What were these ground markings for?

[tandino]

This has been a bit of a head scrather for me on and off for a long time.

Back in the good old days of the 90's, I used to watch a lot of football on television. Being the inquisitive kid I was, every now and then I noticed a few lines on the ground that seemed to serve no purpose. I had a hell of a time trying to find a photo, but Paint will do.

The lines are indicated in red for clarity, but there were usually either white or a darker shade of green.

Watching a bunch of games on YouTube raised the question again.

A few observations.

1. They seemed to appear at random, some games from that era didn't have them, some of them did.
2. They were almost exclusively on the broadcast side of the ground
3. A line on the right side of screen was much more common than the left side of screen, which was rare.
4. They appeared during regular home and away matches. Some Grand Finals from the time had a bunch of weird line markings in odd places, seemingly for the purposes of the entertainment etc.
5. They appeared at the MCG and Waverley Park, at least.

Any thoughts?

 

[Billy ray]

Players to line up on for national anthem.

 

[Martyn_30_]

They used to have long kicking comps during the finals and that's what the lines were for.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Grandsun]

Grand Final Sprint?

 

[Stig O'Hara]

Sunkick lines.

As it was held at half time of the magoos, it took too long to measure out every kick, so they set 2 lines 50 metres apart to speed it up.

 

[footyfan1978]

Sunkick lines.

As it was held at half time of the magoos, it took too long to measure out every kick, so they set 2 lines 50 metres apart to speed it up.

Sunkick was still going in the 1990's ?