Goal of the Year (Australia)

The Goal of the Year is a competition for the best goals kicked in the VFL/AFL during that season. It is run in conjunction with the Mark of the Year competition and is currently sponsored by Toyota.

The concept was initiated in 1970 by the league after Alex Jesaulenko's famous mark.

election process

Each week, three of the best goals of the round (including the finals) are selected as nominees. A panel of AFL selectors choose the winning goal of the round. For the first time in 2006, the general public are able to vote for nominated marks via the AFL's website. The results of the public voting are combined with the panel's votes.Any one of the goals of the round is able to win the official Goal of the Year.

The overall winner is selected from the 25 weekly winners (twenty-two rounds and the first three weeks of the finals) by the AFL All Australian selection committee; the public is not given a say in the final outcome. The winner receives the Phil Manassa Medal, a replica of the perpetual Toyota AFL Goal of the Year Trophy, use of a Toyota Aurion for twelve months, and $10,000 for their grassroots football club. The winner will be announced in Grand Final day.

Goal of the Year is generally awarded to a player who creates and scores a difficult goal in play; it has never been, and is unlikely to ever be, awarded to a goal kicked from a set shot. Historically, it has been the quality of the creation of the goal which determines the winner, rather than the difficulty of the shot itself. As such, simply kicking a goal from the boundary line will not guarantee a player Goal of the Year, but if they have roved the ball cleanly off a pack (like Jason Akermanis in 2002) or won the ball by stealing or smothering it from an opponent (like Peter Bosustow in 1981), then they will generally come into Goal of the Year calculations. Players are also often rewarded for orchestrating a long run down the field which ends with a big goal on the run: Daniel Kerr in 2003 and Michael McGuane in 1994 are memorable examples.

The 2007 Goal of the Year was won by Matthew Lloyd of the Essendon Football Club. Lloyd, in the goal square and between Carlton defenders Jarrad Waite and Michael Jamison, spilled an overhead mark. He then bent over, picked up the ball, dropped it behind himself, and backheeled the ball through for a goal from five metres out. The three quarter time siren blew immediately afterwards. For the first time in the award's history, the selection was widely criticized, with commentators surprised that a fluke scramble was chosen over execution skills

Many of the best goals in the VFL/AFL were featured in a VHS/DVD named "Golden Goals".

Goal of the year

;Legend

External links

* [http://www.afl.com.au/markgoal/home.aspx AFL Goal of the Year Competition]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMSbGYvtgGY YouTube video of the Goals of the Year in 2005]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR_EzJgnLMY YouTube video of the Goals of the Year in 2002]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ9T5l6nlqA&mode=related&search= YouTube video of Robbie Ahmat's Goal of the Year in 2000]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxRWyjBLZvY YouTube video of Mark Merends's Goal of the Year in 2001]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeE0kqMhfIQ YouTube video of Andrew Bews's Goal of the year in 1985]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4-Ol5LWItc YouTube video of Peter Bosustow's Goal of the Year in 1981]