The AFL is a unique and distinctive sport of Australia which attracts hundreds of thousands of football fans to multiple stadiums nationwide. The AFL, which currently consists of 18 teams, expands through a twenty-three-round regular season and is hosted by all competing states of Australia. A sports league with vast viewership continues to rule the betting world, and with trusty AFL tips, anyone can dive into this entertainment packed world!
THE START
The history of AFL dates back to the 1850s when a committee was formed following Thomas Wentworth Wills’ instruction to comprise a set of standard football rules to popularise football as a winter sport. During the 1870s and 1880s, the game saw a rapid expansion, as matches between Melbourne and Carlton’s football clubs started to attract almost 10,000 viewers. May 7 of 1877, saw the official beginning of the Victorian Football Association (VFA). The representatives of football clubs like Albert Park, Carlton, East Melbourne, Essendon, etc., formulated goals of promoting football and organising matches between colonies.
Around 125 clubs were formed in Melbourne alone in the following years, and VFA was able to charge admission with a regular schedule of matches and enclosure of additional grounds. The Victorian Football Association continued to flourish through the 1880s when Tasmania accepted the VFA rules in 1882 and through the formation of the Australian Football association in 1885. The Victorian Football League was created in 1896 as VFA proposed a plan to share the revenue to help clubs during the depression of 1893-95.
DEVELOPMENTS
As VFL continued to expand in the 1900s, it sought further national expansion by founding teams in Queensland, Western Australia, and South Australia in 1982. The year 1990 saw VFL changing its name to Australian Football League (AFL) to mirror the new national focus of their agenda. AFL emerged into the millennium in its most potent form as the most popular spectator sport of Australia. With several preseason matches being conducted in Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa, AFL has grown a strong fan base over the years.
The league has always been noted for promoting a membership-based system over private franchises. As the members control the clubs, they have been able to save their clubs from the threat of merging. Even though there was a brief phase in the history of AFL when private ownership was encouraged, it didn’t last long. The AFL constitution was amended, banning anyone interested from controlling/owning more than five per cent of a club.
AFL AND BETTING NOW
Betting has remained a large part of the Australian Rules football culture. Footy tipping is a popular pastime among AFL bettors. In this system, the players are known to nominate the team that will win in the week. There are several individuals, syndicates, professionals, and makers in Australia who work on AFL tipping. In recent years the traditional office and pub-run betting competitions were replaced by national betting websites, where AFL tips can be accessed through a simple tap.
This has attracted the attention of a lot of bettors, experienced and new. Thus, Australian Rules Football and Australian Football League have been owning a discreet place in the Australian culture for about one and a half-century, and they will continue to do so in the coming years.
