AUSSIE RULES UK: The Australian Football League (AFL) has its sporting origins based in the antipodes of the United Kingdom.

Down under, it is affectionately called a mixture of Aussie Rules footy, football, and Australian Rules.

The game of Australian Football League has a huge following of devoted fans and dedicated players.

In England, Australian Rules Football UK is also a feisty team sport played all over the country.

Spectatorship of Aussie Rules UK has grown steadily since the late 1980s. England has a growing number of local and regional Australian Rules football leagues. They get coordinated by the governing body AFL Rules in Britain.

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Rules of Australian Football

Object of the playing Australian Rules Football UK

The aim in Aussie Rules UK games is to kick a football in-between a series of 4 goal posts. How many points you score depends on which posts the ball goes between.

Team mates pass the ball around to each other in a series of fashions. The winning team is the one with the highest number of points at the end of play.

Australian Rules Football Equipment

The Ball:

The Aussie Rules footy ball is oval shaped (like a rugby ball) and made from leather.

Aussie Rules Pitch Size

Aussie Rules Football Pitch in Meters:

• AFL is usually played on an oval shaped Aussie Rules pitch (same shape as the ball).
• The dimensions of the ground range from 135 to 185 meters in length and 110 to 155 meters wide.
• Many Australian footy pitches share their grounds with cricket fields. That is because both sports use similar sizes and proportion.
• Marks around the perimeter of the pitch highlight the out of bounds areas.
• There are extra pitch markings for the center square and the center circle as well.

Aussie Rules Goal Posts:

• There are four tall posts 6 meters high positioned at each end of the pitch (scoring zones).
• The main scoring area (goal) is the two front posts which are 6.4 meters apart.
• The secondary scoring area (point) is the two rear posts which are also 6.4 meters apart.
• The goal square is 9 meters wide and spans with width of the goals posts.

Australian Rules Football Rules Players

• There are 18 players in each team who can move ‘freely‘ on the pitch. But, they are all assigned to different Aussie Rules positions in the field.
• Australian Rules football rules allow three substitutes for each team.
• Substitutes are ‘rolling‘ which means they get permitted to come on and off as many times as they like.
• A starting player who gets substituted during the match then become rolling himself.
• Aussie Rules Football Rules for Player Positions:
  • Full Forward
  • Half Forward
  • Center Line
  • Half Back
  • Full Back

Starting a Game of Aussie Rules UK

Aussie Rules football rules games start with ruck. The umpire hurls the ball into the air and one player from each team attempts to guide the ball to one of their team.

The same process gets used to restart the game after a team scores a goal. There are four 20 minute quarters in a game of Australian Football.

Aussie Rules for Scoring Goals

Kicking the ball between the goal posts without it getting touched by any other player scores 6 points. One point gets scored for booting the ball between one goal post and one of the rear posts (called point).

The attacking team also gets 1 point if a player carries (or forces) the ball over the scoring line. You score a goal when the ball enters the goalmouth and crosses the goal line.

General Aussie Rules Regulations

Simple Rules of Aussie Rules Football:

• The only legal method of passing the ball is the term called ‘handball‘ (or handpass).
• The ball gets placed in the palm of the hand and then struck or punched with the butt of the other hand clenched into a fist.
• The rules do not permit throwing or slapping the ball to perform a successful pass.
• Marking the Ball
• A player can ‘mark‘ the ball after they have received it for one of these three reasons:
  1. The player catches the ball without the ball bouncing.
  2. The player catches the ball after it has travelled over 10 meters.
  3. The player catches the ball before it gets touched in the air.
• The player cannot get tackled once he has ‘marked‘ the ball.
• Tackling after the ‘mark‘ or stepping over the mark results in a foul for the opposition. They will then advance the ball 15 meters down the field.
• Players tackle their opponents to try and win possession of the ball. But, they can only make the tackle on an opponent from shoulder height downwards.
• Being tackled and refusing to let go of the ball will get disciplined. The umpire awards the foul and possession gets turned over.
• Players can block the opposition by ‘shepherding‘ players away from the ball. But, this type of play must happen within 5 meters of the ball.
• Pushing opponents in the back is not allowed while they are running or while they are in a tackle.

Australian Rules Football Referee, Umpires, and Line Judges

• The total number is umpires for Aussie Rules is seven.
• Umpires use signals for all decisions and their call is final.
• Three main field umpires oversee all decisions on pitch as a rule.
• AFL Umpires’ roles and responsibilities include time keeping and enforcing the rules of the game. They also monitor all the match infringements.
• Two line judges referee the decisions when the ball goes out of play.
• Line judges can also intervene if the field umpire misses a decision.
• The remaining two umpires are goal umpires. Their job is to signal when a goal gets scored successfully.

Winning a Game of Aussie Rules Football

In Aussie Rules Football the winning team is the one with the highest tally of points at the end of the game.

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Advanced Australian Football Rules

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