Australian rules football in England
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| Australian rules football in England | |||
| Governing body | None recognised | ||
| National team | England | ||
| First played | 1899, London | ||
| Registered players | 800 (total) 435 (adult) |
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| Clubs | 18 | ||
| Competitions | |||
| Club | |||
| - BARFL | |||
| Audience records | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Single match | 18,884 (2005). West Coast v. Fremantle (The Oval, London) | ||
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Australian rules football in England is a team and spectator sport with a long but obscure history and has grown since 1989 to several amateur leagues. Australian Football League exhibition matches have been held in London every few years since 1972.
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[edit] History of Australian Rules football in England
[edit] Early Beginnings
Some sources suggest that Australian Rules football was played by the British in 1888[1]. The reigning VFL premiers Carlton defeated England (consisting primarily of rugby players) at the MCG in 1888, 14.17 (101) to 2.7 (19). In 1899, Australian rules was first played competitively in England. In 1916 a match was held at the Queen's Club Ground between the Military Training Units and Third Division, in which many league players took part[2]. The game in England was shortlived, as the end of World War I put an end to all competition.
[edit] A Fierce Rivalry Emerges
After the war, in 1921, the annual Oxford University-Cambridge University Varsity match was played for the first time between expatriate Australian students[3]. This game is still played[4], and is the longest running Australian rules fixture outside Australia[5]. The match is an official Varsity competition, and worth of half-blue status at Oxford. In 2006 Oxford's Blues defeated the Tabs of Cambridge for second year in a row with a scoreline of 5.2.32 to 3.9.27.
[edit] Exhibition Matches
In 1972, the first exhibition match of the AFL was played at The Oval in London. By 1987, the game had become an annual event, missing only some years. With a large number of ex-patriate Australians, interest in the game grew and small crowds of up to 10,000 were in attendance for the event in some years. Interest and crowds grew further with the change of the VFL to the Australian Football League. Highlights during this time included large crowds for the Australian Football League's West Coast Eagles v. Collingwood Football Club (14,000) in 1997, Richmond Football Club v. Essendon Football Club (13,000) in 2002. Although Aussie Rules has been played as an exhibition match, with the huge popularity of association football, rugby league and rugby union in Britain has never reached anything more than the status of novelty sport in the country, many British do not understand the rules and those that have heard of it commonly refer to it as Aussie "no rules" football.
[edit] The First Local League
Australian football was only sporadically played in England until 1989, when the British Australian rules football League (BARFL) was formed. Serious competition began and the competition became more popular, with the local BARFL Grand Finals becoming a large event attracting attendances in the thousands, including a record crowd of 1,500 in 1999.
In 2002 a national team represented Great Britain at the Australian Football International Cup for the first time, finishing the tournament in 6th place. 2005 saw the British Bulldogs again compete in the International Cup, again finishing 6th overall.
Following the 2005 International Cup, promising 22 year old British Bulldog Luke Matias began playing with the Port Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League.
Also in 2005, the first Western Derby to be played outside of Australia, the West Coast Eagles v. Fremantle game was played as a pre-season test at The Oval in London, drawing a record crowd of 18,884.
In the 2005 Oxford vs Cambridge match, held at Oxford, the Oxford dark blues triumphed 99-22 over the light blue tabs, despite the loss of their inspirational full forward, whose finger was snapped off in a freak brawling accident. Like Daniel Chick, he is set to return with nine fingers to play again this year.
In 2005 the first junior development program, Aussie Rules Schools, commenced. The program is co-ordinated by Aussie Rules UK and Aussie Rules International. This project has seen up to 10 English schools adopt Aussie Rules as part of the school curriculum to combat obesity. Juniors teams have competed at the London Youth Games.
2006 was a big year for Aussie Rules in England, with the admission of new BARFL clubs in Manchester, Middlesbrough and Thanet.
[edit] Participation
In 2004, there were a total of around 435 senior players across 18 clubs in England.[6] The local league has a higher amount of ex-patriate Australians compared to other countries that participate in the sport, however the league recently put in place caps on the number of expatriate players in certain divisions to improve the mix and encourage more local players.
[edit] Audience
[edit] Television
In 2006, Sky Sports Extra features highlights of the Australian Football League (AFL) on Saturdays at 12.30pm in England.
[edit] Attendance Records
[edit] Local Competitions
1,500 (1999). BARFL Grand Final. West London Wildcats vs Wandsworth Demons. London (source IAFC)
[edit] Exhibition Match
18,884 (2005). West Coast v. Fremantle (The Oval, London)
[edit] National Team
England is represented by the England Dragonslayers.
[edit] Leagues
[edit] Open
- British Australian rules football League
- Aussie Rules UK National League
[edit] Juniors
[edit] English born players in the AFL
England has not yet produced local talent, however the country has had some locally born and bred players find their way into the AFL.
[edit] Current Players
- Brett Kirk (Sydney)
- Brendon Lade (Port Adelaide)
- Brad Moran (Kangaroos)
[edit] Past Players
- Clive Waterhouse (Fremantle)
- Colin Alexander (Collingwood/Brisbane)
- Mark Bayliss (Collingwood)
- Lawrence Bingham (Hawthorn/St Kilda)
- Wayne Blackwell (Claremont/Carlton)
- Chris Burton (Footscray/Richmond)
- Ian Dargie (St Kilda/West Coast)
- Fred Fairweather (North Melbourne)
- Andy Goodwin (Richmond/Melbourne)
- Paul Harding (Hawthorn/St Kilda/West Coast)
- Johnny Leonard (Subiaco/South Melbourne/West Perth/Claremont)
- Brian Mynott (St Kilda)
- Richard Nixon (St Kilda)
- Polly Perkins (Richmond)
[edit] External links
- Surrey Cricket AFL annual exhibition match at 'The Oval'
- British Australian rules football League
- ARUK National League
- Aussie Rules UK
- Oxford University Australian Rules Football Club
- Video of Aussie Rules from YouTube
[edit] References
| Countries playing Australian rules football |
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Oceania |
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Asia & Middle East |
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Europe |
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Africa |
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Americas |
