World Footy News

Australian football had its genesis in Denmark in May 1989. Mick Sitch, an expat Aussie resident in Copenhagen, placed an advertisement in a newspaper asking if anybody would like to meet him under a tree in a public park and have a kick of a footy. In addition to Mick, a Dane and a New Zealander turned up, and from there, things just snowballed.

Regular training sessions were held over the next 18 months and towards the end of 1990, three founding clubs were formed with a view to starting a competition in the summer of 1991. Those three teams, the Amager Tigers, the Copenhagen Crocodiles and the North Copenhagen Barracudas were the founding clubs of the Danish Australian Football League (DAFL) - and they still exist today.

As the sport developed through the mid-1990s, clubs from around Denmark and beyond were formed and joined the league. The Aalborg Kangaroos (1993), Helsingborg Saints (1994), Farum Lions - now Cats (1995) and Århus Bombers (1997), along with the three founders, make up the DAFL of 2002.

By Australian standards, Denmark is a small country. It has a population of just under 6 million, and is one-fifth the size of Victoria. Despite that, its myriad of islands, waterways, ferries and long bridges make the distances quite long. Unlike most foreign Australian Football leagues, DAFL games involve significant travel. Copenhagen to Aalborg is a five hour journey, while Helsingborg (two hours north of Copenhagen, and in Sweden) spend seven hours getting to games in Aalborg.

As one of the few Aussie Rules nations with neither close cultural ties to Australia or English as its language, Denmark has a much smaller proportion of Australians playing than other leagues. Participation rates over the years are about 25% Australian, 60% Danish and Swedish, and 15% others.

This low Australian content has it advantages and disadvantages. The obvious disadvantage is, as leaders in the sport, there are fewer Australians around to coach, umpire and administer the league. The advantage is that the skill level of our local players has accelerated faster than in other leagues and the results of our National Team reflect that.

DAFL has a scholarship program with VAFA club Power House. Every year, One or more Danish players spends the year in Melbourne playing with Power House, enhancing their playing ability and their understanding of the passion Australians hold for the sport. Invariably, they come back to be key players and in some cases coaches in their Danish clubs.

Since 1998, junior development has been a significant part of footy in Denmark. Predominantly in the Copenhagen suburb of Farum, junior matches are held every week, and over 100 boys and girls in the age group 8 to 15 play every year. It is without doubt the most developed junior footy program outside Australia.

For more information about footy in Denmark please visit the DAFL website at www.dafl.dk