World Footy News

Last night I sat in the comfort of home watching a thrilling game between Collingwood and Sydney. I don’t support either, but was grateful that I could turn on the television and (with the power of two remote controls) watch a genuine thriller. To live in a world where every AFL game can be live in the home is, to many, normal.

But it wasn’t always that way.

I am a product (proudly) of 1961. Hawthorn won their first flag, probably not directly because of me. It started something of a trend, with the Hawks winning far too many since. Geelong took out the “consolation” night series, Roos got the spoon and Carlton got the Brownlow & Coleman (John James & Tom Carroll). Meanwhile, I did little more than crawl around the floor making gurgling sounds (still do, occasionally!).

Teams from across England and Scotland have assembled ready for this year’s Haggis Cup, this year being played at the West Of Scotland Rugby Club in Glasgow. Fifteen teams across men’s and women’s competitions have arrived ready for what promises to be a huge, exciting tournament.

The women’s competition will see host city, Glasgow, represented by both local clubs – the Glasgow Sharks and the Greater Glasgow Giants – as well as two teams from the Wandsworth Demons and a single team from the Wimbledon Hawks representing AFL London. The Nottingham Scorpions women’s team will be there flying the flag for the AFLCNE. The Wimbledon Hawks are on a high, having just been crowned women’s champions at last weekend’s AFL Europe Champions League tournament in Amsterdam.

Round 3 of the 2017 AFL Season kicks of in Sydney tonight where the Sydney Swans host Collingwood at the SCG.

The full international broadcast schedule can be seen below.

In addition to the TV networks you can also subscribe to the Watch AFL service that will give you live access to all the matches and more (outside Australia only).  You can access that service by clicking on the link here or the  Watch AFL banner below and paying the subscription fee.

 

MATCH	DATE	TIMESLOT	MATCH	VENUE	LOCAL TIME	GMT
1	7-Apr	Night	Sydney Swans vs. Collingwood	SCG	19:50	09:50
2	8-Apr	Day	North Melbourne vs. GWS GIANTS	Blundstone Arena	13:45	03:45
3	8-Apr	Day	Richmond vs. West Coast Eagles	MCG	14:10	04:10
4	8-Apr	Twilight	Geelong Cats vs. Melbourne	Etihad Stadium	16:35	06:35
6	8-Apr	Night	Port Adelaide vs. Adelaide Crows	Adelaide Oval	19:10	09:40
5	8-Apr	Night	Fremantle vs. Western Bulldogs	Domain Stadium	17:40	09:40
7	9-Apr	Early	St Kilda vs. Brisbane Lions	Etihad Stadium	13:10	03:10
8	9-Apr	Day	Carlton vs. Essendon	MCG	15:20	05:20
9	9-Apr	Twilight	Gold Coast SUNS vs. Hawthorn	Metricon Stadium	16:40	06:40

 

The National Diversity Championships kicks off this weekend in Sydney, comprising both the Kickstart Championship for indigenous U15 players and the All Nations Championship for multicultural heritage players. World Footy News will be at the event all week, reporting on many facets of this event with progress updates, interviews and informative articles.

MEDIA RELEASE FROM THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

The AFL wishes to advise the annual Under 15 AFL National Male Diversity Championships will begin this Saturday April 8 at Blacktown International Sports Park in Blacktown, the traditional land of the Darug people.

Currently in its fourth year, the AFL National Male Diversity Championships has been developed to provide a supported talented player pathway that compliments the NAB AFL Under 16 Championships and exposes Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander and Multicultural players, coaches, umpires, doctors, and trainers to an elite AFL Program environment.

The beautiful capital city of the Czech Republic, Prague, has played host to a three team tournament featuring the city’s own Prague Dragons, the Dresden Wolves from Germany and England’s University of Birmingham Lions. Back in September, the city hosted the final round of the Central European Australian Football league competition, and now they have followed up with another great promotion for the game in the nation.

According to Martin Hák, PR manager for the event, “the main takeaway [from the tournament] is that it was a great day for everybody and the fans saw quite some quality football too.”

“The weather was beautiful, the organisation perfect (including an outstanding barbecue), the referee was delighted by the spirit and fairness on the field and others were outraged by the extraordinary cultural program (Birmingham's Got Talent).”

The following story originally appeared on Frederick's Blog and the original article can be found here.

Aussie rules has developed rapidly in the country of Canada in the past decade or so, buoyed by a wave of Aussie ex-pats who live and work in the large cities of Vancouver, Toronto, and Ottawa, among others. There are several leagues currently operating, most notably in Ontario, Alberta, Quebec, and British Columbia.

The AFL brought the game to Canada officially in the late 1980s, when exhibition matches were held in both Vancouver and Toronto. In fact, the 1987 Vancouver-based match between Sydney Swans and the Melbourne Demons drew a record crowd of over 32,000 – which, to this day, is the largest crowd ever to see a footy match outside of Australia.
 

 

The following article from the AFL Europe website gives a comprehensive review of last weekend’s AFL Europe Champions League tournament held in Amsterdam.  Congratulations go again to the West London Wildcats, winning their third title by downing hosts, the Amsterdam Devils – and still the only winners of the event since its inception. The Wimbledon Hawks women’s team took their first title, downing the Odense Lionesses in the women’s final.

Champion teams from throughout Europe converged on Amsterdam over the weekend to contest the 3rd annual AFL Europe Champions League. 

With 24 teams (19 men’s, 5 women’s), 16 umpires, countless volunteers, 5 pitches and 60 matches across the day it was always going to be a massive tournament for all involved.

(Picture: AFL Europe website)

 

 

The following article by Molly Halberstadt and Ryan Cartwright, posted on the USAFL website, looks at the recent Arctic Cup played in Iceland. The article gives a great insight into the event, including the results and also the overall “uniqueness” of what is hoped to be a permanent footballing fixture for years to come.

"Who thought footy would bring me to f***ing Icelandω" says a chilly Ross Levesque, bitterly surveying his drenched apparel against a backdrop of rugged rocky terrain and steep dark hills rising in the distance.

 

But it wasn't strictly footy that brought him to Iceland - rather, his brother Jay, whom Ross introduced to footy in 2003 and who is now a USA Revolution veteran, was the larger factor for Ross' short trip. The two faced off in the Arctic Cup, with Ross playing for a combination Swedish/Icelandic team and Jay for the Baltimore Washington Eagles.

Round 4 kicked off on Saturday with the Magpies unbeaten run ended by the previously winless Kangaroos. On Sunday the Hawks and Dogs ended their clash with scores level and the Hawks wishing they had kicked a little straighter.  For all the details read on.

 BOMBERS TOO STRONG FOR THE CATS

The www.afl.com.au website has announced the passing of the younger brother of both Pearce and Cian Hanley. The story below can be found at http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-03-30/hanley-brother-loses-battle-with-cancer-aged-16

TOMMY Hanley, the younger brother of Pearce and Cian, has passed away.

The 16-year-old died in a Dublin hospital on Tuesday night Australian time after suffering with cancer.

Pearce (Gold Coast) and Cian (Brisbane Lions) travelled back to Ireland to be with Tommy and made it home in time to see their brother before his death.

 

The Suns and Lions have both released statements to express their condolences to the Hanley family.

Round 2 of the 2017 AFL Season kicks of in Melbourne on Thursday night with Richmond hosting co-tenant Collingwood at the MCG. The Grand Final rematch will be played on Friday night at Etihad Stadium where the Western Bulldogs will host the Sydney Swans.  The full international broadcast schedule can be seen below.

In addition to the TV networks you can also subscribe to the Watch AFL service that will give you live access to all the matches and more (outside Australia only).  You can access that service by clicking on the link here or the  Watch AFL banner below and paying the subscription fee.

 

MATCH	DATE	TIMESLOT	MATCH	VENUE	LOCAL TIME	GMT
1	Thursday March 30	Night	Richmond vs. Collingwood	MCG	19:20	08:20
2	Friday March 31	Night	Western Bulldogs vs. Sydney Swans	Etihad Stadium	19:50	08:50
3	Saturday April 1	Day	Hawthorn vs. Adelaide Crows	MCG	13:45	02:45
4	Saturday April 1	Twilight	GWS GIANTS vs. Gold Coast SUNS	Spotless Stadium	16:35	05:35
5	Saturday April 1	Night	Brisbane Lions vs. Essendon	The Gabba	18:25	08:25
6	Saturday April 1	Night	West Coast Eagles vs. St Kilda	Domain Stadium	16:40	08:40
7	Sunday April 2	Early	Geelong Cats vs. North Melbourne	Etihad Stadium	13:10	03:10
8	Sunday April 2	Day	Melbourne vs. Carlton	MCG	15:20	05:20
9	Sunday April 2	Twilight	Port Adelaide vs. Fremantle	Adelaide Oval	16:10	06:40

Round 3 kicked off on Saturday with the Magpies 17 point winners over the Bulldogs to take outright top spot on the ladder.  The Magpies spearheaded by Kenneth Oppenheimer may have stretched that lead if they kicked accurately. 

In other games, the Cats defeated the Hawks by 32 points and the Bombers had the biggest win of the round with a 39 point win over the Kangaroos. Khyde Menke and Bronco Deiderang both kicked 5 goals in that match with Deiderang leading the league with 16 goals from the three matches so far.