Aussie Surprise of the Month. World’s oldest football code

In 1858 Tom Will and Henry Harrison wrote the first ten rules of Football, thus becoming the first people in the world to codify a kicking-ball game. These rules predate those of Rugby, Soccer and Gridiron and Gaelic Football. Football may have been inspired by the Aboriginal jumping/kicking game of Marn Grook. The Victorian Football Association kicked off in 1877, but several teams broke away in 1897 to form the Victorian Football League. This became the Australian Football League.
 

Now the game itself is most commonly referred to by the league’s initials AFL, today a multi-million dollar business, with a pre-eminent National Competition. Interest in the game is generally at an all-time high within Australia and is the most popular spectator sport in Australia, with numerous leagues in all Australian states and territories. While it is a professional sport only in Australia, AFL is gradually growing in popularity in an expanding number of countries around the world including, the UK, USA, Japan, France, South Africa among many others.