World Footy News

In one of the upsets of the season in many ways, the North London Lions ended the Grand Final dreams of the Wandsworth Demons and earned the right to challenge the West London Wildcats for the 2015 AFL London premiership.

Many believed that the Demons were a certainty with a more consistent season and having served up challenges to the Wildcats during the season. But the excellent recent form of the Lions saw them hold on in a thrilling Preliminary Final by a single goal.

On face value the West London Wildcats deserve premiership favouritism after an excellent home and away season with just one defeat. The down side on that ledger is that the defeat was to the hands on the North London Lions back in Round 10. On that day the Lions held sway over the Wildcats by 10 points. Earlier in the season the Wildcats won, but hardly convincingly, by 15 points.

In a hard fought match in damp conditions under lights the US Revolution prevailed over the Canadian Northwind by 16 points.  After a close first quarter the US pulled away in the second as the big men up forward began to dominate. 

The Northwind tried valiantly in the third to bridge the gap but poor kicking and a solid US defence did not allow them to make up much ground.  The push from Canada continued into the final quarter but when they finally goaled to put them within ten points with five minutes to go the clock was always going to beat them.  Mike Murphy kicked a late goal just before the siren for the US to seal the result.

USA Revolution 6.9.45
Canada North Wind  3.11.29

The Manchester Mosquitoes have gone back to back by taking out the 2015 AFLCNE premiership by downing Sheffield Thunder. This means that Manchester now boast four flags from five grand finals in the past 6 years, placing their run amongst the most successful of teams across Europe.

Final Scores: Manchester Mosquitoes 18 13 121 d Sheffield Thunder 10 14 74.

The final 47 point margin suggests a comfortable result that was all one way, but conditions saw a game which was buried effectively by quarter time and from there Sheffield spent the afternoon doing all they could to bridge the gap – which they did manage to do, just not enough to change the result.

Whilst English crowds pack Edgbaston in Birmingham to wildly cheer their cricketers on to a likely Ashes triumph, there are other sporting events to suit footy tastes as finals matches will be played in London and Sheffield to decide the 2015 premierships in the AFLCNE (Central & Northern England) competitions and grand finalists in the AFL London battle.

Up in Sheffield it will be the local team, Sheffield Thunder, hosting the minor premiers, the Manchester Mosquitoes. With one win apiece this season in their battles with each other, both sides have claims to this year’s flag. However, it will take an absolutely mighty effort from the Thunder to bring down the Manchester juggernaut which is aiming for a fourth flag in five grand finals over the past six seasons. But this is finals footy, with the season’s two best teams in combat. Nothing is a given.

AFL Europe is pleased to announce Megan Hession has been appointed CEO.

An experienced sports administrator, Megan will be based in London and will oversee the 21-member nation’s individual competitions while continuing to promote the game and oversee its development in Europe.

Originally from the United States, Megan arrives in London with a wealth of experience. After working for more than a decade in financial trading technology in New York and London, Megan started a sports management company in Europe that expanded to Dubai and New York. Her work focused on EPL player welfare and the organisation of high-performance training camps and sports event management in the Middle East.

Megan is no stranger to the AFL after organising Port Adelaide’s last two pre-season training camps in Dubai.

Megan said she was thrilled to be starting the role.

With a little over a week until the AFL’s Multicultural Round gets under way it is timely to have a look back at the genesis of our game and the part that players with strong and diverse ethnic backgrounds have played.

 

Whilst some might consider the “multicultural” aspect of the game a relatively new phenomenon, the fact is that the game’s past is garnered with a multicultural smorgasboard.

 

 

One of the first names that comes to mind is “Jezza” in the 60’s and 70’s. Carlton’s Alex Jesaulenko, of both Ukrainian and Austrian descent, became one of the better known surnames of his era. The commentary surrounding his famous mark in the 1970 grand final over Graeme Jenkins from Collingwood became part of folklore. Mike Williamson excitedly called “Jesaulenko, you beauty!” immortalising the mark and also a multicultural surname in one breath.

The USAFL, in conjunction with AFL Canada, will be streaming all four Parallel Cup matches live on YouTube.  Both days’ coverage will begin at 5:45pm ET, with Brian Barrish and Denis Ryan leading the commentary team for the weekend.  There will also be live updates on Twitter and Facebook.

Live Stream: Full schedule and YouTube links on USAFL.com

Twitter: @USAFL1997 and @AFL_TEAMCANADA

Facebook: USAFL and AFL CANADA

ST KILDA MEDIA RELEASE

THE rapid improvement of St Kilda’s international rookie Jason Holmes has resulted in a one-year contract extension for the 2016 season.

Until recently, the American-born Holmes had never heard of Australian football let alone played it but after completing his career as a college basketballer, tried his hand at an AFL combine.

The Saints selected him with pick 36 at the 2014 Rookie Draft and immediately set upon fast-tracking his development through the club’s VFL affiliate Sandringham.

Another big week for International players in the VFL as Round 15 was played in good conditions on Saturday and not so good on Sunday. The standout performances were the ruckwork of Eric Wallace and an impressive defensive performance by Kurt Heatherley.

A quiet day for opposing Irish players in the Essendon vs Geelong match. Lucey (Ire) had 5 kicks, 5 marks, 4 hit outs and 3 handballs for the Cats and Conor McKenna (Ire) on the winning side had 8 kicks, 3 handballs and 3 marks and kicked 1.1 to see the Bombers home by 13 points.
 

Friday night footy at the MCG kicks off Round 18 with Hawthorn hosting Richmond. 

Once again viewers around the world can access matches live or delayed on a number of TV networks or stream the telecast via subscription to Watchafl.com.au. 

The broadcast schedule for this round can be seen below.

 

 

The following is a press release from the AFLNT looking at the increasing role and exponential growth of women’s football across the Northern Territory. As the new season approaches and plans for 2015/16 are put into place, the AFLNT is looking more closely at how that growth can be built effectively and positively into future plans.

As Territory Football approaches its Centenary year, focus is turning towards the women who make the game great.

 

Australia wide, the role of women in football has changed dramatically from fans and loyal club volunteers to elite athletes, coaches and umpires in their own right.

 

 

AFL Northern Territory (AFLNT) has seen exponential growth in TIO NTFL women’s football over the last few seasons, and to acknowledge this growth and successes AFLNT CEO Tony Frawley has pledged scholarships for women who wish to further their development in coaching, umpiring or administration of the game. 

In a move which will combine recognition of umpires and the multicultural legacy of our great game, the word “umpire” will be printed on the back of umpire’s shirts during the upcoming multicultural round. At each AFL match during Round 19, the AFL Multicultural Round from August 7-9, officiating umpires will have the word “umpire” emblazoned on the shirts in seven different languages.

The same touch will be added to the footballs used throughout the round, with the word “Sherrin” translated into the same languages as well as the 50 metre lines on each ground. To complete the picture of wider recognition of the event matches will be broadcast in corresponding languages for each venue as well as podcasts through afl.com.au and associated apps.