World Footy News

The AFLCNE will welcome a new team to their playing fields for the 2016 in a move which will bring the competition back to eight teams and bring the city of Liverpool back into the Australian Rules football scene.

The recent AGM for the league saw a unanimous decision to allow the fledgling Merseyside Saints to take their place in the competition next year. A message from the AFLCNE on their Twitter account said “following today's AGM it gives us great pleasure to welcome [the] Merseyside Saints into the AFLCNE. See you on the field!”

Will Sykes is co-founder of the club and club president. In a short interview, Will laid out the situation for the club in terms of how people feel about the decision. He also looked at the demographics of this newest team from a Liverpool base and what will ensure future longer term success.

He began by stating that “everyone at the club is extremely excited at our approved application to join the AFLCNE for the coming season. I've been inundated with messages from players and supporters telling me if their excitement. We all see this as a great chance to grow the game of Aussie Rules in an area of the UK that embrace sport to the fullest. They have the Blues and Reds on Merseyside now they have the best footy side to support, the Saints.”

“I feel that the Merseyside area offers an untapped resource of potential Aussie Rules stars. You just have to look at how they embrace Liverpool and Everton football clubs to see how passionate the people from Merseyside are about sport. Our aim is that the Saints will be a club that promotes and builds Aussie Rules in the North West while representing the AFLCNE.”

“Starting a sporting team or club is an extremely difficult task to achieve. It has to be done slowly and correctly for it to be sustainable. When the idea of the Saints first came about, it was agreed that league status wouldn't be applied for until we had a strong foundation in place. With a lot of effort we know have a strong consistent playing squad, use of fantastic facilities and an active committee.”

“Dedication and commitment are the keys to our success, so at our inaugural AGM I ensured that we had the commitment of the players for the coming season and a committee that would actively help grow the club. One person running a club is too much strain and pressure, so an active committee who were passionate about building the club was vital. I think those are the differences between the Saints and previous attempts [to establish a Liverpool/Merseyside team in the past].

It won’t be an easy journey on field. As the Tyne Tees Tigers have learned in their first two seasons, there is heartache and hard times that go with the joy and fun. But in a relatively short time the Saints have gone from a dream to the reality of being a team in the AFLCNE, and that is a huge step. If Will and his club have come this far, there is no telling how much further they can go.

The AFLCNE will also be delighted to see their ranks grow with another team, but also to have tapped another major population centre as a place to grow the game further.