Australian rules football in the Australian Capital Territory: Map

Categories: Australian rules football in the Australian Capital Territory | Sport in the Australian Capital Territory | Australian rules football by state or territory

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Australian rules football in the Australian Capital Territory has a history dating back to the formation of the territory in the 1910s.

Traditionally, Canberra was considered to be one of the points which define the Barassi Line, however the popularity of Australian rules football suffered substantially when teams from the national competitions were introduced in both rugby union and rugby league. Due to its proximity to Sydney

, Canberra is a state with support for multiple football codes, including rugby union, rugby league, soccer and Australian rules football.

Despite Canberra not having a locally based team in the AFL (and never having officially bid for one), the AFL does schedule occasional matches in the city. It remains a popular sport and as well as a strong local competition, national competition games are played there by neutral AFL sides.

History

Competing team in the Canberra Australian Rules Football 1926 Grand Final

Goal posts at Manuka Oval, home of Australian rules football in Canberra

1911 saw the first recorded match of Australian Rules in Canberra

between the Royal Military College

and employees of the Home Affairs Department.

Three teams (Canberra, Duntroon and Federals) contested matches at the Acton Racecourse (now covered by Lake Burley Griffin

) and at Blanfordia (now Manuka Oval

).

In 1924, the first regular league was formed in the ACT, named the Federal Territory Australian Rules Football League.

New clubs gradually entered the league, when in 1927 it became known as the Canberra Australian National Football League (CANFL).

In 1931, the Canberra Australian National Junior League was formed.

Gate takings increased by 40% in 1975, and the CANFL changed to ACTAFL.

Australian rules football was a very popular sport in the territory until the expansion of the then-Australian Rugby League club competition, to incorporate a local team, the Canberra Raiders in 1982. The team was highly successful and effectively made rugby league the most popular sport in the territory.

In 1990, the AFL scheduled an International Rules match for Canberra Stadium

, which saw an attendance of 7,000.

The introduction of a successful locally-based rugby union side, the ACT Brumbies in 1996 (and a slide in Raiders on-field performance) saw rugby union overtake rugby league as the most popular sport. Some believe that a successful local team in the national competition would re-establish Australian Rules as a popular sport, however the small population is not seen as generating sustainable high crowds and sponsorship required for an Australian Football League team.

The Fitzroy Football Club expressed interest to the AFL in playing home games in Canberra. Accordingly, the AFL scheduled the first match to be played in Canberra for Round 9, 1996 match between the Fitzroy and the West Coast Eagles. Like the earlier International Rules, the match was played at the rectangular Bruce Stadium rather than Manuka Oval. Despite a frost, the match attracted a large amount of interest and a crowd of just under 12,000 attended and the Eagles defeated the struggling Lions by 28 points.

In 1998 the AFL (NSW/ACT) Commission took over operations of the ACTAFL.

Since 1998, Canberra has hosted the Barassi International Australian Football Youth Tournament.

In 2001, the Australian Football League club, the Kangaroos signed a deal with the ACT government to play some home matches at Manuka Oval

. The team has drawn reasonable crowds averaging around 10,000 at Manuka Oval. However, in 2007 the Kangaroos received a more lucrative offer, to play some home games at Carrara Stadium

on the Gold Coast, Queensland, and signed a deal to that effect. In August 2006, the AFL announced that the Melbourne Demons and Western Bulldogs would each play home games at Manuka, to fill the void left by the Kangaroos.