| Highest governing body | AFL Commission |
|---|---|
| First played | March, 2017; Lakeside Stadium, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Characteristics | |
| Team members | originally 7 per side + 5 interchange (differs to men's 18 per side + 4 interchange) |
| Type | |
| Venue | Football pitch (soccer field) |
AFLX is a variation of Australian rules football designed in 2017 to be played on a soccer field (significantly smaller than the Australian rules oval). Unlike the full 18-a-side game (or the already established variant for rectangular fields, nine-a-side footy, including the AFL's own variant AFL 9s), AFLX required fewer players (initially 7, but increased to 8) with some modified rules aimed at generating higher scores, including increased scoring points. It was founded in an attempt to appeal to a wider audience outside of its origin country of Australia.[1] The AFL billed AFLX as its answer to Twenty20 or Rugby Sevens.[2]
The AFL held two official Australian Football League (AFL) pre-season AFLX competitions featuring senior AFL clubs and players, in 2018 and 2019, but these were unpopular with spectators and did not return in 2020.[3]
The variation continues to be promoted by the AFL Commission as a participation sport in development regions and areas, and particularly where full-sized cricket grounds are not available. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, AFLX has been merged with AFL 9s and retained only the X brand, co-branding AFL 9s as Junior X, Youth X and Senior X and aligning it with the more widely established 9-a-side format.