Blue Collars, Football Boots? The socioeconomic environment of the towns & suburbs that gave birth to Australia’s first football clubs

project outline

One of the main factors said to have driven the creation of rugby league, first in the UK, and then in Australia, were issues of class and wealth. “[I]f men couldn’t afford to play, then they shouldn’t play at all” said a member of the Rugby Football Union, in regards to players missing work, and therefore wages, due to injuries sustained in matches. So, if class and wealth were a factor, in what ways was this reflected in the socioeconomic environment of the places in Australia that produced the first Rugby League clubs?

Using historical census data this project will see what traits these areas shared, and the ways in which they differed, both from each other, as well as the country as a whole. The focus will primarily be on Rugby League, but will also look at Rugby Union (where most of their initial players came from), as well as the places that produced the first Australian Rules football clubs (now its main rival for popularity). This project aims to produce a new understanding of the socioeconomic environment that gave birth to Australia’s first football clubs, with the results presented as a series of interactive maps and charts.

This project aims to produce a new understanding of the socio economic conditions that gave birth to the rugby league clubs of Australia, as well as the ways in which these areas differed, as well as the ways in which they were similar, to areas that gave birth to clubs of other codes. The results will then be presented as a series of interactive graphs, showing how these locations compared to the state and/or regional averages of the day, using a number of different metrics.

Brett Tweedie is a data visualisation designer, developer and researcher whose previous work includes The Barassi Line: An attempt to plot the current path of the Barassi Line using the locations of all the Aussie Rules & Rugby League clubs in Australia.