How Touch Football came about from various forms of Rugby
The origins of touch football cannot be discussed without reference to rugby league and rugby union, as touch football is a non-contact version of rugby league.
Over the years though, touch football rules have been adjusted such that touch football is now a game in its own rights, but the basics of rugby league can still be seen in touch football.
1800s English Rugby Union and Rugby League
The origin of rugby football is reputed to be in 1823 when during a game of English school football (soccer) at the Rugby School someone picked up the ball and ran with it. Rugby stems from the form of game played at the Rugby School, with the first proper rules developed in 1845, which former pupils then introduced to their university.
Richard Lindon, a boot and shoemaker who had premises across the street from the School’s main entrance in Lawrence Sheriff Street, is credited with the invention of the “oval” rugby ball, the rubber inflatable bladder and the brass hand pump.
The rugby code was originally known as “rugby football”. It was not until after a schism in England in 1895, that the separate codes of rugby league and rugby union were created. Rugby league became semi-professional, while union remained amateur. The split was due to Northern England teams typically having more working-class players (coal miners, mill workers etc.) who could not afford to play without compensation, in contrast to affluent southern teams who had other sources of income to sustain the amateur principle. (In August 1995, rugby union became professional as well.)
Over the years, slightly different rules between the two codes of rugby developed, but the principle rules of field size, team separation and off-side rules, running with the ball in hand, scoring a try, and tackling remain the same. Except for the physicality of tackling (replaced with a simple touch) these are the same basic rules for touch football.
1900s – Australia
Rugby Union has been played in Australia since the 1860s, but it was not until the 1900s that rugby league became a game in Australia. Similar breakaway factions split from rugby affiliated unions in Australia and New Zealand in 1907 and 1908, renaming themselves “rugby football leagues” and introducing Northern Union rules. In 1922, the Northern Union also changed its name to the Rugby Football League, and thus over time the sport itself became known as “rugby league” football.
Touch Football – when did it start?
It is said that Touch Football started in Australia in 1963 as a social or park game and as a training technique for rugby league and rugby union. It is also claimed that at least as early as 1956, supervised Touch and Pass was played at several inner-city schools in the North of England.
In a story told to Greg Mallory by Harold (Mick) Crocker, an Australian Rugby League representative player from the 1950s, Harold says “When they (the Australian team) used to train overseas in 1954 they’d finish the training run and want to play touch football”.
In Australia, being a derivative of rugby, touch football was often played in training or for fun. When it first started in a park or training form is impossible to tell, and many people will tell you they played touch for fun in the 1960s.
Mid 1960s – Competitions were created around Sydney – refer Sydney (NSW) history page.
1968 – Sydney Competition that begin the movement towards state and national organisations in Australia
Refer South Sydney (NSW) history page.
See also ATA History 1967 to 2000
1970s – NSW expansion
The sport took hold in numerous inner-city areas of Sydney and the New South Wales Touch Association was formed in 1972, catering for six affiliated associations and approximately 1500 registered players.
The first NSW country association was formed in 1983 in Wagga Wagga.
The first women’s touch was played at a representative level in 1979.
1973 – Brisbane, Queensland
In 1973 older Brisbane rugby league players, after talking to NSW touch football players, began the first official Touch Football competition. These same founders of touch in Queensland, through their rugby league contacts, went on to actively promote touch football to other regions in Queensland, growing the sport very quickly. Refer: –Brisbane Touch Football Association (BTFA)
1970s – Interstate matches, NSW v Qld
The interstate Touch Football matches played between NSW and Queensland by mostly ex rugby league players were influential to the growth of the sport in Australia. The playing of these matches at or around important rugby league clashes, created a lot more interest in the game of Touch Football.
The earliest interstate clashes in Touch Football occurred when the Brisbane Touch Association representative team played a representative team from NSW (basically South Sydney) in 1973, 1974, and 1975. One of the games in the series was played as a curtain raiser to an interstate Rugby League clash. In 1976, Touch was played as a curtain raiser to the Sydney Rugby League Grand Final.
Social or Park Touch
Regular social or park touch, has been played for a long time. One long time player, Scott Woolcock, remembers “I played barefoot touch with expatriate Queenslanders and some locals every Sunday morning in Centennial Park in Sydney from 1971 to 1974. I arrived in London in 1974 and played touch in Hyde Park every Sunday morning with expatriate Australians. We played barefoot, even in winter. When frosty, one’s feet had a burning feeling and went a bit numb.”
These social games have continued around the world till the present day. Refer : Social Touch
The future
Still an amateur sport, Touch Football is now one of the largest participation sports in Australia (in 2018, over 600,000 players).
Touch is played by both men and women of all ages, from 5 years old to their late 70s. It is played as an organised sport managed by around 500 local, state, national and international organisations, with many elite representative competitions. Touch is also played in most schools, for fun in park social games during the day, and is played in over 50 countries throughout the world.
While touch football was a derivative of rugby league and union, it now influences how these games are played as most rugby players have played touch football and the skills of touch are transferable between all the football codes.
Due to the popularity of the game, most organised touch is now played under lights in the evening, many at designated touch football grounds.