A Grand Final is a predominantly Australian sporting term used to describe a final that decides a league champion. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The final of a competition is the match or round in which the winner of the entire event is decided A sports league is an organization that exists to provide a regulated competition for a number of people to compete in a specific Sport. Terms such as Super Bowl and Championship Game may be used to describe equivalent events in other sporting competitions around the world. professional American football, the Super Bowl is the Championship game of the National Football League (NFL "The Championship" redirects here For the English football competition see Football League Championship. In some instances, the term may more loosely be used to describe the final and deciding game, race or match of an organised competition in any sport or contest, whether at amateur or professional level (such as the Inter Dominion harness racing series between Australia and New Zealand). The Inter Dominion is a Harness racing competition that has been contested since 1936 in Australia and New Zealand. Harness racing is a form of Horse-racing in which the horses race in a specified gait
Notable competitions which play a Grand Final include the Australian Football League, the National Rugby League, the English rugby league, the A-League, the Women's National Basketball League, and the Commonwealth Bank Trophy. The Australian Football League (AFL is both the professional Australian national competition in the Sport of Australian Rules Football and its highest The A-League is the premier Australasian domestic Association football competition The Commonwealth Bank Trophy was the elite national competition in Australian Netball from 1997 up until 2008
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History
The use of the term "grand" to describe a sporting event in Australia dates back to a cricket match in Sydney in 1862. Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries Sydney (ˈsɪdniː is the most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 4 The origins of the actual term "grand final" are slightly ambiguous and dates back to the period around World War I. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All
SANFL
Possibly the first Grand Finals of any kind occurred in the sport of Australian rules football in the South Australian Football Association (SAFA, now SANFL), on October 7, 1889. Australian (rules football, or simply known as football, footy or Aussie rules, is a Team sport played between two teams of 18 players Clubs Several clubs share their nicknames with AFL/VFL clubs This is purely coincidental the teams are not named after each other Events 3761 BC - The epoch (origin of the modern Hebrew calendar ( Proleptic Julian calendar) Year 1889 ( MDCCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common At that time, premierships were decided simply upon end-of-season ladder placings, but the game was necessitated when Norwood and Port Adelaide finished equal on wins and goals. The Norwood Football Club, known as the Redlegs, is an Australian rules football club belonging to the South Australian National Football League in the The Port Adelaide Magpies Football Club - "the Magpies" - was founded in 1997 to replace the original Port Adelaide Football Club that also shared the nickname "magpies" Norwood won the game 7. 4 (46) to 5. 9 (39).
The following years saw two more Grand Finals necessitated by ties at the top of the ladder. In 1894, Norwood played South Adelaide; the game was drawn, leading to the first of only five Grand Final Replays in senior Australian football history. Year 1894 ( MDCCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The Norwood Football Club, known as the Redlegs, is an Australian rules football club belonging to the South Australian National Football League in the The South Adelaide Football Club competes in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL A Grand Final Replay is necessitated when the Grand Final is drawn
VFA
Then, in 1896, in the (then) Victorian Football Association teams Collingwood and South Melbourne Football Clubs gave Victoria its first "Grand Final". Year 1896 ( MDCCCXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year History The Victorian Football Association (VFA was founded in 1877 on 17 May. Collingwood Football Club, officially nicknamed The Magpies is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The Sydney Swans is an Australian Football League (AFL club based in Sydney, New South Wales. [1] In 1896 two teams were ranked equal on each of the stipulated premiership criteria; and, so, in the last year of their participation in the VFA competition, Collingwood and South Melbourne played a hastily arranged, previously unscheduled elimination match in order to determine the premiership. Collingwood Football Club, officially nicknamed The Magpies is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The Sydney Swans is an Australian Football League (AFL club based in Sydney, New South Wales. [2] The match was tied until the last moments, with Collingwood winning by 6 goals to South Melbourne's 5 goals. [3]
VFL
In 1897, when eight teams broke away from the VFA to form the VFL, the concept of finals football was high on the agenda, with teams buoyed by the success and attendances of the 1896 Grand Final. Year 1897 ( MDCCCXCVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common History The Victorian Football Association (VFA was founded in 1877 on 17 May. The Australian Football League (AFL is both the professional Australian national competition in the Sport of Australian Rules Football and its highest Year 1896 ( MDCCCXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Over the following ten years, all top-level Australian football leagues had adopted a finals structure.
NSWRL
In rugby league, the New South Wales Rugby League competition commenced in 1908, also utilising a finals system. History See also History of rugby league The grass roots of rugby league can be traced to early football history, through the playing of ball games The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL is the governing body for the Sport of Rugby league in New South Wales and is a member of the Australian Rugby Year 1908 ( MCMVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year A satisfactory method was not settled upon, however, and they were discontinued in favour of a first-past-the-post system. During this time, post-season games were only played as tie breakers. But in 1926, finals were re-implemented, as in the previous season Souths had secured the title with a number of games to be played, and spectator interest suffered as a result. The South Sydney Rabbitohs, also known as Souths, The Bunnies, SSFC or The Rabbits, are an Australian professional Rugby league
Page-McIntyre system
Due to the various finals systems employed in the Victorian Football League, New South Wales Rugby League and other competitions, a "grand" final to decide the premier team was not always required. A playoff or final in Sports is a game or series of games played after the regular season is over with the goal of determining a league champion or a similar accolade However, in 1931 the VFL adopted a system, the Page-McIntyre system, which ensured a Grand Final, and the concept became entrenched. History The Victorian Football Association (VFA was founded in 1877 on 17 May. The McIntyre System, or systems because there have been five of them is a Playoff system that gives an advantage to teams or competitors qualifying higher The NSWRL followed suit in 1954.
Outside Australia
A Championship Final was introduced to determine the winner of the British Rugby League Championship in 1904, though it only became a regular fixture from 1906 onwards. The Rugby League Championship was the major professional competition organised by the Rugby Football League in Great Britain. In 1973 it was replaced by the Premiership Final, and the term Grand Final was first used in 1998, two years after the start of Super League. The Rugby League Premiership was a competition for British Rugby league clubs that operated between 1973 and 1995 The Super League Grand Final has now become an accepted part of the British scene, and the term 'grand final' is used to describe the final of leagues below Super League as well, such as the National Leagues and the Conference. The Super League Grand Final (commonly referred to as the Grand Final is the last game of the European Super League 's domestic season Media Some games are shown on Sky Sports, games involving Celtic Crusaders are shown on Welsh-language channel S4C. The Rugby League Conference (RLC (also known as the Co-operative Rugby League Conference as a result of sponsorship from the Co-operative Group, is a series of regionally
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ^ It was played because the VFA premiership system awarded the premiership to the team with the greatest number of wins and, if necessary, the highest (goals for)/(goals against) percentage — even though, ever since 1885, the match statistics recorded the behinds scored in a match, only the goals scored counted towards each season's premiership calculations — and then, if necessary, the actual number of goals scored. The AFL Grand Final is an annual Australian rules football match traditionally held on the final Saturday in September at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in The Super League Grand Final (commonly referred to as the Grand Final is the last game of the European Super League 's domestic season The perceived need for a structured final system was perhaps the most important single reason that eight senior clubs broke away from the Victorian Football Association (VFA in 1896 The McIntyre System, or systems because there have been five of them is a Playoff system that gives an advantage to teams or competitors qualifying higher See The VFA Premiership for further details of the structure of the VFA finals system. The perceived need for a structured final system was perhaps the most important single reason that eight senior clubs broke away from the Victorian Football Association (VFA in 1896
- ^ Despite the fact that this match is now univerally identified as a "Grand Final", it is unclear whether, in 1896, it was actually promoted by the VFA as a "Premiership Match" or as a "Grand Final".
- ^ Although the Collingwood team had kicked 9 behinds in addition to its six goals, and although the South Melbourne had kicked 10 behinds in addition to its five goals, the results of the match was 6 goals to 5. It was not until the inception of the VFL a year later (1897), that behinds contributed to a team's total score, with a goal earning six points, and a behind one.
References
- Ross, J. (ed), 100 Years of Australian Football 1897-1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996. ISBN 0-670-86814-0
Dictionary
grand final
-noun
- The culmination of a series of final matches played between a number of sporting teams
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