World Footy News

Checkout this highlights package from the Ottawa Swans 2013 season with the men's and women's teams in action.

The following story looks at the Australian Rules football scene in Russia. It has been given to World Footy news to reproduce as a way of highlighting the tremendous work by Roger Scott and his crew to build the game from scratch in a country not usually associated with the sport.

Roger Scott began learning Russian while still in Australia. He works in commercial real estate in Moscow, and on Sundays teaches all those interested how to play Australian football, a game little known in Russia.

Moscow. One of the first warm days in August. At a small stadium in Lefortovo park, there are two dozen immigrant workers from Central Asia playing football (soccer), and several more people playing frisbee on the edge of the field. At five in the afternoon they are replaced by strongly built guys, about eight of them, carrying an oval ball.

"Whenever you come here, somebody is always playing football (soccer): in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening. Were there more of us, we would have just occupied this field and that's it," one of them says with a slight accent. The playing field in Lefortovo is free, therefore clashes of certain "subcultures" are inevitable. 

The guy with an accent is called Roger Scott. "Like the rabbit," he says, when we are introduced. Roger is from Australia, but has been living in Russia for eight years already. 

He has a double-headed eagle tattooed on his right shoulder. "It helps in difficult situations with the police. Although I don't have to show it that often these days, Moscow has become more civilised," he says, with a faint nostalgia in his tone. 

The following article is courtesy of Zain Nabi.  It follows the first match by the squad being assembled in Melbourne to represent Pakistan at the 2014 International Cup.  This truly is a case of the first tentative steps towards international competition for a new footy nation. 

Lo and behold! Perfect kicks, meticulous interceptions, scintillating mark, commendable team work, and, of course, crowd support were the highlights of the game as Shaheens took on their first actual opponents, Just Play – a local football team, and defeated them 44-26 under the overcast conditions at Princes Park Carlton.

It was the first real test of the relentless training sessions that the players had been through during the past couple of months. The Shaheens carried their skills from the training on to the playing field to display what Coach Andrew termed ‘an outstanding performance’.

“It is fantastic to see them performing like that,” he said during the post-game interview. “Honestly, I had not expected to see such professional approach from the players, but they surprised me.”

The Vietnam Swans have won a fourth consecutive Indochina Cup, overcoming the Thailand Tigers, Lao Elephants and Cambodian Eagles in Phnom Penh in the seventh instalment of the event.

The round robin tournament was played in the 18-a-side format, with the Swans finishing undefeated on top with an impressive percentage of 282%.

The Eagles finished second with two wins and one loss, the Tigers finished third with only a win over the Elephants, and the Elephants finished fourth without a win.

This is the second consecutive year that Cambodia have had to settle for second position, despite some keys players coming back from injury.

I recall the 1981 VFL season so well. After six rounds, Essendon sat with a solitary win and faced the prospect of a lean year. Things changed, however, and they won their next 15 matches in succession to reach the finals. It was certainly strong evidence that much can change as a season progresses, and a positive attitude can turn things around.

However, after six rounds, certain patterns can be seen which give an indication of what is to come and the Northern Territory Football League is at that stage now. One third of the season played and already there are some strong themes emerging. Following is a brief on each of the Premier League sides so far this season in current ladder position which can be mulled over at leisure.

Jason Lassey of Bigfooty Media interviews AFL Asia's President Phil Johns.

Always on the lookout for news on potential new teams or destinations playing Australian Rules football, I stumbled across the article below about our home grown game being played in Nepal at the base of Mt Everest.

There are many photos of people brandishing their scarves in club colours at one of the base camps or locations prior to their ascent. There is even the occasional photo of someone kicking a ball with the mountain as a backdrop. But this article was different. It looked at the very embryonic beginnings of something that one day may grow. 

Jason Lassey of Bigfooty Media interviews Finland AFL's President Janne Hokkonen.

Carlton will list it's second Irish International rookie this year during the upcoming draft period with Ciaran Sheehan signed to join the club after Ciaran Byrne also signed up in August. Most readers here may remember Sheehan from the dominant Irish team that defeated the Australians in the recent International Rules series in Ireland.

Those with a longer memory will also recall the 18 year old Cork youngster coming to Carlton for a trial in 2009 before knocking back a rookie list spot and remaining in Ireland. 

The 31st October 2013 marked a historic day for the Australian Rules Football Association of India (ARFAI). A successful bid for the Australian Sports Outreach Programme (ASOP) grant resulted in the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and the AFL Headquarters signing an agreement to pass the grant in favour of ARFAI. The grant will help the ARFAI develop Aussie Rules Football in India with help from partner organisation Magic Bus - India.

The launch of the agreement was hosted at the Australian High Commission in Delhi. The grant was passed to assist focused development of Footy in the states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Jharkhand. ARFAI in this period will be working in close quarters with Magic Bus, India which is an international sport NGO helping unprivileged children using sports as a medium to relay social messages. Apart from the social programmes, ARFAI will also engage in educational programmes in other states as well through the India chapter of Global Community Sports (GSC) which is a company conducting educational and global cultural exchange programmes using Footy as the medium.

Jason Lassey of Bigfooty Media interviews Japan's national team coach Brett Snowdon.