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Association football (or (somewhat pejoratively soccer) is a popular recreational and professional sport in Australia. The sport has a high level of participation in Australia. The fully professional A-League domestic competition has been operating since 2005 and the national team competes in the Asian Football Confederation. The national governing body is Football Federation Australia (formerly Soccer Australia).

History

The first recorded game took place in Hobart on 10 May 1879 when the Cricketers Football Club played a scratch match. The first recorded inter-club match took place a month later when the Cricketers took on New Town FC on 7 June (Hobart Mercury). This information predates what was thought to be the first recorded club, Wanderers, founded by a school teacher named John Walter Fletcher in Parramatta, New South Wales in 1880. The first game known to have occurred in New South Wales under FA rules took place the same year, when Wanderers played the Kings School rugby football team at Parramatta Common on 14 August. However, the oldest existing club is Balgownie Rangers, founded in 1883, which still competes in the Illawarra regional league.

Early governing bodies

The early governing bodies of the sport in Australia had to distinguish themselves from Australian rules football and rugby football, rival codes which had become very popular in the various Australian colonies during the 1860s and 1870s. The first inter-colonial game was played between New South Wales and the neighbouring Colony of Victoria in 1883.

The first football (soccer) association was founded in New South Wales by John Walter Fletcher in 1882, as the South British Football Association (some sources refer to it as the New South Wales English Football Association. In 1898 it became the NSW British Football Association.)

In 1884 both Queensland and Victoria formed their own associations, respectively the Anglo-Queensland Football Association (later to become the Queensland British Football Association in 1890) and the Anglo-Australian Football Association. The Western Australian Soccer Football Association was formed in 1896; the South Australian British Football Association in 1902; and a Tasmanian association about 1900.

The first Australia-wide body was the Commonwealth Football Association, formed in 1912, although this folded two years later.

Effects of immigration

While native-born Australians overwhelmingly played and watched Australian rules football or either code of rugby football, association football was highly popular with the various British and Southern European immigrant communities, all of which expanded rapidly during the 1950s and 1960s: Croatian, Greek, Italian and Serbian communities gave rise to most of the largest clubs. At the time, the game served as a bonding force within those ethnic minority communities, and as a point of identity amongst them and the wider Australian community. A similarly increasing number of British migrants also retained an interest in the sport.

Johnny Warren, who was a member of the national team at their first World Cup appearance, in 1974, entitled his memoir Sheilas, Wogs, and Poofters, giving an indication of how Warren considered that the wider Australian community viewed "wogball" in the 1970s.

League system

The league system in Australia since 1977 has involved a one divisional league controlled by the national body and many leagues run within each state below that with no promotion or relegation between the two.

National leagues

The National Soccer League (NSL) was established in 1977 and was the first national association football competition in Australia, with teams in five states or territories. This league, and Soccer Australia, were disbanded in 2004 and replaced by the A-League and Football Federation Australia respectively.

The first season of the new league began in August 2005. The average attendance (including finals) for the inaugural season of 11,627 was significantly higher than the average of 4,119 for the NSL's final season.

The national women's league the W-League had its inaugural season in 2008 replacing the long dormant Women's National Soccer League as the national women's league.

The A-League National Youth League was launched in 2008–2009 to provide a reserve/youth league for competitors in the A-League.

State governing bodies and leagues

The following state and territory federations are responsible for administering local league systems, which sit underneath the A-League:

• Football NSW (207,190 players in 2008)Annual Report
• Football Queensland
• Northern New South Wales Football (48,695 regular/1286 Futsal players in 2008)Annual Report
• Football Federation Victoria (48,889 regular/2915 Futsal players in 2008)Annual Report
• Football Federation Tasmania
• Football Federation of South Australia (10,000 players in 2008)Annual Report
• Football West (33,512 players in 2008) Annual Report
• Capital Football (ACT) (11,929 Juniors, 2500 men 2676 futsal 1200 women players in 2008)Annual Report
• Football Federation Northern Territory

Cup Competitions

There is currently no national FA Cup style knock out competition however each state, except Victoria and Queensland (who have regional cups), has its own cup competitions run by the state and territory federations. Some restrict the participants to only the top flight or semi pro clubs whilst others have more open entries via invitation or qualifying rounds. Ther oldest competition is the Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament which has been running continuously since 1974. The highest cup competitions in each state/territory are:

• Waratah Cup (NSW)
• Dockerty Cup (Vic)
• Milan Lakoseljac Cup (Tas)

National teams

Australia enters national teams into women's and men's competitions including in all under age competitions, as recognised by FIFA.

Men's national team

The Australian national association football team is nicknamed the Socceroos. In early 2005 with the re-launch of the game in Australia as "football", the FFA hoped the name would fade away, and for the team to be referred to as "Australia". Nevertheless, the name Socceroos was still used by other parts of the media, and by mid-2006 the name "Socceroos" was again being used on the official website, programs and merchandise.

On 16 November 2005, the Socceroos defeated Uruguay 4–2 in a penalty shootout to secure a place in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the first time Australia has been in the World Cup since 1974. The Prime Minister at the time John Howard, asked employers to turn a blind eye to workers turning up late for work the following day, highlighting the widespread interest in the match.

On 12 June 2006, Australia defeated Japan. Down 1–0 in the 84th minute, the Socceroos banded together for three goals in eight minutes, all by second-half subs; Tim Cahill (2 goals) and John Aloisi, giving them not only their first World Cup goals, but also their first World Cup win.

On 18 June 2006, Australia was defeated by Brazil. The final score was 2–0, although the half time the score had remained at 0–0. The loss was to some degree expected because the match was played against the reigning world champions. Following this match, on 22 June Australia drew with Croatia 2–2 in their final group match, and qualified for the knockout round of 16 for the first time in history.

On 27 June 2006, Australia was controversially defeated by Italy. The matched ended 1–0 in favour of eventual champions Italy, and the result put an end to Australia's World Cup 2006 campaign.

The Japan and Italy games were the top rating television programs in their respective weeks, and the Croatia game was the second highest in its week, despite the matches being broadcast between 11 pm and 5 am. However, the games were still outrated by other sport-related programs broadcast during 2006. The second round game against Italy was tenth on OzTam's survey of the most watched Australian TV events for 2006.

Women's national association football team

The Australian national women's football team are known as the Matildas and regularly qualify for the FIFA Women's World Cup and Olympic Games. The Matildas are widely acknowledged as one of the most improved teams currently in women's competition followed by their quarter-final showing at the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup; and are currently ranked inside the top 20 nations in the world at 12th.

Variants of association football in Australia

Futsal

Futsal activities in Australia, including the National Futsal Championships, are organised by a National Futsal Commission of Football Federation Australia.

The following Futsal State Federations are members of the National Futsal Commission:

• ACT Futsal Inc
• Soccer NSW Futsal
• QLD Futsal Association Inc
• South Australia Futsal Commission

Note: Not to be confused with other forms of indoor association football such as five-a-side football or indoor soccer.

Beach soccer

Australia national beach soccer team represented Australia in the 2005 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup coming 9th. The only other major tournament Australia has particpated in is the 2009 AFC Beach Soccer Championship where it came 5th.

Association football in the media

Pay television is the predominant outlet for both domestic and international association football in Australia. Some games can also can be heard on local radio stations. The anti-siphoning list which controls what must be kept on free to air television in Australia includes only the FA Cup games. The Domestic A-League will be added to the anti-siphoning list, but not until 2014 in order to prevent a breach of contract on the part of Football Federation Australia.

Following a A$120million, seven year deal deal between the FFA and Fox Sports, Fox Sports will have exclusive rights from 2007 to all Socceroos home internationals, all A-League and AFC Asian Cup fixtures, FIFA World Cup qualifiers through the AFC, and all AFC Champions League matches.

Representing the most significant TV rights agreement for association football in Australia, it is still relatively small compared to European association football leagues, such as the Premier League in England.

Fox Sports also has exclusive rights to the English Premier League and shows every match, with a viewers choice option available to viewers when multiple matches are being played at the same time.

SBS shows live UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League games and retains the Australian broadcast rights to the 2010 FIFA World Cup and 2014 FIFA World Cup finals. Pay Television stations (Fox Sports, ESPN and Setanta) also show Scottish, Italian, German, Dutch and Spanish leagues.

As of the 2009–10 season, free-to-air digital station ONE HD airs the German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A and the FIFA Club World Cup competitions live and commercial free.

The AMFL is the Sydney based association football competition for media groups. It's a mixed-league competition (men and women playing in the same team) and currently comprises teams from the Sydney Morning Herald, Sun-Herald, News Ltd., ABC-TV/Radio, Fairfax Magazines, and ACP Magazines. The AMFL is based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs, and all games are played in Queens Park, Waverley. The competition runs from end of March to end of August each year. The intention is to expand the competition with the addition of extra teams for the 2012 season, and submissions will be considered until 31 January 2012. The league is open to teams from all areas of media: print, TV, publishing, Pay TV, copyright, radio, advertising, IT, music publishing. The AMFL president is Jules Normington, of Bronte, NSW.

See also

• Women's association football in Australia

References

1. ^ FIFA Big Count 2000
2. ^ "Timeline of Australian Football". New South Wales Migration Heritage Centre, Powerhouse Museum. 2006. Retrieved 4 December 2006.
3. "Balgownie Rangers Soccer Club – Club History". 2006. Archived from the original on 24 August 2006. Retrieved 4 December 2006.
4. "Australian Football – Post 1974". New South Wales Migration Heritage Centre, Powerhouse Museum. 2006. Retrieved 4 December 2006.
5. "A-League Facts and Figures". Queensland Football. 8 February 2006. Archived from the original on 24 August 2006. Retrieved 5 December 2006.
6. "Socceroos' name to fade away". The Age. Melbourne. 14 January 2005.
7. "FFA Fixtures list".
8. Derriman, Philip (2 December 2006). "Big men hold their ground despite cricket's mass appeal". Sydney Morning Herald.
9. Steffens, Miriam (2 December 2006). "Nine Retains Its Title as Australia's Most-Watched TV Network". Bloomberg.
10. "Broadcasting Services (Events) Notice (No. 1) 2004" (PDF).
11. http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/166576/socceroos-games-to-be-added-to-anti-siphoning-list
12. ^ "Historic deal to secure Football's future". 3 May 2006.

v t e Soccer in Australia
Football Australia Australian Professional Leagues
National teams	Men's Senior B U-23 U-20 U-17 Futsal Beach Paralympic Women's Senior B U-23 U-20 U-17 Futsal
League competitions	Men's Level 1 A-League Men Level 2 National Second Division Level 3 National Premier Leagues Capital Football NSW Northern NSW Queensland South Australia Tasmania Victoria Western Australia Levels 4–10 Capital Football Premier League State League NSW NSW League Northern NSW League One Zone League One Northern Territory NorZone Premier League Southern Zone Premier League Queensland Premier League South Australia State League Tasmania Northern Championship Northern Social League Southern Championship Southern League One Southern League Two Southern League Three Southern League Four Victoria Premier League State League Western Australia State League Women's Level 1 A-League Women Level 2 National Premier Leagues Women's Capital Football NSW Northern NSW Queensland South Australia Victoria Western Australia Levels 3–8 Capital Football State League NSW League One Queensland Premier League South Australia State League Community Leagues Victoria Premier League State League Western Australia Women's League
Cup competitions	National Australia Cup State Capital Football Federation Cup Waratah Cup Sapphire Cup NNSWF State Cup Football SA Federation Cup Milan Lakoseljac Cup Dockerty Cup Football West State Cup
Others	Youth soccer Defunct leagues Defunct cups Professional Footballers Australia Women's soccer in Australia History of soccer in Brisbane, Queensland
Lists	Appearances (300+) Clubs Honours won Champions Men Women Clubs in international competitions Goals (100+) Record home attendances Stadiums by capacity
Venues Competitions Records

Template:AUS fb natteams

v t e Soccer in Australia by state and territory
Australian Capital Territory	Capital Football
New South Wales	Northern NSW Football Football NSW
Northern Territory	Football Federation Northern Territory
Queensland	Football Queensland
South Australia	Football South Australia
Tasmania	Football Tasmania
Victoria	Football Victoria
Western Australia	Football West

• Use dmy dates from August 2010
• Soccer in Australia