World Footy News

When the BARFL re-badged as AFL Great Britain there were two naming concerns to be addressed - the slightly unwieldy length of the name and confirming their new designation and logo with the AFL. After some debate and a few unexpected delays the new title is official - AFL Britain (i.e. they have dropped the term "Great").

AFL Britain's President, Sam Percy, had some interesting things to say on the name and an honest appraisal of the current role of the association in relation to England, Scotland, Wales and their position on Ireland. For the wider audience not across the topic (it's more a curiosity than vital knowledge), we also look at the difference between the terms Britain and Great Britain.

Great Britain is the title under which the national side, the Bulldogs, has competed at the last two International Cups, despite the national body being called the British Australian Rules Football League. In terms of geography, Great Britain refers to the island made up of England, Wales and Scotland. Politically it primarily refers to the combination of England, Wales and Scotland, whereas the United Kingdom also includes Northern Ireland.

However, Percy has made it clear that AFL Britain does not seek to account for Northern Ireland, happy to leave that to the Australian Rules Football League Ireland (ARFLI). It is said that in the United Kingdom itself, "Britain" is usually taken to be synonymous with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Despite this, apparently the AFL Great Britain / AFL Britain hierarchy were content to drop the "Great" for the sake of ease of use and easier marketing.

Percy said, "This island is Great Britain, and that is the area we cover. We don't cover Northern Ireland at all, they are under the government of the ARFLI, I believe. So the UK is not our domain. And we are not specifically English either, as whilst both Wales and Scotland have their own associations, for now we are under the same umbrella, even if we don't actually do a lot for each other just yet. That will hopefully change as AFL Britain hits its stride. So this is the British association and we operate in Great Britain".

Clear as mud? At the end of the day if no one is overly offended the decision certainly makes sense. Welcome to AFL Britain.

On a related note it does again raise the issue of the common AFL branding across the world. Although this makes sense in marketing terms and certainly makes each "new" logo easy to produce, surely when it comes to separate countries some small distinction could be made, perhaps with that nation's flag beside the name, to add a little colour?