The AFL Britain is the governing body for Australian rules football in England, formed in 2008. The organisation is the successor to the British Australian Rules Football League, whose clubs became the AFL London upon creation of the new national body.
The AFL London and various regional English leagues, are all currently represented by the AFL Britain and, along with Wales and Scotland jointly supply players for the Great Britain Bulldogs representative side at the Australian Football International Cup.
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The BARFL was formed in 1989, with efforts from John Jelley and others seeing the formation of eight clubs for an inaugural season in 1990. The founding clubs were the London Hawks, West London Wildcats, North London Lions, Earls Court Kangaroos, Lea Valley Saints, Thames Valley Magpies and Wandsworth Demons in and around London and a club based in Leicester, the East Midland Eagles. Of the foundation teams, four still survive in West London, North London, Wimbledon (former London Hawks) and Wandsworth.
Between 1990 and 2001, the league existed as one competition for all clubs, ranging from a high of 10 clubs in 1991 to a low of only 6 in 1998.
In an environment where large numbers of Australians could be both a blessing (in terms of experience and teaching ability) and a curse (in terms of new clubs outside London finding it difficult to compete against the Australian expat-based London clubs), the league in 2001 divided teams into two leagues. The first league was the London Premiership, where the powerful London clubs would continue under the same local-content regulations as previously (ie quotas of British players who must be on the field at any time).
Beneath the London Premiership would be a London Conference, where the teams could field their 'reserve' sides, including the Clapham and Ealing teams which had been previously entered by Wandsworth and West London respectively. The London Conference has greatly relaxed 'local content' rules, meaning that backpackers and other Australians can compete at a social level.
In 2003, with new clubs being formed outside the capital and regional clubs still struggling against the larger numbers of Australians playing for the London sides, it was decided that clubs outside London would compete in a Regional Premiership. This included the Bristol Dockers, St Helens Miners and the two new sides in the Doncaster Saints and Reading Kangaroos.
In 2004, a fourth division of the BARFL appeared, with the Scottish Australian Rules Football League forming. In the inaugural season, three clubs played each other for the premiership, the Edinburgh Old Town Bloods, the Edinburgh Uni Body Snatchers and the Glasgow Sharks.
2007 saw the introduction of a third tier of football in the London region, known as the Social Division. This division was formed for the same reasons as the Conference division, with some of the larger clubs being unable to field their full player lists in two teams resulting in some fiedling more than one team in the Conference.
Due to a number of contributory factors, including the developments initiated by Aussie Rules UK and the changing nature of the sport across the country, 2008 saw the BARFL rebranded and redeveloped to become AFL Britain, an organisation with less direct control over football in London but a greater ability to support the game to grow both in and outside the capital.
In 2010, the AFL Britain will have four affiliated leagues, the AFL London, AFLB North, AFLB Central, AFLB South. In addition, the organisation maintains close communication with the Scottish ARFL and Welsh ARFL, who are independent bodies overseeing footy in their respective countries.
The AFL London features eight clubs, fielding a total of over 24 teams across three divisions - the London Premiership (1sts), London Conference (2nds) and London Social League (3rds).
The restructure of the BARFL in 2001 saw the London-based clubs form the London Premiership, and the regional clubs break off to form their own league. The new structure also enabled London clubs to field reserve grade teams, forming the London Conference. Prior to this, two BARFL Premiership clubs, the Wandsworth Demons from 1999 and the West London Wildcats in 2000, had fielded second teams in the main division. These teams, the Clapham Demons and the Shepherds Bush Raiders became founding members of the Conference.
In 2007, a third level of competition was created, the London Social League. Some teams from outside London have competed in the Social League, including Manchester and Nottingham who transferred to the Central & North West League in 2010, and the Bristol Dockers who continue in the Social League.
The BARFL Premiership became part of the new AFL London structure for the start of the 2008 season as part of the AFL Britain restructure, becoming in the process a competition solely aimed at those clubs in or around the London Region.
| Club | Colours | Years in competition | Previous Names | Conference Team | Social Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North London Lions | 1990- | Regents Park | Bounds Green | ||
| Putney Magpies | 1999- | London Gryphons (1999–2003) | Hammersmith | ||
| London Swans | 1991- | Sussex Swans (still playing in Southern league) | |||
| Wandsworth Demons | 1990- | Clapham | South London | ||
| West London Wildcats | 1990- | Shepherds Bush Raiders | Ealing Emus | ||
| Wimbledon Hawks | 1990- | London Hawks (1990–94) | Balham Hawks | ||
| Reading Kangaroos | 2003- | ||||
| Dulwich Dragons | 2008- |
The BARFL Regional Premiership commenced in 2003, and ran until it was absorbed into the BARFL's 3rd division Social League at the start of the 2007 season. The Aussie Rules UK 9-a-side National League began in 2007, featuring teams in a number of regional divisions. This then combined with the AFL Britain in 2010, to form the AFL Britain North East, Central & North West and Southern Divisions.
| Club | Colours | Years competed |
|---|---|---|
| Durham Saints | ||
| Gateshead Miners | ||
| Hartlepool Dockers | ||
| Middlesbrough Hawks | ||
| Newcastle Centurions |
| Club | Colours | Years competed |
|---|---|---|
| Birmingham Bears | 2009 (ARUK Central), 2011- | |
| Huddersfield Rams | 2009 (ARUK Central), 2010- | |
| Hull Mariners | 2010- | |
| Manchester Mosquitoes | 2006 (BARFL), 2007-09 (London Social), 2010- | |
| Nottingham Scorpions | 2004-06 (BARFL), 2007-09 (London Social), 2010- | |
| Sheffield Thunder | 2010- | |
| Wolverhampton Wolverines | 2010- |
| Club | Colours | Years competed |
|---|---|---|
| Bournemouth Demons | 2007- | |
| Chippenham Redbacks | 2009- | |
| Guildford Crows | 2010- | |
| Portsmouth Pirates | 2009- | |
| Plymouth Seagulls | 2011- (Social basis) | |
| Southampton Titans | 2007- | |
| Sussex Swans | 1991- |
| Club | Colours | Years competed |
|---|---|---|
| Edinburgh Bloods | 2003- | |
| Glasgow Sharks | 2004- | |
| Aberdeen Dingoes | 2009- |
| Club | Colours | Years competed |
|---|---|---|
| Bridgend Eagles | 2011- | |
| Bristol Dockers | 1991-2010 (BARFL/AFL London), 2011- (WARFL) | |
| Cardiff Double Blues | Light blue with dark blue monogram | 2007- |
| Gwent Tigers | Black with yellow sash | 2009- |
| South Cardiff Panthers | Navy blue with white monogram | 2007- |
| Swansea Magpies | Black and white | 2007- |
| Vale Warriors | Green with gold yoke | 2010- |
| Club | Colours | Years in Competition |
|---|---|---|
| Birmingham Crows | 1993-1994 (BARFL) | |
| Doncaster Saints | 2003-2004 (BARFL) | |
| Earls Court Kangaroos | 1990-97 (BARFL) (known as Esher Kangaroos 1992 and Firkin Roos 1996-97) | |
| East Midlands Eagles | 1990-1996 (BARFL) | |
| Lea Valley Saints | 1990-1996 (BARFL) | |
| Leeds Jets | 2009 (ARUK Central) | |
| Liverpool Blues | 1993-1994 (BARFL) | |
| Liverpool Eagles | Red with white eagle | 2009 (ARUK Central) |
| St Helens Miners | 2002-2004 (BARFL), known as Northwestern Miners for the 2004 season. | |
| Swindon Devils | 2004-2006 (BARFL), 2007 (WARFL), 2008 (ARUK South) | |
| Thames Valley Magpies | 1990-91 (BARFL) | |
| Thanet Bombadiers | 2006 (BARFL), 2007 (ARUK South) |
| Year | London Premiership | London Conference | London Social | Regional | Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | North London d Wimbledon | Shepherds Bush d Regents Park | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2002 | North London 18.11.119 d West London 8.5.53 | Shepherds Bush d Regents Park | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2003 | Wandsworth 11.11.77 d West London 9.8.62 | Shepherds Bush 11.8.74 d Clapham Demons 7.6.48 | N/A | Bristol Dockers 13.19.97 d Reading Roos 9.7.61 | N/A |
| 2004 | West London 14.12.96 d Wimbledon 5.2.32 | Shepherds Bush 18.19.127 d Putney Magpies 9.4.58 | N/A | Reading Roos 28.20.188 d Bristol Dockers 1.6.12 | Edinburgh Old Town 24.25.269 d Glasgow 2.4.16 |
| 2005 | West London 9.14.68 d Wimbledon 9.7.61 | Shepherds Bush 11.12.78 d Clapham Demons 11.9.75 | N/A | Nottingham 10.9.69 d Bristol Dockers 8.6.54 | Edinburgh Old Town 12.11.83 d Glasgow 1.7.13 |
| 2006 | West London 18.11.119 d Wimbledon 2.6.18 | Shepherds Bush 5.11.41 d Clapham 4.3.27 | N/A | Reading 22.20.152 d Nottingham 6.7.43 | Edinburgh Bodysnatchers 11.9 (75) d Edinburgh Old Town Bloods 10.3 (63) |
| 2007 | |||||
| 2008 | |||||
| 2009 | West London d Wandsworth | Clapham Demons d Shephers Bush | South London d Ealing Emus | ||
| 2010 | Wandsworth d Putney | Shepherds Bush d Clapham Demons | Ealing Emus d South London Demons | ||
| 2011 |
AFL Britain also co-ordinate a representative team, the British Bulldogs, who have competed at the Australian Football International Cup, in the Atlantic Alliance Cup and against other national sides in European test matches.
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