Toowoomba is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is 125 km (78 mi) west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 census was 142,163, having grown at an average annual rate of 1.45% over the previous two decades. Toowoomba is the second-most-populous inland city in the country after the nation's capital of Canberra, and hence the largest city on the Darling Downs. It is the third largest regional centre in Queensland, often referred to as the capital of the Darling Downs.
The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fifteen teams, thirteen of which are based in Queensland, with one based in New South Wales and one in Central Province, Papua New Guinea.
Australian rules football in Queensland was the first official football code played in 1866. The Colony of Queensland was the second after Victoria to adopt Australian rules football, just days after the rules were widely published. For two decades it was the most popular football code, however a strong desire for representative football success saw Queenslanders favour British football variants for more than a century. As a result, Queensland is one of the two states to the east of the Australian cultural divide described as the Barassi Line. 120 years later in 1986 Queensland was the first state awarded a licence to have a club, the Brisbane Bears, in the national (AFL) competition, also its first privately owned club. However the Gold Coast based Bears had a detrimental effect until the 1993 redevelopment of the Brisbane Cricket Ground (Gabba). In contrast the Bears transformation into a Brisbane and traditional membership based club resulted in enormous growth, and a tripling of average AFL attendances by 1996.
AFL Capricornia is an amateur Australian rules football competition played across Central Queensland between the months of March to September, which are typically the cooler months of the Queensland climate. Spanning across three main regions of Central Queensland including: Rockhampton, Gladstone and Livingstone. The league is only mildly popular with rugby league being the much more popular football code in Central Queensland.
The Queensland Australian Football League is an Australian rules football competition organised by the AFL Queensland, contested by clubs from South East Queensland.
The University of Queensland Australian Football Club (UQAFC) is an amateur Australian rules football club playing in the QFA Division 1, Division 4 and QAFLW League competitions, overseen by AFL Queensland. UQAFC home games are played at the University of Queensland's Playing Field 2, on the corner of Sir William MacGregor Drive and Thynne Road, St Lucia, Brisbane.
There are several Australian rules football leagues in regional Queensland.
Football Queensland Darling Downs is a Football Queensland administrative zone encompassing the Darling Downs region and parts of South West Queensland. The zone administers major regional areas including Toowoomba, Dalby, Roma, Charleville, St George, Goondiwindi and Stanthorpe. The premier men's soccer competition is the Football Queensland Premier League 3 − Darling Downs and the premier women's soccer competition is the Football Queensland Women's Premier League 3 − Darling Downs. Football Queensland Darling Downs also has a numerous variety of lower divisions for both men and women, as well as academy and junior competitions to develop soccer and fitness within the region.
ABC Southern Queensland is an ABC Local Radio station based in Toowoomba broadcasting to the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. This includes the towns of Warwick, Dalby, Kingaroy and Goondiwindi.
Rugby league in Queensland is the most watched winter sport in the state and the second most participated football code after soccer. Rugby league was introduced in 1908 and within just a few years it surpassed rugby union there to become the most popular football code as players switched to play professionally in the Queensland Rugby League. In the 1920s, Queenslanders began leaving to play professionally in the New South Wales Rugby League which became a more popular competition. However Queensland maintained a strong rugby league culture, with the state continuing to perform well in interstate rugby league. The later advent of the State of Origin series ensured that players would return to represent their state.
Rugby union in Queensland has traditionally been one of the most popular professional and recreational team sports in the state. Rugby union was introduced in the British colony's capital Brisbane in 1876. Initially it struggled to gain a foothold due to the popularity of Australian rules there until it got its break in 1882 with the first inter-colonial matches against New South Wales, and the formation of the Northern Rugby Union. Between 1885 and 1887 it became the dominant code after the leading schools association decided to play it exclusively and after 1890 spread virtually unopposed throughout the colony.
The AFL Wide Bay is an amateur Australian rules football competition that was formerly known as the "Bundaberg-Wide Bay Australian Football League", which was formed in 1987 through the merger of the "Bundaberg Australian Football League" and "Wide Bay Australian Football League". The competition currently featured teams from the cities of Bundaberg, Maryborough and Hervey Bay.
The Darling Downs District Rugby Union, or DDRU, is the governing body for the sport of rugby union within the District of Darling Downs, Queensland in Australia. It is a member of the Queensland Country Rugby Union.
The Queensland Country Rugby Union, or QCRU, is the governing body for the sport of rugby union within most of the state of Queensland in Australia. It is affiliated with the Queensland Rugby Union.
The Toowoomba Rugby League is a competition involving football clubs from the city of Toowoomba and surrounding towns and districts.
It is run under the auspices of Queensland Rugby League Central Division.
The Queensland Football Association (QFA) was the first governing body for football in the Colony of Queensland founded on 30 April 1880. Its role was primarily to facilitate club and representative matches primarily in Australian rules football but also in Rugby union.
Darling Downs Health (DDH), formally the Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service, is the local health district servicing the Darling Downs region in Queensland, Australia. Darling Downs Health forms part of Queensland Health, the state's public health service, and operates 29 facilities across 90,000 km2 throughout the region. The health service's main referral facility is Toowoomba Hospital, which provides maternity, emergency, surgical, mental health, allied health and specialist outpatient services.
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