A Game of Our Own: The Origins of Australian FootballToday Australian Rules football is a multi - million - dollar business' with superstar players' high - profile presidents and enough scandals to fill a soap opera. The game has changed beyond recognition - or has it? In A Game of Our Own' esteemed historian Geoffrey Blainey documents the birth of our great national game. Who were the characters and champions of the early days of Australian football? How was the VFL formed? Why was the umpire's job so difficult? Blainey takes a sceptical look at the idea that the game had its origins in Ireland or in Aboriginal pastimes. Instead he demonstrates that footy was a series of inventions. The game played in 1880 was very different to that of 1860' just as the game played today is different again. Journey back to an era when the ground was not oval' when captains acted as umpires' when players wore caps and jerseys bearing forgotten colours and kicked a round ball that soon lost its shape. A Game of Our Own is a fascinating social history and a compulsory read for all true fans of the game. |
Contents
Football in the Paddock | 13 |
To the Goldfields | 39 |
The Day of the Round Ball and the Oblong | 59 |
When Harrison Grabbed the Ball and Ran | 89 |
Rise of the Barrackers and Hissers | 107 |
High Marks Little Marks and Goal | 128 |
Victorian perish the thought | 172 |
The Hidden Money | 204 |
The Tribulations of the Man in White | 229 |
Myths Gaelic and Aboriginal | 244 |
Acknowledgements and Sources | 279 |
Back Cover Material | 323 |
Common terms and phrases
20 yards Aboriginal Adelaide Albert Park allowed American football Australian football Australian game Australian Rules ball is kicked Ballarat barracks Bendigo bouncing the ball boundary bourne called captain Carlton central umpire centre code of football Collingwood colonies crowd early matches East Melbourne England Essendon favoured field umpire Fitzroy football club football ground football match football season football team free kick Gaelic football game of football Geelong goal line goal umpire goalposts goldfields grandstand Harrison high mark Irish Jolimont kick the ball kick-off later little mark Melbourne Cricket Club Melbourne Cricket Ground Melbourne football Melbourne Grammar newspapers offside rule opponents parklands play football players posts premiership probably Richmond Paddock rough Royal Park Saturday afternoon schools scored Scotch College scrummage side soccer South Australian South Melbourne South Yarra spectators sport St Kilda Sydney town tralian trees Victorian Football Victorian Football Association Victorian rules winter Yarra Park