[1][2] The first Australian rules football cards were produced in conjunction with Goodwin & Co's Old Judge Cigarettes in the late 1880s.

[4] The Goodwin & Co's Old Judge set included Australian rules footballers from Victoria and South Australia.

[1] An original copy of a card from this set featured Essendon player Bill Crebbin which sold for $10,110 in 2018.

Wills in 1905,[7] and Sniders & Abrahams (featuring scenes of matches in 1908 and then releasing other sets with portraits of football players in the 1910s, all in full colour).

[9] During this period it was common for Australian rules football cards to be sold with confectionary, specifically bubble gum.

[12] A South Australian set produced by AMSCOL featured die-cut cards of SANFL players under the lids of the company's large ice cream tins.

[8] To coincide with the 100th season of the VFL/AFL competition, Select created a Hall of Fame set which is credited with causing a boom in the collecting of Australian rules football cards.

[15] As a result of better awareness of the hobby due to social media, there has been an increase in the popularity of Australian rules football cards.