Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (Aus./N.Z.) Australian Rules football, also attrib.

1906		Bulletin (Sydney) 20 Sept. 44/1: They copped ’im on the square, watchin’ the ‘footy’.
1911		E. Dyson ‘Barracking’ in Benno and Some of the Push 140: ‘There was a game iv footy, Saturdee,’ said Feathers.
1928		Horsham Times (Vic.) 14 Sept. 7/4: We’re goin’ ter th’ footie in th’ Ford.
1936		Sun. Times (Perth) 26 Apr. n.p.: And the only song to sing is, ‘Footie’s here, and Footie King is!’ / While our champions boot the bladder.
1942		G. Casey It’s Harder for Girls 4: When school came out I played footy.
1945		J. Henderson Gunner Inglorious (1974) 116: I stuck it on top of the photograph of the Old Boys’ footie team I played for in 1935.
1958		F.J. Hardy Four-Legged Lottery 53: The kids can go to footy every Saturday.
1959		G. Slatter Gun in My Hand 42: I remember you on that trip to Nelson for the footie.
1965		W. Dick Bunch of Ratbags 56: C’mon an’ we’ll go an’ sit down by the fence and watch the footy for a while.
1965		Aus. Women’s Wkly 16 Apr. 65: [heading] After Footie Food. Fans and players will hurry home after the final whistle to enjoy these warm, nourishing recipes.
1969		L. Hadow Full Cycle 232: They had one with Chrissie who’d been pulling beer at the Exchange since they were kids selling footie programmes.
1970		D. Butts Down Under Up Close 49: People from Melbourne are absolutely positive that their game ‘footy’ [...] is the only real game of football in the world.
1980		M. Bail Homesickness (1999) 37: First thing out on the church steps, brushing off the confetti, Doug had wanted to know the footy score.
1991		M.B. ‘Chopper’ Read Chopper From The Inside 15: Asians in Australia — talking with Aussie accents and drinking beer in the pubs and going to the footy.
1997		Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney) 14 Jan. 34: Footy players may have gone from being Neville Nobodies to multiple home owners thanks to this battle.
2005		M.B. ‘Chopper’ Read Chopper 4 26: My mate Rocky Devine lost a finger playing footy last year.
2012		G. Johnstone ‘No Through Road’ in Crime Factory: Hard Labour [ebook] Your footy team’s lost eight on the trot.
2016		N. Cummins Adventures of the Honey Badger [ebook] Over the years playing footy I’ve had thousands of ’em – massages that is.
2021		P. Papathanasiou Stoning 24: They wore sleeveless footy jumpers.

2. (Aus./N.Z.) an Australian rules football.

2004		T. Winton ‘Small Mercies’ in Turning (2005) 92: Dad, can we kick the footy?
2005		M.B. ‘Chopper’ Read Chopper 4 26: He had a footy driven into his groin so hard that it semi-paralysed him.
2016		D. Whish-Wilson Old Scores [ebook] ‘Gut like a bag of footies’.

3. rugby.

1931		P. Stevenson Gospel According to St Luke’s 8: Footy. You know. Different from soccer. Lot rougher game. I call it footy when I mean not-soccer-football, see? [Ibid.] 11: He started playing footy [...] making touchdowns and sending the ole pigskin sailing between the uprights for goals.
2015		N. Cummins Tales of the Honey Badger [ebook] I swore to myself that I would employ all the attributes of the honey badger in my approach to footy.

4. football (soccer).

1920		Eve. Teleg. 2 June 3/4: The little lads were playing ‘footie’ up a side street.
1977		A. Bleasdale Who’s Been Sleeping in my Bed 27: They’re alright though – especially when they’re on your side playin’ footie.
1982		P. Redmond Tucker and Co 80: We often spend all break and all lunchtime playing footey.
1994		A. Duff State Ward 49: Digging up a new area for spring sowing, as big as a footie field it seemed.
1996		K. Lette Mad Cows 197: A furry racoon’s tail in Arsenal footie colours.
2003		Bug (Aus.) Nov.–Dec. 🌐 Bleedin’ whingers, there are so many of them about in footy circles, these days.
2006		D. Mitchell Black Swan Green 87: Not a soul was on the footy field this morning.
2009		L. McIlvanney All the Colours 234: [F]ootie scarves tied to the railings.
2011		Washington Post’s Wapocup 9 May 🌐 [heading] Jammin in Jozy. We ventured out for a great dinner [...] followed by catching some night-time footy at Ratz.

5. (Aus.) rugby league.

1998

R.G. Barrett Goodoo Goodoo 200: I heard it [i.e. a helicopter] go over my hotel room when I was watching the footy.