Agreement But No Action On Football Coalition Plan

THE prospect of unification under the South Coast Football banner was raised with officials of the A-League bid and Wollongong FC yesterday.

Bulldogs Make A Home For A Pair Of Parallel Careers

Draft week joined two players who first met playing under-age football in Mornington, Karen Lyon writes.

Missing Cut Does Not Mean End Of Youthful Dreams

DAVID Dickson spent an hour and a bit at the Eastern Ranges football club last week, telling four young boys why they had not been chosen in his team for the AFL's under-18 championships.

Coaches Back Origin Concept

COACHES across the country have backed a return to state-of-origin football after the AFL confirmed matches could be played as soon as next year.

Gumbleton Makes Mark With Tough, Brave Performances

SOMETIMES, a footballer's on-field personality reflects precisely what he's like off the ground. Other times, it doesn't. The thing Scott Gumbleton likes most about football is that it lets him hurl himself around. "You can get out there and run and jump all day," he said. "I like to get a bit physical." At other times, though, the words low-key and contained describe the young West Australian, who isn't particularly interested in making people look at him. In his first game of this under-18s ...

After A Furtive Start, Houli's Aiming To Be Noticed

Football is important to Bachar Houli, but so is his religion, Emma Quayle writes.

New Top Football Division For Region

FOOTBALL in the Illawarra will get a boost with a new "super league" competition that could include clubs from outside the region.

Football Or Soccer? You Be The Judge

SHAKESPEARE wrote, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet." And we could apply that to soccer or football.

Discards Rejected Again

ON A day when football became a career for 64 teenagers and young men, the dream simultaneously ended for about 40 players who played at AFL level in 2005.

Teenage Talent On Tap

FOOTBALL'S most talented young prospects spent their weekend kicking balls around right outside Denis Pagan's office door.

Game On For The Girls And A Cause

IF THERE was no football played in Melbourne yesterday, someone must have forgotten to tell the footballers.

Sa Edges Out Vics In Thriller

THE South Australian National Football League representative side restored South Australian pride with a thrilling four-point win over the Victorian Football League representative team at TEAC Oval, Port Melbourne, yesterday, winning 20.8 (128) to 18.16 (124).

Metro Victorious At The Mcg

THE Vic Metro women's team celebrated Mother's Day weekend with a comfortable, 40-point victory over Vic Country in the curtain-raiser to yesterday's Richmond versus Carlton match at the MCG.

Vics Outclass Sa To Claim National Crown

The tournament was over before the game had started and, after only 10 minutes of the first quarter, the Victorian Amateur Football Association had confirmed its status as the No. 1 amateur competition in the country.

Jailhouse Rocker

Vic Simms played with Col Joye in the 1950s, yet few white Australians know of him, writes Sophie Best.

The Day Big Mick Conlan Barrelled The Vic Park Spit Brigade

At Victoria Park, crowd spitting was easily forgotten, except when a footballer gave as good as he got, Barry Dickins writes.

9 - St Kilda

St Kilda plays Geelong in tonight's Wizard Cup final. Tim Watson reports the team is determined to play a more physical and economical brand of football this season.

Art, Sport Blend Into A Sense Of Place

I first met the winner of this year's Archibald Prize for portraiture, Geoff Dyer, in the mid-'70s on a football field in Hobart, when he dropped me behind the play.

A Tale Of Two Teams When It Comes To Picking Up Talent

The recruiters are about to move in on the best of the young football talent. Emma Quayle reports.

The Ghosts Of Surburban Football

Melbourne's inner suburbs used to come alive on winter Saturdays as the hordes wound their way through back streets on their way to the footy. Now the matches are gone and the clubs are following, reports Paul Daffey.