<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (November 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (November 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Australian rules football was invented in Melbourne, Australia, in 1858 . The first match identified as a direct precursor to the codification of Australian football was organised and umpired by Tom Wills and contested on 31 July between Melbourne Grammar School and Scotch College, adjacent to the Melbourne Cricket Ground at the Richmond Paddock . The oldest surviving set of rules of Australian rules football were drawn up on 17 May 1859, three days after the formation of the Melbourne Football Club . </P> <P> The origins of Australian football before 1858 are still the subject of much debate, as there were a multitude of football games in Britain, Ireland and Australia whose rules influenced the early football games played in Melbourne . Teams would have to agree before each match which rules would be followed, and different aspects of association football, Gaelic football, rugby football, Sheffield rules, Cambridge rules Winchester College football and Harrow football were apparent in the early games . </P>

When was the first australian football competition held