Australia’s Game is the definitive history of Australian football, tracing the evolution of the game from its earliest, rudimentary forms – in the period preceding the first recorded game, in 1858 – to the totally professional game of the modern era. The authors, all passionate about the history of Australian football, have provided readers with the fine detail of every important evolutionary point in the game’s development, in every state and territory. Australia’s Game also explores historical AFL issues including a deeper discussion on Australian women in the AFL as both supporters and players, as well as new evidence on the theory that the game was developed as an offshoot of an Aboriginal game.
The book traces the pathway to the national game, including forensic detail on how the Victorian Football League, on its knees in the eighties, with several clubs on the verge of bankruptcy, made the bold step to creating the monolithic national League.
