AFL - A plea

[shearer]

Folks, i know a lot of people here are relatively new to the game but can we stop calling the sport AFL on threads here.

It is Australian Rules Football. Ever since i was a kid, ive had people say to me "do u play VFL", then it become "AFL"...Ive put up wit it for 21 years but enoughs enough.

Im sure you dont call any of the following sports:
Soccer= NSL
League = NRL
uNION = RWC

You can call it Rules for short if u like, but i think calling it "Footy" will do.

Please before i go mad.

[Craig]

Re: AFL - A plea

Originally posted by shearer
Folks, i know a lot of people here are relatively new to the game but can we stop calling the sport AFL on threads here.

It is Australian Rules Football. Ever since i was a kid, ive had people say to me "do u play VFL", then it become "AFL"...Ive put up wit it for 21 years but enoughs enough.

Im sure you dont call any of the following sports:
Soccer= NSL
League = NRL
uNION = RWC

You can call it Rules for short if u like, but i think calling it "Footy" will do.

Please before i go mad.

Totally agree

There is nothing more annoying than someone asking wether I play AFL.

[Charlie]

AFL's a great sport...

Seriously, who cares?

[j s]

It's going to be a hard battle to change the common name, especially with all the authorities OFFICIALLY against you.

About 6 or 7 years ago (post 96) the authorities (AFLNSW, etc - or whatever thay were called back then) decreed to all the junior clubs in NSW that the game itself (not just the competition) would be officially called "AFL". Clubs were instructed to describe themselves as "xxxxx Junior AFL Club" and so on. Junior club recruitment publicity generally says "Play AFL" etc.

As an ex-Victorian I (like you) prefer to use the term "footy" but generally get misunderstood. "Rules" could work (it's just as meaningful as "League" or "Union") but the problem is get the public to recognise and accept it.

[monopoly19]

Re: AFL - A plea

Originally posted by shearer
You can call it Rules for short if u like, but i think calling it "Footy" will do.

Actually, I can call it whatever I want. As long as people know what you're talking about, it doesn't really matter.

[Bart]

Officially the game is now known as AFL and marketed as so.

[Rizzo]

I'd have a hard time communicating to a lot of people.

I'm OK if I say "I'm going to the footy that night" or the like 'cause most of my friends know I'm a Swans member...but otherwise I have to deal with a League fan work colleague, a Rubgy mad brother-in-law and a collection of Liverpool supporters who I watch the Premier League with. At least I can stick to red for my colours.

[Nico]

I stand corrected, but isn't gridiron in the USA called NFL.

[Charlie]

Originally posted by Nico
I stand corrected, but isn't gridiron in the USA called NFL.

Football, Gridiron, NFL.

Much like the names Australian Rules, Aussie Rules, Football, Footy, AFL and greatest game on Earth are all interchangeable here I guess.

What does it matter? Apparently the AFL thinks that the name "AFL" is the most recognised one in NSW and Qld, and is therefore the one they use there. Here, they're just as happy to use football.

[CureTheSane]

I'm with Charlie.

Who really cares?

You can call me CTS

[Diego]

You know how hard it is to tell someone overseas you follow "Aussie Rules"!! 'Cause when you say footy they think soccer which is called football outside Australia and USA.

I just say footy and when they ask me what team i follow in the NRL I say "Nah mate, Rules" and they know. Outside Qld and NSW i don't need to explain myself.

arrghh I 'm confused!

[j s]

Originally posted by CureTheSane
You can call me CTS

Amongst other things......

[CureTheSane]

indeed....

Martin
Marty
buddy
dude

...that where you were going?

[jixygirl]

I don't think at al about what I call footy. Probably sometimes AFL, sometimes aussie rules, sometimes just plain old footy. It doesn't really matter to me.

[sharp9]

Totally disagree. There are 4 codes of football played in this country. In any post which refers to, or implies, any of the other codes it is appropriate in the interests of clarity to refer to Australian Rules Football as AFL. Words change all the time. AFL is now a noun referring to the game itself in addition to its meaning as a shortend term for the professional competition. This is the reality , get used to it. I know you will. Remember how irritating it was when bodies changed their names to something ungrammatical? (Cricket Australia, for example). You very quickly get used to it. Language is a changing, growing thing. In fact AFL commentators can be credited with their very own contribution to the english language, namely the use of the word soccer as a verb..."To soccer," is a very strange concept for anyone who has not been an AFL follower for ten years.