World Footy News

The Fremantle Dockers have added a new partner club in Europe, with an agreement between the Dockers and the AFL Italia's Genova Football Club.

Mr Marco Mari (pictured at left with Fremantle FC COO Mr Gary Walton) from the Italian Chamber of Commerce Perth accepted on behalf of the Genova Dockers the Club Jumpers and other items being donated by Fremantle.

The partnership between the Fremantle Dockers and the AFL Italia Genova Football Club, now the Genova Dockers, is the first official AFL partnership to be established in Italy, with further partnerships between AFL and Italian clubs being negotiated.

Next week marks an important step in the development of Australian Rules Football in Europe. At an official presentation to be held at the Fremantle Football Club Headquarters in Fremantle, the Secretary General of the Italian Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Marco Mari will represent AFL Italia and accept on behalf of the Genova Dockers the Club Jumpers and other equipment being donated by the Fremantle Dockers in support of this newly-formed partnership.

Mr. Gary Walton, Chief Operating Officer of the Fremantle Dockers has confirmed he will be in Genova in July to formally sign the partnership agreement with the Genova Dockers Executive Committee and to meet with AFL Italia to discuss opportunities to further promote the Fremantle Dockers and the partnership. The Genova Dockers will wear the Fremantle Dockers colours with pride as they make their debut in the first-ever Italian Aussie Rules Competition kicking off in Milano, Italy on the first weekend in June against the Milano Aussie Rulers.

Fremantle FC Community Development Manager David Crute says the Dockers now have around 30 partner clubs worldwide, of which around 12 are outside Australia, including three clubs in the UK, and one each in the US, Germany, Denmark, Portugal and now the Genova Dockers in Italy.

"We see the partnerships as part of our commitment to growing the game at a broader level. As a relatively young club in the AFL, it's also a way of us getting our footprint out into the worldwide community," Crute said.

Supporting this new partnership is AFL Italia’s new transport supplier SmarteXS. SmarteXS will be ensuring the safe delivery of all AFL Italia Jumpers and other Aussie Rules equipment from Australia to Italy.

AFL Italia was established in 2009 when an Italian National Team was formed and trained together to compete in the 2009 EU Cup. Since that time AFL Italia has established a 4 Club National League with the 2010 competition kicking off in June. They have also recently submitted a strong bid to the European Australian Football Association (EAFA) to host the 2010 EU Cup in Milano.

Plans for alignments of the other AFL Italia Clubs with AFL Clubs in Australia are well underway with the key focus of these alignments being to increase the awareness of Aussie Rules in Italy. AFL Italia will be working with Eurosport 2 to deliver live telecasts of one match every week of AFL Australia Games during the 2010 Season. Working with Eurosport 2 and Sportitalia TV Channel, AFL Italia will be promoting the AFL Italia Clubs and their Partner Clubs to support the marketing efforts of AFL Europe.

AFL Italia is very excited about the future of Aussie Rules Football in Italy and Europe and will continue to encourage increased communications between Italian and Australian Aussie Rules Players, Members and Supporters.

AFL Italia International Club Memberships and further information on the 2010 AFL Italia National League and the Italian National Team competing in this year’s EU Cup can be found by visiting www.aflitalia.com or the Australia Italia Association website.

Tommy Arnulfo, captain of the Genova Dockers and member of the AFL Italia Azzurris national team.

Thanks to Peta Lowry from the Australia Italia Association for this report.