Aussie Rules USA

As far back as 1889 interest was shown in Australian football by a number of American businessmen on a visit to Australia. They thought that the game with its fast play and long kicking would become very popular in America. On returning home negotiations were conducted with Melbourne, Essendon, Geelong, South Melbourne and the VFA to send two teams to the USA to play a number of exhibition games. Unfortunately this was just at the time when thousands of Victorians were thrown out of work and, owing to the big financial crash of the banks and business concerns, the idea had to be abandoned.

Several Victorians, however, did go to America in search of work and started the game there with some success. Clubs were formed in Detroit, Boston, Brockton, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Oakland and San Francisco, and some of these teams adopted Australian names such as Victorians, Melbourne, Wattles, Kangaroos, Southern Cross, Batman, Fawkner, Royal Park, Magpies, Port Philip, Collingwood and Yarratown. The teams financed themselves and played on open allotments and at some matches collection boxes were taken around as no charges could be made.

It appears that some civic leaders saw these games and were impressed with both the style of play and the absence of serious injuries to players. At that time American football was extremely rough and not very attractive as a spectacle. Unfortunately the Australian code gradually died out owing to many players being able to get their jobs back in Melbourne. Despite this attempts were made to invite Melbourne and Essendon to play in San Francisco or the VFA to send a combined team, but negotiations fell through. A number of youth clubs sprang up around Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco, while it was reported that the game was being played in Wisconsin by University students.

In 1905 President Theodore Roosevelt became alarmed at the high numbers of deaths and serious injuries in American football. He was of the opinion that American football legislators should either make alterations to the rules of the game or perhaps adopt a new code altogether.

Seeing these reports the VFL wrote to the President suggesting that the Australian game be adopted. The League also sent copies of the laws of the game to 69 universities and colleges and some of them took the game up. In 1908 when the American Fleet visited Australia special exhibition matches were played in Melbourne during the Australasian Carnival and on returning home some of the Naval Cadets were encouraged to play the new code.

In 1909 Major Piexotto and Grant Holme brought a party of 60 schoolboys, aged between 14 and 18 years of age, to Australia on an educational visit. A number of baseball matches were played against school teams, and Australian football became popular with the students, who were very keen to learn the finer points of the game. Matches were played by the Americans against North of the Yarra and South of the Yarra State School teams on the MCG – other games being against College teams and the Melbourne YMCA. The team also played a curtain-raiser to a VFL match.

On returning home Piexotto and Holme were enthusiastic about the potential of Australian football and they organised the formation of a number of schoolboy teams. The game looked like catching on rapidly, but the outbreak of the first World War was its death blow, as it was in other countries where Australian football had obtained a footing.

A general lack of exposure and the popularity of American Football ensured that the game of Australian Football remained virtually unknown in the USA for many decades.