The Soccer in Australia reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Soccer in Australia

Soccer, otherwise known as football, was introduced to Australia in the 1860s.

The early governing bodies of soccer in Australia had to distinguish themselves from Australian Rules Football and rugby football, rival sports which also became popular at that time. The first game under FA rules did not occur until 1880. The New South Wales association was founded in 1882 as the South British Football Soccer Association; in Victoria, the Anglo-Australian Football Association in 1884; the Queensland British Football Association in 1889; the Western Australian Soccer Football Association in 1896; the South Australian British Football Association in 1902; and a Tasmanian association in about 1910-1912. The first Australia-wide body was the Commonwealth Football Association, formed in 1912, although this folded two years later.

Today, the National Soccer League, or NSL, is the national soccer competition in Australia, overseen by the Australian Soccer Association. The league was established in 1977 and was arguably the first truly national "football" competition in Australia. A new league, the Australian Premier League, is being organized during 2004.

The Australia national soccer team are known as the Socceroos.

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