The Australian Football World Tour was a series of international rules football matches, organised by football sports broadcaster and former VFL umpire Harry Beitzel and Irish born Melbournian, James Harkin in 1967 and 1968.
Contents
First tour
The first team was christened "The Galahs" by the Melbourne press after a comment made by the eccentric athletics coach Percy Cerutty, having seen their garish blazers, their slouch hats, and their hats' ostentatious plumes (deliberately chosen by Beitzel to evoke comparisons with the heroes of the Australian Light Horse Regiments in the Boer War and World War I[3]) and to the effect that they were "a pack of galahs". The name stuck.
The games were played under the rules of Gaelic football with the single exception that the Australian players were not compelled to "toe" the ball from foot to hand every few yards, and they were allowed to bounce the ball.
First tour's itinerary
Their matches, opponents, and scores were as follows:
Second tour
In 1968, a second representative team, consisting of elite players from the Victorian Football League, South Australian National Football League, West Australian Football League and the Victorian Football Association, was undefeated in the series, playing against Gaelic football teams at Wembley Stadium and Croke Park. Dublin, Meath, Kerry and New York were among the opponents. The Galahs also played exhibition matches of Australian Rules Football throughout the tour, including a game in Bucharest, Romania.