Australian rules football in France
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Australian rules football in France is played by six teams, with the Union Française de Football Australien the current ad-hoc governing body.
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[edit] History
Australian football was first shown in France on Canal+ television in the 1980s. The result was the formation of the first club, Houquetot in Normandy. With the support of the Australian embassy, the club became the Montivilliers in 1998 and was nickamed "Tasmania" in reference to the Australian state. The first game was played against Australians in 1998, but the club dissapeared the following year.
Aussie Rules had been played sporadically in the 1990s by clubs in Paris and Normandy, but it wasn't until 2003-04 when the first stable teams began to appear, the first being the primarily Australian-expat based Paris Cockerels and the mainly French Strasbourg Kangaroos (now the Black Devils).
The first footy match on record between two 100% French teams was played in Strasbourg on 3 December 2005, with the hometown Kangaroos defeating the Razorbacks 91-17.
A promotional match was played in March 2006 between English club Reading Roos and a French national side [1] in front of between 500 and 700 spectators, including a sizeable media presence.
Owing to the large distances between clubs, there is no national league as such. Strasbourg competed in the Australian Football League Germany for 2006, with the Saint Esteve Saints considering joing the Lliga de Futbol Australiá de Catalunya for their 2007 season.
[edit] National Team
The first French national Aussie Rules team appeared at the 2005 EU Cup in London. The first long-term goal for the organisation is to appear at the 2008 Australian Football International Cup.
[edit] Current Clubs
- Paris Cockerels
- Strasbourg Black Devils
- Senlis Razorbacks
- Cergy Cats
- St Estève Saints (Perpignan)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| 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 |
