21]

Interwar era: Female football challenges stereotypes

Women's teams were formed at Riverton, South Australia, to play scratch matches in 1920.[22]

The first match to be played in Melbourne was in 1921. According to the AFL Record, following World War I, a match in Melbourne was held to show that women could play what had previously been seen to be a man's sport. The first women's match attracted a large crowd and interest. The umpire wore a skirt.[23][24] In 1921, a women's team in St Kilda organised a game with the women wearing kits donated by the St Kilda men's club and shorts rather than dresses.[3] A team regularly practiced on Saturday mornings at the St Kilda Cricket Ground.[25]

In 1922, a Fitzroy female team travelled to Perth and played West Perth in front of 13,500 spectators.[26]

The 1923 Richmond ladies football team played against the men's side in Melbourne to raise funds for a junior trip.[27]

In 1929 a Women's Australian rules football match played at Adelaide Oval attracted a record 41,000 spectators.

In 1929, as part of an annual charity day, a 30-minute match was played on Adelaide Oval between workers of the Charles Moore & Co. factory and the Mirror Shirt and Pyjama Factory. Although the match was not a standalone event, newspapers at the time did refer to it as the main attraction of the day. A moth biplane dropped the game ball to start the match.[28] In 1930, the club captain and secretary Veronica O'Callahan announced that the Charles Moore's club was going into recess, claiming that the game is "too rough" to become popular with girls in Adelaide.[29] Nevertheless, Port Adelaide Magpies reformed a women's team for the following year to play against a team from Queenstown.[30][31] In August 1930, a charity match was organised in Perth on what is now the WACA Ground.[32]

In 1931, women protested against all-female matches being organised for Melbourne.[33] That year, Oakleigh and Carnegie Football girls' clubs staged a match in front of a large crowd at Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne.[34]

In 1933, a match played between Carlton and Richmond women's teams at Princes Park stadium in Melbourne was incorrectly billed on Sydney company Cinesound Newsreel as the "first women's rugby match"; the teams were composed mostly of female netball and track-and-field athletes eager to try Australian rules.[35][36]

Post World War II: Expansion and regular competition

Women's football match in Launceston Tasmania in 1941

Women's football was being increasingly organised in northern Tasmania in the 1940s with the formation of several dedicated clubs and matches in Launceston.[37]

Archives also show a charity women's match occurred on Bassendean Oval in Perth, Western Australia, 27 August 1944.[38] It is unknown whether the game had been played continuously in the state. [28] Another match in 1944 was held in June at Memorial Oval Port Pirie, South Australia.[39]

Calls were made for big VFL clubs, including reigning premiers Essendon, to field women's sides in 1947.[40] That year a round-robin competition was held at Glenferrie Oval featuring VFL clubs, with South Melbourne, Footscray, Hawthorn and St Kilda competing in an all-female competition.[41][3] The league competed through the 1950s and was actively promoted by Footscray VFL champions "Mr Football" Ted Whitten and Jack Collins.

Regular girls football was also being played in North West Tasmania, with clubs in Ulverstone and Devonport playing in 1946.[42] Tasmanian Football League clubs Launceston and Clarence added women's teams to the competition in 1947. Matches were also being played in the Wimmera-Mallee region of Victoria in towns such as Hopetoun, Lascelles[43] and Camperdown.[44]

By 1947, the Adelaide women's competition had grown to seven teams.[45]

In 1953, a South Fremantle women's side took on and defeated Boans Limited at Perth Oval.[46]

In 1954, girls' football matches were held at Cobram.[47]

In 1959, a Victorian squad composed of Footscray players was defeated by a Tasmanian team.[3]

In 1967, a charity match was played in Regent's Park in London, between Aussie Girls and Wild Colonial Girls as a curtain raiser to a promotional men's match.[48]

1980s: The modern leagues emerge

Beyond this and occasional matches over the years, women's football was rarely organised until the formation of the Victorian Women's Football League in 1981, with four teams competing at open level. With the West Australian Women's Football League's formation in 1988, followed by that of the South Australian Women's Football League in 1991, there were competitions in the three major states in the sport.

The first national junior championships for girls were established in 1992 with the advent of the first AFL Women's National Championship, while junior sides later took part in the first AFL Women's Under 18 Championships in 2008–2010.[49]

Women's Australian rules football began to rapidly grow in 2000, with the number of registered teams increasing by a phenomenal 450%.[50]

In 2006 the Australian Services and the ADF conducted a national development camps for female players to form a services league.[51]

In 2007, the organisers of the E. J. Whitten Legends Game included, for the first time, female participants - Daisy Pearce and Shannon McFerran, both of the Victorian Women's Football League - enabling them to play against former men's AFL players.[52] This significantly raised the profile of women's football in Victoria, with some of the former AFL players being outplayed by the female players. It became one of the few high-profile mixed-gender exhibition matches featuring high-profile women's players.[52]

In women's Australian rules football in 2015, 163 new teams were formed, and a total of 284,501 players took part in organised games.[53]

The first full international game was held between the USA Freedom and Team Canada in Vancouver on Saturday 4 August 2007 in front of a crowd of almost 2,500.[54][55][56]

The 2019 AFLW Grand Final in Adelaide set the record for a stand-alone women's sports fixture in Australia and a new world record attendance for women's Australian rules football of 53,034 at the Adelaide Oval.[57]

A new record crowd for women's Australian rules football in New South Wales was set at the North Sydney Oval on 27 August 2022 with 8,264 in attendance.[58]

The Round 1 AFL Women's Season 7 match between Sydney and St Kilda at the North Sydney Oval on 27 August 2022 - also the first ever match for the Swans' women's team - set a new record crowd for a stand-alone women's Australian rules match attendance in New South Wales with 8,264.[58]

Rule modifications

Some women's competitions, but not all, are played with modified rules.[59]

The main rule differences between women's and men's versions of Australian football involves modified tackling rules. Typically, aggressive slinging (swinging a player by the jumper or throwing the player to the ground) of opposition players in a tackle is not allowed. However, like the men's game, head-high contact is also not allowed.

Another main difference is the size of the ball: a slightly smaller ball to the men's version is often used to reduce hand injuries when marking the ball.

Games of International rules football are also played by many women's leagues against Gaelic Athletic Association clubs, and Recreational football, a fully non-contact version of Australian rules football, is also becoming popular amongst women in Australia and the United States. Many women's leagues also fall into the emerging 9-a-side footy or Metro footy formats.

Competitions

AFLW National league

A national competition backed by the AFL began in 2017. Bids for a licence to participate were submitted by 13 existing AFL teams, with eight teams awarded licences to participate in the inaugural season. All 18 AFL clubs have fielded an AFLW team since the second season of 2022.

The competition had been announced in 2008 and was slated to commence in 2013 with four to eight teams, but this was later postponed to 2020 following an AFL Commission review into the state of women's football, while it was also found that both newly admitted clubs, the Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney, would not have time to submit their bids in full.[60]

While a licence had been granted to Fremantle under the umbrella of the Women's Football League in February 2010, due to this review and logistical issues surrounding the admission of the Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney to the AFL, this licence was recalled. After the announcement of the foundation of the AFLW in 2017, this licence was reissued to the club.

National Championships

Women's Football Australia were responsible for the annual AFL Women's National Championship, which ran from 1992 to 2015. After the 2015 edition, the AFL arranged the 2016 Exhibition Series and announced the formation of the AFLW in September 2016: with this, the raison d'etre for the Championship and Women's Football Australia ceased to exist, and they were dissolved.

In its history, eleven teams - two from Victoria (a senior team and an under-19s team), and single teams from the ACT, Northern Territory, New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, the Australian Defence Force, Queensland, Papua New Guinea and Tasmania - participated, with Victoria winning all of the championships (all but one by their senior team).

International competition

A match between Ireland and the US in the women's division of the 2011 Australian Football International Cup

There was a women's division at the 2008 Australian Football International Cup with Australia, US, Canada and Papua New Guinea competing. There is also International Rules Football with a women's Australia women's international rules football team competing against the Ireland women's international rules football team.[61][62] The 2006 tour helped to lift the profile of the sport slightly in Australia.[63]

The first ever full international was held between the US "Freedom" and Team Canada in Vancouver on Saturday 4 August 2007.[54][55] The US Freedom toured Australia in August 2009 playing teams in Sydney, Cairns, Bendigo, and Melbourne over an 8-day period.

Papua New Guinea's national team, the "Kurakums", competed in the AFL Women's National Championship before the Championship was dissolved in 2015.[64]

Participation figures

The AFL's participation estimate for females is 530,166 participants worldwide in 2021.[65]

During the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, women's Australian rules football saw a large expansion in the number of competitors.[66] In 1998, Auskick, a national program began. The program was designed to introduce the game to primary school aged children. By 2006, it had over 140,000 participants each year. Though the program was never specifically aimed at girls, the safe non-contact environment proved popular and in 2007 about 16% (12%) in of all Auskick participants were female.[67]

In Australia, a total of 18,609 girls and women played Australian rules football in 2005 and in 2006 48,054 women played the sport in Australia, and it is one of the fastest growing sports among women in Australia.[68]

By 2017, a record number of 463,364 females were playing Australian rules football across the nation, making up 30% of all participants. The number of female Australian Rules Football teams reached 1,690 nationally, a huge 76% increase on the previous year.[69]

By region

Australia

There are women's Australian rules football teams in all states and territories of Australia.

Victoria

Players in the Victorian Women's Football League, 2008, left to right: Phoebe McWilliams, Rachel Achampong and Avril Chow

Organised women's Australian rules football has been played in Victoria since 1981 with the formation of the Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL), the oldest and largest Australian rules football league for women in the world.

Women's football in Victoria has a comparatively high profile in the media. The work done by League president Debbie Lee and Media Manager Leesa Catto as well as involvement by celebrities such as Tiffany Cherry have helped to boost exposure for the sport. The VWFL Grand Final is now played in front of a crowd exceeding 1,500 people. The annual Vic Country vs Vic Metro match has been now played as a curtain raiser to a home and away Australian Football League match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. VWFL players have participated in charity matches against senior male players in both the AFL Legends Game (which is broadcast on television in multiple states and live in Victoria)[70][71] and Community Cup.[72]

The VWFL is an open age Women's Footy competition which began in 1981 with four teams. In the following decades it has grown substantially and now features 3 division structure and as well as many clubs fielding teams in the reserve grades for the first and second division. In 2004 the League affiliated with Football Victoria. In 2005 there were 24 teams (from 20 clubs) in total, with over 800 women taking part.

A U17 Youth Girls Competition was established by Football Victoria in 2004. This was following legal action taken against them in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (following a complaint to the Equal Opportunity Commission) by Penny Cula-Reid, Emily Stayner, and Helen Taylor.[73] The three schoolgirls were banned from playing in junior leagues, with fears of expensive insurance liability in case of injury and "medical reasons" being cited by Football Victoria (i.e. the physical differences between the bodies of boys and girls). The court found in favour of the girls in February 2004. In response to the ruling, the U17 Youth Girls Competition began in May, with 122 girls participating.

Victoria fields both senior and under 19 in the AFL Women's National championships and have been the dominant state, with the two teams combined having won every one of the 15 national titles. [74]

Western Australia

Organised Women's Australian rules football has been played in Western Australia since 1988, with the first premiership being won by Mount Lawley. Although it has less clubs than Queensland, Western Australia is considered the strongest women's state outside of Victoria. The strongest clubs are in Perth.

South Australia

In 1990, a group of South Australian women helped instigate an exhibition match between a South Australian side and the Victorian Women's Football League. The success of the match saw the formation of the SAWFL for the next season. The clubs are centred in Adelaide.

New South Wales

The Sydney Women's AFL competition is the only organised women's football in New South Wales. It has been running since 2000 and has grown substantially in popularity. Centred on metropolitan Sydney it has two divisions and 12 clubs in 2013. In 2015, the Black Diamond AFL commenced its inaugural women's competition in the Newcastle and Central Coast regions. Six clubs participated in the inaugural season (Maitland, Newcastle City, Nelson Bay, Warners Bay, Lake Macquarie and Wyong Lakes), with Newcastle City defeating Nelson Bay by 22 points in the Grand Final to claim the first BDAFL Women's premiership. The competition expanded to ten clubs in 2016 with teams from Singleton, Cardiff, Killarney Vale and Gosford entering teams. Nelson Bay avenged their 2015 heartbreak with an undefeated season culminating in a 3-point win over Newcastle City in the Grand Final. The competition continues to gain momentum with hopes of a second division being created in the near future.

Queensland

Players contest the ball during a match between Bond University and Burleigh Heads, Queensland.

There are leagues centred in South-East Queensland and Central Queensland, and the cities of Cairns, Townsville, and Mackay.

Northern Territory

Australian Capital Territory

Tasmania

Tasmanian Women's Football League

Outside Australia

Africa

AFL South Africa runs a junior program which includes girls in mixed competition. There are plans for a junior girls' league in the North West Province.[75]

Americas

Organised women's football is played in the United States (organised by the Women's Australian Football Association) and Canada (organised by the Canada Women's Australian Football League). The first match in the United States was played in Kansas City in October 2003. A women's division was introduced to the USAFL National Championships in 2005.[76] Both the U.S. national team (known as the USA Freedom) and the Canadian national team (known as the Northern Lights) have played in the Australian Football International Cup. Outside of those countries, an under-19s championship with male and female divisions was held in Argentina in 2007.[77]

Asia-Pacific

The Canterbury AFL in Christchurch played the first official women's football match in New Zealand late in 2006.[78]

Also in 2006, AFL PNG (the sport's governing body in Papua New Guinea announced their first women's team (Under 16s) to take part in the Australian national women's tournament.[79] It is estimated that there are around 200 women's Australian rules footballers in PNG.[80]

In Japan, Australian rules football is played in many universities. Women's footy is played by the Tokyo Geckos, the Irish Galahs (Gaelic football) and Osaka Bilbies.[81]

Europe

The first ever women's footy match in the UK was organised by Aussie Rules UK and was held in London on 21 April 2007 as part of the ANZAC Sports Challenge. Since then, women's Australian rules football teams have been formed across Europe, with women's teams representing England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Sweden, Croatia, and a combined Wales/Denmark team competing at the 2017 Australian Rules Football European championship, known as the Euro Cup.[82] There is a women's league in London, founded in 2015, which currently consists of teams from 7 clubs across two divisions.[83]

There are also University-based women's Australian rules football teams across Europe, such as at the Universities of Cork, Birmingham, Oxford, and Cambridge. The University of Oxford founded a women's team in 2015, with the University of Cambridge following in 2017. After more than 100 years since the first recorded men's Oxford versus Cambridge Australian rules football varsity match (as reported in the Kalgoorlie Miner newspaper in 1911) the first women's Australian rules varsity match was played in Oxford in March 2018 and resulted in a draw.

Notable Internationals

While there are an increasing number of professional and semi-professional players with multicultural backgrounds, increasingly players from outside of Australia are also finding pathways to semi-professional leagues. Like the AFL, this includes a large number of Irish converts from gaelic games such as Laura Duryea, Cora Staunton and Clara Fitzpatrick among others. However it also includes players from other countries (many with a rugby background) including New Zealand: Brooke Walker, Makaela Tuhakaraina, Lucy Single, Jesse Tawhiao-Wardlaw, Dee Heslop and Vaomua Laloifi; the United States: Danielle Marshall (USA); Canada: Kendra Heil and South Sudan: Akec Makur Chuot.

Of these, Laura Duryea and Clara Fitzpatrick (Ireland) and Kendra Heil (Canada) have represented their country at international level.

LGBTI issues

In September 2017 the AFL ruled that transgender woman, Hannah Mouncey, was ineligible for selection in the 2018 AFLW draft.[84] There was opposition to the AFL's decision,[85][86] and she can continue to play for her Canberra club.[87]

See also

References

  1. ↑ AFLW passes the million mark as crowds keep growing
  2. ↑ Over 2.6 million Australians watch AFLW on TV from Roy Morgan 29 March 2021 Finding No. 8674
  3. 1 2 3 4 Growth of women’s football has been a 100-year revolution – it didn’t happen overnight from The Conversation
  4. ↑ "LADIES' FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION". The Tarrangower Times And Maldon District Advertiser. No. 420. Victoria, Australia. 13 May 1862. p. 3. Retrieved 23 January 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ Bendigo Advertiser 2 August 1880 Page 2
  6. 1 2 Lenkić, Brunette; Hess, Rob (2016). Play On!: The Hidden History of Women's Australian Rules Football. Victoria Echo Publishing. ISBN 9781760063160.
  7. ↑ Williamstown Chronicle 17 July 1886 Page 2 The Chronicle.
  8. ↑ "COSTUME FOOTBALL MATCH". The Ballarat Star. Vol. XXXII, no. 197. Victoria, Australia. 22 August 1887. p. 3. Retrieved 31 January 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ "THEATRICAL FOOTBALL MATCH". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 14, 994. Victoria, Australia. 19 July 1894. p. 5. Retrieved 31 January 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ↑ "THE THEATRICAL CARNIVAL AT THE EXHIBITION BUILDING". Weekly Times. No. 1, 348. Victoria, Australia. 8 June 1895. p. 10. Retrieved 31 January 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ↑ "Foy & Gibson women's football team". 1 January 1917 – via innopac.slwa.wa.gov.au Library Catalog.
  12. ↑ The Daily News 8 October 1917 Page 3 FOY AND GIBSON'S POPULAR GIRL
  13. ↑ Leader 26 October 1918 Page 47 EQUAL PRIZE.—A GRADE A GIRLS FOOTBALL MATCH.
  14. ↑ The Ballarat Star 28 Sep 1918 Page 2 KHAKI GIRLS.
  15. ↑ "Charlie and the Clothing Factory: Mr Clymo, Women's Football and Ballarat's Avenue of Honour".
  16. ↑ The Ballarat Star 30 Sep 1918 Page 6 KHAKI GIRLS IN BALLARAT.
  17. ↑ The Ballarat Star 11 December 1918 Page 44 LUCAS GIRLS' FOOTBALL TEAM.
  18. ↑ "Photographic image of 1915 Girls' Football Match in Perth, Western Australia". Innopac.slwa.wa.gov.au. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  19. ↑ Mirror 5 December 1925 Page 4 BRENNAN'S WIN A DOUBLE.
  20. 1 2 "LADIES' FOOTBALL MATCH". Port Adelaide News. Vol. 6, no. 12. South Australia. 1 November 1918. p. 1. Retrieved 14 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  21. ↑ "LADIES' FOOTBALL MATCH". Port Adelaide News. Vol. 6, no. 12. South Australia. 1 November 1918. p. 1. Retrieved 14 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  22. ↑ Daily Herald (Mon 21 June 1920 Page 7 RIVERTON GIRLS AT FOOTBALL.
  23. ↑ AFL Record. Round 19 (Women's Round), 2007. Pg 8
  24. ↑ "Oriel", in The Argus, of Saturday, 12 April 1913, noting that, "At the meeting of the Victorian Football Association last week an application for registration as an umpire was received from a young lady", presented the following satirical verse:
    I saw her at a football match,
       She held the game in check;
    The whistle blew,
    She cried, "Here, you,
       Free kick for round the neck!"

    I met her at a dance that night,
       And held her close embraced;
    Her eyes so blue,
    Shone out, "Here, you,
       Free kiss for round the waist".
  25. ↑ "VICTORIAN WOMAN FOOTBALLER". The Herald. No. 14, 152. Victoria, Australia. 23 July 1921. p. 4 (Sporting Edition). Retrieved 31 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  26. ↑ The Sydney Morning Herald 14 August 1922 Page 10 VICTORIAN TEAM IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA.
  27. ↑ Richmond Guardian, 18 August 1923
  28. 1 2 "News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 – 1954) – 8 Aug 1929 – p17". Trove. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  29. ↑ "The Sports Girl" The Mail 15 March 1930 Page 16
  30. ↑ Advertiser and Register 24 April 1931 Page 17 GIRLS' FOOTBALL TEAM
  31. ↑ The Herald 25 April 1931 Page 7 GIRLS ORGANISE FOOTBALL TEAM
  32. ↑ Sunday Times 24 August 1930 Page 6
  33. ↑ The Northern Miner 22 Sep 1931 Page 4 PROTEST BY WOMEN.
  34. ↑ Weekly Times 3 October 1931 Page 30 Girls' Football Match was Feature of Oakleight Carnival in Aid of Local Football Club
  35. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Soccer – Cricket – Perhaps! But Rugby – Well Girls – Really!! (1933)" – via YouTube.
  36. ↑ The Herald 22 July 1933 Page 36 U. S. Tourists See Melbourne "The Weaker Sex"
  37. ↑ "WOMEN'S NEWS INTERESTS". The Examiner (Tasmania). Vol. C, no. 92. Tasmania, Australia. 27 June 1941. p. 6 (LATE NEWS EDITION). Retrieved 31 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  38. ↑ "Photographic image of Women's Football Match, Western Australia". Innopac.slwa.wa.gov.au. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  39. ↑ Recorder 14 June 1944 Page 4 MANY RULES BROKEN
  40. ↑ "Essendon girls at football". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 31, 458. Victoria, Australia. 28 June 1947. p. 46. Retrieved 31 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  41. ↑ "Girls' Football Premiership". The Herald. No. 21, 878. Victoria, Australia. 4 July 1947. p. 3. Retrieved 31 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  42. ↑ Examiner 20 August 1946 Page 5 GIRLS' FOOTBALL TEAMS MEET ON NORTH-WEST COAST
  43. ↑ Weekly Times Nov 1946 Page 29
  44. ↑ Camperdown Chronicle 11 August 1947 Page 2 Camperdown Girls' Football Team
  45. ↑ News 26 August 1947 Page 4 Adelaide Has Seven Girls' Football Teams
  46. ↑ "GIRLS HELP CHARITY". The West Australian. Vol. 69, no. 20, 951. Western Australia. 14 September 1953. p. 27. Retrieved 31 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  47. ↑ Cobram Courier12 Aug 1954 GIRLS' FOOTBALL
  48. ↑ "Now it's Rules Britannia". The Canberra Times. Vol. 41, no. 11, 728. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 30 June 1967. p. 14. Retrieved 7 December 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  49. ↑ "About the U18 AFL Youth Girls National Championships". AFL Community. SportsTG. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  50. ↑ "Women in a league of their own – realfooty.com.au". Theage.com.au. 31 May 2003. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  51. ↑ "Happy Aussie Rules campers". Air Force News. Vol. 48, no. 16. Australia, Australia. 7 September 2006. p. 26. Retrieved 23 February 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  52. 1 2 South Australia’s Abbey Holmes is happy to tackle the blokes in EJ Whitten Legends match by Scott Walsh for Adelaide Now 14 June 2014
  53. ↑ "Women's participation soars in 2015". AFL.com.au. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  54. 1 2 Brett Northey. "Women's international footy – Canada versus USA". World Footy News. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  55. 1 2 Christopher P. Adams, PhD. "US Freedom dominate in first women's international". World Footy News. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  56. ↑ Brett Northey. "North American women's footy on SEN". World Footy News. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  57. ↑ AFLW GF crowd 'a significant moment in history', coaches agree 31 March 2019
  58. 1 2 Beyond the Boundary with Baker: Learnings from Round 1 By Baker Denneman, Sydney Swans
  59. ↑ "Newtown Breakaways | Resources". Cd.com.au. 20 June 2014. Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  60. ↑ "Review could lead to AFL women's league". News.smh.com.au. 21 March 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  61. ↑ Sean Finlayson. "Brave Aussie ladies like ewes to the slaughter in Ireland". World Footy News. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  62. ↑ Peter Parry. "International Rules series for the Ladies/Women". World Footy News. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  63. ↑ "Women join in changing rules – Sport". Theage.com.au. 14 October 2006. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  64. ↑ "AFL PNG :: Pure AFL . . . Purely Papua New Guinea". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 26 July 2007.
  65. ↑ Females lead big rise in football participation rate by Mitch Cleary FEB 24. 2019
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  67. ↑ "As a footballer, Daisy's in a league of her own" by Martin Flanagan for The Age 8 August 2007.
  68. ↑ "AFL News, Scores, Stats, Transfers – Real Footy". The Age. Melbourne, Australia.
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  74. ↑ "AFL News | Read the Latest Footy News". Real Footy. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  75. ↑ Brett Northey. "Out of Africa – and back – Allison's football journey". World Footy News. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
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  78. ↑ Brett Northey. "Women's Footy starts in Canterbury NZ". World Footy News. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  79. ↑ Brett Northey. "PNG girls set to travel". World Footy News. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  80. ↑ Rod Shaw. "Kurakums of PNG – showcasing international women's football". World Footy News. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  81. ↑ http://www.worldfootynews.com/calendar_event.php?eid=20041011092427537
  82. ↑ afleurope (28 September 2017). "Euro Cup 2017 Fixtures • AFL Europe". AFL Europe. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  83. ↑ "afllondon". AFL London. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  84. ↑ "Transgender footballer Hannah Mouncey ruled ineligible for 2018 AFLW draft". 17 October 2017.
  85. ↑ "By excluding Hannah Mouncey, the AFL's inclusion policy has failed a key tes". 19 October 2017.
  86. ↑ "Hannah Mouncey deserved more than the AFL's policy on the run, writes Richard Hinds". 20 October 2017.
  87. ↑ "Hannah Mouncey: We live in a non-binary world and sport is unprepared for it". 20 October 2017.

Bibliography

  • Lenkić, Brunette; Hess, Rob (2016). Play On!: The Hidden History of Women's Australian Rules Football. Victoria Echo Publishing. ISBN 9781760063160.
Look up Women's Australian rules football in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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