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Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
and
Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...
are codes of football, from
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
respectively, which have similar styles and features of play. Notably both are dominated by kicking from the hand and hand passing as well as rules requiring the ball is bounced by a player running in possession, both have a differentiated scoring system, with higher and lower points values for different scoring shots, both have no offside rule, and both allow more physical contact and players on the field than other football codes - 15 in gaelic football, 18 in Australian Rules. Although there are also many differences, the similarities have allowed a hybrid game to be played, with a regular
International rules football International rules football ( ga, Peil na rialacha idirnáisiunta; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was develope ...
series between top Australian AFL players and Irish GAA players. It was a popular assumption from the 1930s to the late 1980s that Irish football is the basis for Australian football, based primarily on the premise that Ireland is older than Australia and the two games look similar. The correlation between Gaelic football and Australian rules football also lec to a belief that caid played some part in the
origins of Australian rules football The origins of Australian rules football date back to the late 1850s in Melbourne, the capital city of Victoria. There is documentary evidence of "foot-ball" being played in Australia as early as the 1820s. These games were poorly documented bu ...
. Some historians have cited
questionable cause The questionable cause—also known as causal fallacy, false cause, or ''non causa pro causa'' ("non-cause for cause" in Latin)—is a category of informal fallacies in which a cause is incorrectly identified. For example: "Every time I go to sle ...
as a reason for the assumption, while others suggest
reverse causation The phrase "correlation does not imply causation" refers to the inability to legitimately deduce a cause-and-effect relationship between two events or variables solely on the basis of an observed association or correlation between them. The ide ...
as a possible scenario. Nevertheless the relationship of Irish football to Australian football and a hypothetical role in the
Origins of Australian rules football The origins of Australian rules football date back to the late 1850s in Melbourne, the capital city of Victoria. There is documentary evidence of "foot-ball" being played in Australia as early as the 1820s. These games were poorly documented bu ...
remains the subject of debate. While there are some mentions of Irish playing football in Australia (English and Scottish foot-ball were far more common) before the formation of the Melbourne Football Club, there is no specific mention of either "Caid", "Irish football" or "Gaelic football" in Australian newspapers of the time. The earliest mention from an Irish sources in Australia in 1889 was that the old mob football had very little in common with modern Gaelic football which upon first appearance in 1884 was received as more a hybrid of English and Scotch football.
Patrick O'Farrell Patrick James O'Farrell (17 September 1933 – 25 December 2003) was an historian known for his histories of Roman Catholicism in Australia, Irish history and Irish Australian history. Early life and family O'Farrell was born on 17 Septembe ...
, and Chris McConville along with Marcus De Búrca, have used similar logic to postulate that
hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...
(which was documented in Australia) was the influence, however modern hurling was not codified until 1879. Some historians claim that the similarities are largely coincidental, that there is only
circumstantial evidence Circumstantial evidence is evidence that relies on an inference to connect it to a conclusion of fact—such as a fingerprint at the scene of a crime. By contrast, direct evidence supports the truth of an assertion directly—i.e., without need ...
for a relationship between the two codes, and any resemblances are the result of something akin to
parallel Parallel is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Computing * Parallel algorithm * Parallel computing * Parallel metaheuristic * Parallel (software), a UNIX utility for running programs in parallel * Parallel Sysplex, a cluster of IBM ...
or
convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...
. Most contemporary historians emphasise the influence of
English public school football games During the early modern era pupils, former pupils and teachers at English public schools developed and wrote down the first codes of football, most notably the Eton College (1815) and Aldenham school (1825) football rules. The best-known of these ...
. More recent evidence primarily from Irish and English researchers including Tony Collins,
Joe Lennon Joseph Finbarr Lennon (1934 – 23 November 2016) was a Northern Irish Gaelic football manager, player and sports broadcaster who featured on ''The Sunday Game''. Playing career His league and championship career with the Down senior team span ...
,
Geoffrey Blainey Geoffrey Norman Blainey (born 11 March 1930) is an Australian historian, academic, best selling author and commentator. He is noted for having written authoritative texts on the economic and social history of Australia, including '' The Tyranny ...
and Aaron Dunne point to the GAA creating Gaelic Football as a hybrid of existing football codes (codifier
Maurice Davin Maurice Davin (29 June 1842 – 27 January 1927) was an Irish farmer who became co-founder of the Gaelic Athletic Association. He was also the first President of the GAA and the only man ever to serve two terms as president. Sports Davin was b ...
in an effort to differentiate from rugby has been found to have been making extensive notes on Association Football (soccer) from which some of the rules were based), and the Victorian Rules of 1866 and 1877 (which the modern Australian rules is based on), which were popular and widely distributed. More recently direct references to the published Victorian rules have been found in the rules of the founding gaelic football club in Ireland, the Commercial Club of Limerick from the 1870s indicating a strong possibility that Australian football found its way to Ireland even earlier than this, perhaps in a similar fashion to the way it was introduced to the colonies of
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
,
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...
and
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. In 1967, following approaches from Australian rules authorities, there was a series of games between an Irish representative team and an Australian team, under various sets of hybrid, compromise rules. In 1984, the first official representative matches of
International rules football International rules football ( ga, Peil na rialacha idirnáisiunta; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was develope ...
were played, and the
Ireland international rules football team :''This article concerns the men's team; for information on the Irish women's team, see Ireland women's international rules football team.'' :''This article concerns the hybrid sport of International Rules Football; for information on Ireland's n ...
now plays the Australian team annually each October. Since the 1980s, some Gaelic players, such as
Jim Stynes James Stynes OAM (23 April 196620 March 2012) was an Irish-born footballer who converted from Gaelic football to Australian rules football. Playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), he went on to become o ...
and
Tadhg Kennelly Tadhg Kennelly (born 1 July 1981) is an Irish-Australian former international sportsperson turned recruiter and coach. He is most known for his top-level careers in both Gaelic football and Australian rules football being the only holder of bot ...
, have been recruited by the professional
Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
(AFL) clubs and have had lengthy careers with them. Aside from game-play, a social difference between the codes is that Gaelic football is strictly amateur, whereas Australian football offers professional (
Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
), ( AFL Women’s) and semi-professional ( VFL,
SANFL The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...
, WAFL, etc.) levels of competition, providing a strong financial lure for Irish players to switch to Australian football.


Origins


Gaelic football

The earliest record of a recognised precursor to the modern game date from a match in County Meath in 1670, in which catching and kicking the ball was permitted. The earliest recorded inter-county match in Ireland was one between
Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town * Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia **Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * Cou ...
and Meath, at
Slane Slane () is a village in County Meath, in Ireland. The village stands on a steep hillside on the left bank of the River Boyne at the intersection of the N2 (Dublin to Monaghan road) and the N51 (Drogheda to Navan road). As of the 2016 census ...
, in 1712, about which the poet James Dall McCuairt wrote a poem of 88 verses beginning "Ba haigeanta". Gaelic football was codified by the
Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...
(GAA) in 1887. GAA founder and Irish nationalist Michael Cusack wanted the rules of Gaelic football to differ from
rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
, which was making headway in Ireland at the time.


Australian rules football

Australian rules football was codified in 1859 by members of the
Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...
. The first rules were devised by the Australian-born
Tom Wills Thomas Wentworth Wills (19 August 1835 – 2 May 1880) was an Australian sportsman who is credited with being Australia's first cricketer of significance and a founder of Australian rules football. Born in the British penal colony of New ...
, who was educated at
Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...
; Englishmen
William Hammersley William Josiah Sumner Hammersley (25 September 1826 – 15 November 1886) was an English-born first-class cricketer and sports journalist in Victoria, Australia, one of the four men credited with setting down the original rules of Australian rul ...
and
J. B. Thompson James Bogne "J. B." Thompson (1829 – 18 July 1877) was one of the creators of the original laws of Australian rules football, one of the founders and the inaugural secretary of the Melbourne Football Club, a cricketer for Victoria and the Melb ...
, fellow students at
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
's
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
; and Irish Australian
Thomas H. Smith Thomas Henry Smith (born 1 July 1830 in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, Ireland) was an Irish Australian who had a clear role in the origins of Australian football by being one of the first people to introduce school football games to Australia ...
, who played
rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...
at
Dublin University The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...
. Their knowledge of
English public school football games During the early modern era pupils, former pupils and teachers at English public schools developed and wrote down the first codes of football, most notably the Eton College (1815) and Aldenham school (1825) football rules. The best-known of these ...
, and the conditions and terrain of Melbourne's parklands, influenced the first rules of Australian football. It has been suggested that Wills was influenced by an
Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...
game, Marn Grook, as Wills grew up in an area where the game was played by local tribes. Historians such as
Geoffrey Blainey Geoffrey Norman Blainey (born 11 March 1930) is an Australian historian, academic, best selling author and commentator. He is noted for having written authoritative texts on the economic and social history of Australia, including '' The Tyranny ...
have argued that the origins of Australian rules football lie purely with rugby and other English public school games.


Traditional Irish football in Australia

In 1843, Irish immigrants in South Australia celebrated St Patrick's day by playing a game of caid in Thebarton. Some historians have argued that Gaelic football influenced Australian football. For example, Patrick O'Farrell has pointed out that the Irish sport of
hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...
, which has similar rules to Gaelic football, was played in Australia as early as the 1840s, and may also have been an influence on the Australian game. B. W. O'Dwyer points out that Australian football has always been differentiated from rugby football by having no limitation on ball or player movement (in the absence of an offside rule), the need to bounce the ball (or toe-kick it, known as a ''solo'' in Gaelic football) while running, punching the ball (hand-passing) rather than throwing it, and other traditions. As O'Dwyer says: O'Dwyer's argument relies heavily on the presence of Irish immigrants on the Victorian goldfields during the
Victorian gold rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony, and an influx of population growth and financial capita ...
es of the 1850s, and a comparison of the two modern games. There is no archival evidence to prove a direct influence of caid on Australian football. Irish sources in Australia in 1889 state that the old mob football played in Ireland bore very little resemblance to modern Gaelic football which upon first appearance in 1884 was received by the Irish as more a hybrid of English and Scotch football.


Australian rules football in Ireland

British historian Tony Collins argues strongly that the GAA hybridised Australian rules and soccer to differentiate from rugby, however takes the view that the development of Australian rules in the late 19th century was likely influenced by traditional Irish
hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...
(rather than Irish football) and points out that this sharing of codes across sports is a natural byproduct of globalisation. Bill Mandle notes that although it lacks evidence that Gaelic Football's come into being in 1880s is a possible indication of Irish Australian influence back home. Arguments were as follows:


The two codes were virtually identical in 1885

Aaron Dunne, an Irish sports writer and historian, raises the similarity between the 1885 GAA rules and the 1866 Victorian ones arguing that it is obvious that the GAA used the Victorian rules as a template for Gaelic Football. The similarities included the length and width of the field, the number of players per team (20 vs 21) the distance between the posts, goals and behinds used in the scoring system, the requirement not to throw the ball and the requirement to bounce the ball, everything apart from the shape of the field. Adding weight to this theory is former Gaelic footballer
Joe Lennon Joseph Finbarr Lennon (1934 – 23 November 2016) was a Northern Irish Gaelic football manager, player and sports broadcaster who featured on ''The Sunday Game''. Playing career His league and championship career with the Down senior team span ...
's thorough post-doctoral research analysing of accounts of caid and GAA codified rules against the Melbourne Football Club rules of 1959 and Victorian Rules of 1866 and 1877 appear to indicate direct copying, some virtually verbatim by the GAA from Australian rules and other football codes, but primarily from the 1866 and 1877 Victorian rules. For example early codified Gaelic called for Australian rules style behind posts (not present in caid and later removed) with 5 point goals scoring (later changed to 3) and 1 point "behind"s all borrowed from Australian Rules, and Rule 27 in reference to kicking styles, Rule 15 relating to foul play and rules dictating playing equipment appear to be directly borrowed from the Victorian Rules. Early Victorian Rules was played with also a round ball until the introduction of the Sherrin in the 1880s. Other than the directly copied rules, analysts argue that so many of the rules are so similar to the Victorian Rules that it would have been impossible for the GAA rule makers not to have obtained a deep knowledge of the Laws of Australian Football.


Australian founders had little to no knowledge of Gaelic football

Jack Worral in 1926 wrote that the "Father of Australian Football"
H. C. A. Harrison Henry Colden Antill Harrison (16 October 1836 – 2 September 1929) was an athlete and Australian rules footballer who played a leading role in pioneering the sport. Harrison's cousin, champion cricketer Tom Wills, captained an early incarnat ...
who had sought to "code of our own" in 1859 was genuinely surprised in 1927 to learn that the Irish had been playing a very similar game since the 1880s.


Gaelic football did not exist until the 1880s

Geoffrey Blainey Geoffrey Norman Blainey (born 11 March 1930) is an Australian historian, academic, best selling author and commentator. He is noted for having written authoritative texts on the economic and social history of Australia, including '' The Tyranny ...
in 2010 wrote: Irish historian Garnham, citing R.M. Peter's Irish Football Annual of 1880, argued that Gaelic Football did not actually exist prior to the 1880s and curious on the origin of the distinctive features was of the belief that clubs from England in 1868 were most likely introduced elements of their codes including the "mark" (a decade after it had been introduced in Australia) and scoring by kicking between the upright posts. He believed these attributes to have been introduced by English clubs Trinity (1854) and Blackheath (1862) who had their own distinctive rules, rather than from those of Melbourne. However these English games were otherwise dissimilar to both Gaelic Football or Australian Football of 1885.


There was a motive and means for borrowing the rules

Like the Victorians, the GAA worked hard to create a game that would differentiate from the popular British sports of rugby and soccer. While the GAA may have used Victorian rules to create Gaelic football, it is not known exactly how or when, Victorian rules were transferred to Ireland. One theory suggests that the origin was Archbishop Thomas Croke, one of the founders of the GAA, was the Bishop of Auckland and lived in
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
between 1870 and 1875. Croke visited Melbourne in both 1872 and 1875 at a time when Victorian rules was immensely popular His sister Mother Mary Ignatius Croke moved to Australia in 1866 and he made a planned visit to her Sisters of Mercy in 1875. Victorian rules was also known in New Zealand in the 1870s and was growing in popularity with the earlier games in Auckland played under hybrid rules of British and Victorian Rules not unlike Gaelic football, but its popularity lagged behind rugby, a game (which along with soccer) that the GAA viewed as a threat to Irish nationalism. Croke's desire to help promote an Irish style of football as an athletic pursuit was well known, referring to 'football kicking, according to Irish rules' in his 1884 letter to the Irish Republican brotherhood's Michael Cusack and he favoured it being played on Sunday. Croke had ample opportunity not only to witness the Australian game being played but obtain copies of the rules which were widely published and distributed. Croke was idolised by Gaelic Football's codifier Maurice Davin.


The founders of GAA and Gaelic football had strong links to Australia

There are many more links between the two countries than just Croke. Davin had other links to Australia, including his younger brother Denis, like his other brothers, an Irish athlete, who had emigrated there, and would have been familiar with the country's many customs. Like Davin, GAA founder Michael Cusack had both a brother and a sister John and Mary who had emigrated to Australia at a similar time.


There was strong Irish involvement in the early game in Australia

Between the 1850s and 1880s, there was a strong Irish Australian involvement in the early history of the game and officials regularly moved between the two countries, for example, Melbourne's
Thomas H. Smith Thomas Henry Smith (born 1 July 1830 in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, Ireland) was an Irish Australian who had a clear role in the origins of Australian football by being one of the first people to introduce school football games to Australia ...
and the Brisbane Football Club's first presidents in 1868 and 1870 were all Irish, and Dr Kevin O'Doherty returned to Ireland in 1885, the Victorian rules were well known by them. They were by no means the only Irish Australians involved in the game at the time, there were many, many others.


The codes still borrow from each other

This rule sharing has evolved the Irish game and continues to the present as recently as 2017 with the GAA's introduction of " the mark" from Australian Football, one of the game's other distinctive features, in order to encourage more spectacular aerial contests or the "high catch" in Gaelic Football.


Table of comparison

''This list is incomplete''


Field

Both codes use grassed fields of similar length, however Australian Football fields are oval shaped, slightly longer and wider, usually
cricket field A cricket field is a large grass field on which the game of cricket is played. Although generally oval in shape, there is a wide variety within this: some are almost perfect circles, some elongated ovals and some entirely irregular shapes with l ...
s. Another key difference is the score posts. Australian rules consists of four posts without a crossbar or net, whereas Gaelic football consists of two posts with crossbar and net. The Gaelic football ''pitch'' is rectangular, stretching 130–145 metres long and 80–90 metres wide. There are H-shaped goalposts at each end with a net on the bottom section. Lines are marked at distances of 13 m, 20 m and 45 m from each end-line. An Australian Football playing field, is oval shaped, and may be 135–185 m long and 110–155 m wide. It has a centre circle, centre square to control player positioning at start of play, and superficial markings including the 50-metre lines and goal squares. Goal posts are 6.4 metres wide for both codes.


Equipment


Ball

The obvious difference is the ball used. Australian rules uses an oval ball (a
prolate spheroid A spheroid, also known as an ellipsoid of revolution or rotational ellipsoid, is a quadric surface obtained by rotating an ellipse about one of its principal axes; in other words, an ellipsoid with two equal semi-diameters. A spheroid has circu ...
), similar to a
rugby ball A rugby ball is an elongated ellipsoidal ball used in both codes of rugby football. Its measurements and weight are specified by World Rugby and the Rugby League International Federation, the governing bodies for both codes, rugby union and rugby ...
. This makes a difference in the variety and style of
kicking A kick is a physical Strike (attack), strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee (strike), ...
. Australian rules is capable of producing a diverse range of kicking styles, the
drop punt The punt kick is a common style of kicking in Australian rules football. It is a kick where the ball is dropped from the players' hands and kicked slightly off the longer center line of the ball before it hits the ground. It is the primary mea ...
is most commonly used in the modern game, more so at professional levels. Gaelic football uses a round ball similar to a soccer or volleyball. The round ball can be kicked anyway you like, inside, outside and middle of your boot. The instep is the most popular style based on culture, the drop punt used in Gaelic is a far superior kick in terms of distance and accuracy, but is rarely taught. The first codified games of Australian rules football in 1858 used round balls.


Attire

Australian rules has evolved to have sleeveless jumpers, whereas Gaelic footballers wear short sleeved outfits similar to soccer or
rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...
tops. Long sleeves (usually worn due to cold weather) are acceptable in both codes.


Duration

Senior Australian rules matches typically go for 80 minutes, consisting of four 20-minute quarters (plus added time on; which ensures that many quarters in the professional and semi-professional leagues go for closer to 30 minutes, making the actual game length usually 105 to 120 minutes long). Senior Gaelic football matches go for 70 minutes consisting of two halves.


Advancing the ball

In both games, players must dispose of the ball correctly, by hand or by foot and the ball must not be thrown. Gaelic football deems the ''open hand tap'' to be legitimate disposal, whereas Australian rules enforces the
handpass The Handball or handpass is a skill in the sport of Australian rules football. Throws are not allowed, making the handball the primary means of disposing of the football by hand, and is executed by holding the ball with one hand and punching i ...
or disposal with a clenched fist. Unlike other forms of football, both games are notably distinct because of the absence of an offside rule. In both games, a player must
bounce Bounce or The Bounce may refer to: * Deflection (physics), the event where an object Collision, collides with and bounces against a plane surface Books * Mr. Bounce, a character from the Mr. Men series of children's books Broadcasting, film and ...
(or ''Solo'' in Gaelic) the ball while running.


Tackles and blocks

Australian rules allows full tackling above the knees and below the shoulders, whereas Gaelic football explicitly disallows directly tackling players. Both sports allow "shepherding" or blocking, although in Australian rules, bumping is allowed on players not in possession of the ball, whereas in Gaelic it is limited to use on players in possession of the ball. In 1886 the GAA banned tackling in Gaelic football, a rule change which marked a key divergence with Australian rules football.


Gaining possession

Both games begin with the ball in the air. However, Australian rules has a bounce down and allows only two players to contest the bounce. Both Gaelic football and Australian Football are openly contested and free flowing games. The main difference is the awarding of a ''
mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...
'' for any clean catch of over 15 metres off a kick in Australian rules, which results in a free kick or possession of the ball. This rule only exists in Gaelic in specific circumstances and is a fundamental difference between the two games. High marking or ' speckies' are one of the most important spectator attributes of Australian rules. In Gaelic football, regardless of a clean catch, a player must play on most of the time. In Australian rules, when a ball is kicked ''out of bounds on the full'', it is a free kick to the opposite team to the player who kicked the ball. Australian rules allows picking the ball up directly off the ground whereas Gaelic football does not (the ball must only be picked up by foot). Another key difference is that in Australian rules,
tackling Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking up ...
is allowed to either dispossess a player or cause the player to be caught ''holding the ball'' which results in a free kick. Gaelic football does not have such a rule. Possession may change in different ways in both games:- *When an umpire/referee awards a free kick to an opposition player *Following an unsuccessful kick at goal. *When an opposing player intercepts a pass. *When the player in possession drops the ball and it is recovered by an opposition player. *When the ball is wrestled from a player's possession In both codes, tactical kicking is an important aspect of play.


Penalties

In Australian rules, penalties available (in increasing order of severity) are: *free kicks (loss of possession) *distance penalties (often in multiples of 15, 25 or 50 metres) *ordering off (similar to a yellow card in association football occer not used in the
Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
) *reporting (to be sent to a tribunal post-match for suspension from future matches and/or paying a fine) In Gaelic football, the penalties available (in increasing order of severity) are: *free kicks (loss of possession) *distance penalties (often in multiples of 13 metres) *penalty kicks *
Yellow Card Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative conce ...
(cautioning a player, similar to association football (soccer)) * Black Card (player 'sin-binned' for a duration of 10 minutes before being able to come back on, similar to a yellow card in rugby union) *
Red Card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...
(player ejected from the game without replacement, similar to association football (soccer))


Scoring

In both codes, goals can be kicked by foot or shin. Gaelic football does not enforce this, however, and goals may also be scored by other parts of the body. A goal is worth 3 points in Gaelic football and 6 points in Australian Football. In both games, a point may be awarded for missing the goal. In Gaelic football, this is scored above the crossbar (known simply as a ''point''Gaelic Athletic Association (April 2008)
Gaelic Athletic Association Official Guide – Part 2
p. 60. Accessed on 23 September 2008.
). In Australian rules, this is scored between the shorter post and the goal post (known as a ''behind''). There are usually many more goals scored in Australian rules, as there is no
goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...
position due to the vertically limitless scoring area.


The mark

The
mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...
has been a feature of Australian rules football since the game was codified in 1859. After trials in the Irish game, a limited version of the mark — only for catches from kick-ins on or beyond the 45m line — was introduced from 2017. An advanced mark was introduced in 2020, applicable when a player catches the ball cleanly on or inside a 45m line from a kick in play (i.e. not from set-play) delivered by an attacking player on or beyond the opposing team’s 45m line, that travels at least 20m and without it touching the ground


Players

Many of the positions have similar names and are very similar. There is no ''ruckman'' in Gaelic football and there is no ''goalkeeper'' in Australian rules, instead there is a ''fullback'', although the fullback in Australian rules is not required to guard a goal in the same way that a goalkeeper does. A maximum of 15 players per side can play Gaelic football on the field at any one time, whereas Australian rules permits 18 players per side.


See also

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Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
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Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...
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International rules football International rules football ( ga, Peil na rialacha idirnáisiunta; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was develope ...
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List of players who have converted from one football code to another There are many footballers who have converted from one football code to another at a professional or representative level. In some cases, the player may also return to the original code, so the traffic is not merely one way. In some countries, su ...
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Comparison of American and Canadian football American and Canadian football are gridiron codes of football that are very similar; both have their origins in rugby football, but some key differences exist between the two codes. History Rugby football was introduced to North America in C ...
* Comparison of American football and rugby league *
Comparison of American football and rugby union A comparison of American football and rugby union is possible because of the games' shared origins, despite their dissimilarities. Rules Tackle In the event of a tackle in rugby the player may pass the ball behind him provided he is not on th ...
* Comparison of Canadian football and rugby league *
Comparison of Canadian football and rugby union A comparison of Canadian football and rugby union is possible because of the games' shared origins, despite their dissimilarities. Most significant differences The most significant difference in play is the allowance of blocking for the ball car ...
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Comparison of Gaelic football and rugby union A comparison of Gaelic football and rugby union is possible because of certain similarities between the codes, as well as the numerous dissimilarities. Until the mid-1990s, both codes were strictly amateur. The highest level of Gaelic Footbal ...
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Comparison of rugby league and rugby union The team sports rugby union and rugby league have shared origins and thus many similarities. Initially, following the 1895 split in rugby football, rugby union and rugby league differed in administration only. Soon, however, the rules of rugby ...


Footnotes

{{Comparison of football codes Australian Football and Gaelic football Sports rules and regulations Gaelic football History of Australian rules football