World Footy News

The Scottish Australian Rules Football League (SARFL) offered its first taste of football in 2009 last Saturday when Glasgow and Edinburgh faced off in the annual preseason friendly fixture at The Meadows, Edinburgh. The SARFL has also announced the date of the 2009 Haggis Cup, with the welcome mat out for teams around the region.

Fresh off the back of a disappointing 2008 both on and off the field, the first hitout of the year suggests that 2009 will be a very different proposition for the SARFL. A number of new players featured for each side, both locals and Australians, with many more expected to be available as the season proper approaches.

Edinburgh won the match by 5 goals, showing much cleaner skills with boot and hand on the route to goal and in taking better advantage of scoring opportunities. However, Glasgow's less experienced side held their opponents in the second and last quarters with solid work both in defence and in the middle of the park, some poor finishing costing them on the scoreboard. What the game showed is that while Edinburgh still holds a clear advantage over Glasgow, 2009 should see a much more competitive season.

Added to this is the very welcome news that the northern city of Aberdeen will be fielding its first side in the SARFL this year, breaking the Glasgow/Edinburgh rivalry and monopoly which has endured up to this point.

As with any overseas league which does not have a large Aussie expat community, recruitment is key to the health of the SARFL, and a number of recruitment initiatives are being used this pre-season, and are expected to lead to greater stability and competitiveness within the league and individual clubs.

In other SARFL matters, it has been announced that the Haggis Cup will again be held in 2009, this time on 23 May. The host city will again be Glasgow and any sides wishing to compete are welcome to email info@sarfl.org.uk to express their interest.

Thanks go to Eddie McAvinchey for this story.