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AFL History
In 1857, Tom Wills, one
of the founders of Australian Football, returned to
Australia after schooling in England where he was football
captain of Rugby School and a brilliant cricketer.
Initially, he advocated the winter game of football as a way
of keeping cricketers fit during off-season.
The new game was devised by Wills, his cousin H.C.A. Harrison, W.J. Hammersley and J.B. Thompson. The Melbourne Football Club was formed on August 7, 1858 – the year of the code’s first recorded match between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar School. The game quickly blossomed. The Geelong Football Club was formed in 1859 and in 1866 an updated set of rules was put in place and competition started. The Victorian Football League was established in 1896 and the following year the League’s first games were played among the foundation clubs – Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne. In 1908, Richmond and University joined the competition. But after the 1914 season, University left the League. In 1925, Footscray (now the Western Bulldogs), Hawthorn and North Melbourne (now the Kangaroos) joined the VFL. This line-up of 12 clubs would remain unchanged until 1987 when the competition expanded to include the West Coast Eagles and the Brisbane Bears. BY 1997, the competition comprised 16 clubs after Adelaide (in 1991), Fremantle (in 1995), and Port Adelaide (in 1997) joined the now Australian Football League and foundation club Fitzroy merged with the Brisbane Bears to form the Brisbane Lions (after the 1996 season). |
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Source: http://www.afl.com.au/AFLHQ/History/tabid/967/Default.aspx |
| The Indian Premier League
(also known as the "DLF Indian Premier League" and often
abbreviated as IPL), is a Twenty20 cricket competition created
by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and chaired
by the Chairman & Commissioner IPL, BCCI Vice President Lalit
Modi. The first season of the Indian Premier League commenced on
18 April 2008, and ended on 1 June 2008 with the victory of the
Rajasthan Royals in the final at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi
Mumbai. The second season begins on 10 April 2009. Teams play each other two times in a round robin system, with equal number of home and away matches. The top four ranking sides will progress to the semi-finals. The inaugural 2008 tournament started on 18 April 2008 in Bangalore and lasted for 46 days, with 59 matches scheduled, out of which 58 took place and 1 was washed out due to rain The IPL is predicted to bring the BCCI income of approximately US$1 billion, over a period of five to ten years. All of these revenues are directed to a central pool, 40% of which will go to IPL itself, 54% to franchisees and 6% as prize money. The money will be distributed in these proportions until 2017, after which the share of IPL will be 50%, franchisees 45% and prize money 5% On 15 January 2008 it was announced that a consortium consisting of India's Sony Entertainment Television network and Singapore-based World Sport Group secured the global broadcasting rights of the Indian Premier League. The record deal has a duration of ten years at a cost of US $1.026 billion. As part of the deal, the consortium will pay the BCCI US $918 million for the television broadcast rights and US $108 million for the promotion of the tournament. 20% of these proceeds would go to IPL, 8% as prize money and 72% would be distributed to the franchisees. The money would be distributed in these proportions until 2012, after which the IPL would go public and list its shares. Sony-WSG then re-sold parts of the broadcasting rights geographically to other companies In India, the IPL has become one of the most popular events of the year. Around the world, reception has varied. In Pakistan the reception was described by Pakistani cricinfo editor Osman Samiuddin as 'massive', suggesting that it attracted even non-regular cricket followers and that the popularity of the Kolkata Knight Riders was great. GEO Super telecasted the matches and also included a popular show called Inside IPL. A similar positive reaction was seen in Sri Lanka, with interest in the Mumbai Indians being large due to the presence of cricket hero Sanath Jayasuriya. Bangladesh has also positively reacted despite only one Bangladeshi player being involved. The Knight Riders were the most popular team. These subcontinental countries were also helped in that the time-slot of the matches fitted in with prime time in these nations. South Africa has seen moderate viewership of the IPL, and by many accounts viewers have found it enjoyable. However, many were unable to relate to any of the teams, although a large number simply supported Mumbai Indians because of the presence of Shaun Pollock. The timing worked in South Africa but the IPL did not overcome the power of Premier League football or rugby. England did not allow its players to take part, but it was very popular with those who had access to the cable television channel that aired the games. In the West Indies, the IPL became so popular that it, according to Vaneisa Baksh, threatened to overtake test cricket completely in 'certain sections of West Indian fans'. While free-to-air coverage has not been complete and it has not ignited passions, it has remained a popular watch. The IPL was less popular in Australia and New Zealand, mainly due to to the time zone differences. Nevertheless, the IPL consistently won its free-to-air timeslot of around midnight Australian Time and 3am New Zealand Time RULES The official rules for the tournament are here. There are five ways that a franchise can acquire a player. In the annual auction, buying domestic players, signing uncapped players through trading and buying replacements.[12][13] In the trading window the player can only be traded with his consent. The franchise will have to pay the difference between the old contract price and the new contract price. If the new contract is worth more than the older one then the difference will be shared between the player and the franchise selling the player.[14] Some of the Team composition rules are: Minimum squad strength of 16 players plus one physio and a coach. No more than 8 foreign players in the squad and at most 4 in the playing XI.For the 2009 edition franchises are allowed 10 foreign players in the squad. The number allowed in the playing XI remains unchanged at 4. A minimum of 8 local players must be included in each team. A minimum of 2 players from the BCCI under-22 pool in each team. The players accorded "icon" status are: Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag . The total spending cap for a franchisee in the first player auction was US $5m. Under-22 players are to be remunerated with a minimum annual salary of US $20,000 while for others it is US $50,000. Icon players are to be paid 15% more than the highest paid player in their respective teams |
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