World Footy News

Discussion between touring Australian side "the Convicts", USFooty and the AFL Canada has come upon the possibility of the Convicts taking on the US Revolution on Sunday, October 14th this year as part of the 2007 USAFL National Club Championships to be held in Louisville, Kentucky. The match will follow one week after the Convicts take on the bulk of the Canadian Northwind in Toronto on Saturday October 6th, as a curtain-raiser to the Grand Final of the Ontario AFL, Canada's oldest league and one of the biggest and strongest outside Australia.

The Convicts recently completed a successful tour of South Africa, during which the Convicts suffered their first loss. The 2007 South African tour was the third international tour in the history of the Convicts, following on from a 2003 tour of Europe and a 2005 tour of South Africa (the 2005 squad featuring WFN co-founder Brett Northey among many others). In the two years between visits, the South Africans had improved from being about 10 goals behind the Convicts to being able to outrun them by about a goal.

The US and Canada have traditionally had two of the stronger international footy scenes and reports are both are only getting better - so the 2007 North America tour is sure to be the Convicts' toughest assignment yet. It's hoped Canada's Northwind will be near full-strength, with the AFL Canada President Mike McFarlane confirming the obvious omissions being any players featuring in the local Grand Final.

In other news, the London branch of the Aussie-expat Convicts is hoping to make five tours around Europe this year, with weekend tours to Amsterdam (April), Zagreb (May), Prague (June), Helsinki (August) and Stockholm (September) in planning. Each of the tours will involve sightseeing and a match against local opposition.