The International Federation of Football History and Statistics, an organization of association football historians, traces the origin of numbers to a 1911 Australian rules football match in Sydney,[1] although photographic evidence exists of numbers being used in Australia as early as May 1903 in a Fitroy v Collingwood match.[2] Player numbers were used in a Queensland vs. New Zealand rugby match played on 17 July 1897, in Brisbane, Australia, as reported in the Brisbane Courier.[3]