World Footy News

The AFL's 150 website continues to chart the history of the game. A recent table lists the premiership winners in the stronger leagues, starting from right back in 1877 when South Adelaide won the inaugural SAFA (now the SANFL) title and Carlton the inaugural VFA (now the VFL) title. Other leagues shown include the AFL (and its forerunner the VFL, starting with Essendon in 1897 as it split from the then VFA), and various winners in Tasmania starting with "Cricketers" in 1880, Rovers in WA in 1885 (followed by a Fremantle side in 1886). New South Wales entries begin with East Sydney in 1903, Queensland lists "Norths, Souths, Wests" in 1904, the Northern Territory has Wanderers in 1917, and finally Acton in 1924 is the first winning club listed for the Australian Capital Territory (Canberra).

The full list is here.

New Zealand's media are continuing to profile talented members of the Falcons' squad. Those in developing football markets would be only too aware of how this helps to promote a minority sport to current and future sponsors as well as attract potential players and generate increased awareness.

Scott Morgan of NZ's Sunday paper, The Sunday Star Times, had this to say about quality Mt Roskill and NZ Falcons' on-baller Lewis Hurst...

Aussie rules glory in sights

Football in the US is for the most part a game of distance. To play an away game requires at best a road trip and in many cases an air trip. So any time a new team comes along it usually means less travel and more games for their nearest neighbors. Many teams in the US will only play a handful of games each year (outside of tournament weekends) and desperately need more teams and less distance to travel for the game to prosper.

Each year there are stirrings of new teams coming on line, some never make it much further than this (the Mobile team rumored last year come to mind) and some struggle on for a long time but eventually put things together. Columbus in Ohio has struggled to get things happening for a couple of years and looked to almost be getting to a playing stage in 2006.

This didn’t amount to anything in ‘06 or ‘07, but a team has emerged in 2008, and what’s more they have their first competitive game on the board. Their next challenge is will be to stick around unlike some other teams that have raised their head briefly and disappered again soon after.

The Sydney Swans have beaten out other AFL clubs such as Carlton and Brisbane to sign Irish talent Kyle Coney as an International Rookie. It also will remove Coney from Ricky Nixon’s scouting pool list which has several other AFL clubs on board. The Sydney move was foreshadowed as early as December 2007, and Coney has continued to impress with good form in Gaelic minor football this year. He will join fellow Irishmen Tadgh Kennelly and Brendan Murphy at the Swans later in the year, possibly in October after Tyrone’s minor team’s bid for the All Ireland title is over.

Coney is the first that we know of to be signed this year, and the big question really is how many other new Gaelic footballers will be nominated on AFL lists by the year’s end?

The Beijing Bombers featured in a great video on Foxsports.com.au this week, with interviews of development officer Andrew Sawitsch and local convert Zhang You, who regards the sport as a "Man's Game".

The video focuses on the development of the Bombers, as well as the build-up to the International Cup, which will feature a Chinese Red Demons team with a very healthy contingent from the Beijing Bombers. The Bombers are lauded as the "best team in China", a statement backed up by their recent strong victory over arch-rivals the Shanghai Tigers, with the Hong Kong Dragons and Tianjin Demons also given a mention.

The video can be viewed here.

The New Zealand Falcons will return to defend their title. This is a country that has been competitive with the very best from Darwin’s Arafura Festival through to their stand-out performance to date in winning the tournament in 2005. They appear certain to make it through to the semi-final round, and it will take a complete performance to knock them out of Cup contention.

The noble Emu, Australia's "other national symbol", is somewhat underrepresented in the world of footy, particularly when compared with the Kangaroos, but also eclipsed by Wombats, Redbacks and Goannas. A massive grey bird somewhat similar to an ostrich, the Emu adorns Australia's coat of arms along with the Kangaroo - and it is famously said by Australians that neither animal is able to take a backwards step.

However, Germany's newest Aussie rules club is set to remedy this, with the Stuttgart Emus ready to pull on the green and white and join the AFL Germany in 2009.

The Emus are already in training, and have held a few scratch-matches with and against other German and French teams. Their first official match will take place in just over a month, when they take on the 5th-placed AFLG side at the German league's Grand Final carnival on September 6th.

The second annual 'Battle of the Roos' between Munich and Vienna will take-off August 30th in a small Tirolean village called Kössen, the home town of Austrian & Vienna Kangaroos captain Raoul.

According to Vienna Kangaroos president Ben Chick, "it's a great day with a lot of interest from the locals & a good social get together for the Vienna and Munich boys. Munich won in the wet last year but the Vienna Kangaroos have been doing some high-altitude training in preparation for this year's hit out."

The ground in Kössen is actually the landing spot for the paragliders from the mountain up the road. As Chick says, "the playing ground is a pretty smooth paddock - I have played on worse, although never where the goal posts have been cut down from the local forest!!"

"It's a fantastic location and on a good day they have 200+ people sitting back drinking a few beers at the bar after launching themselves - so we should have a decent crowd. Real Austrian country footy."

The Vienna Kangaroos remain Austria's only club, with the plans for a club in Graz still to get off the drawing board. Says Chick, "Unfortunately we havent seen much from the Graz guys this year. The main motivator and organiser was working on a project in Latvia so he hasn't been around and things have just fallen away." Apparently though, the rest of the guys in Graz remain keen and the Kangaroos remain hopeful for the club to finally make its debut in the near future.

For more information on the Battle of the Roos and footy in Austria, visit the Vienna Kangaroos website.

The Papua New Guinea Mosquitoes, with the great support of PNG Telikom in particular, are back at their third International Cup hoping to revisit their great days at the Arafura Festivals in Darwin. There they were undefeated by the other international teams, many including some fine Australian expatriate players, but as yet they remain the bridesmaids of the International Cup going down to Ireland in 2002 and New Zealand in 2005.

They have been one of their nation’s most successful Junior and Senior National teams over many years. Wearing the Black, Red and Gold in matches, both on PNG soil and in Australia, they have always been hard to beat for more than 40 years. In recent times their juniors have dominated the Queensland Country Junior Championships and in 2007 won the QLD Girls Under 16 State Titles in Cairns. With many more players now gaining invaluable experience in Australia via scholarships, it will take a mighty performance to squash these Mozzies.

Just as Carlton's Michael Shields decides to head home to Ireland, two more young hopefuls have arrived in Australia. Carl Dias, 19, is a left footer from Kilmacud Crokes, Dublin, who plays through the midfield as well as having good goal-sense. Brian Donnelly, 20, from County Louth just southeast of the Northern Ireland border, is a tall defender, but reportedly quick over the ground and a good mark. Both are Gaelic footballers who have been invited to Adelaide for three week trials with the Crows. They arrived on 22nd July and have already had their first sessions.

Adelaide recruiting manager Matt Rendell (a former player with West Torrens, Fitzroy and Brisbane) made no secret of the fact that the club is looking further a-field with the looming player squeeze as two new clubs enter the AFL in 2011 and probably 2012. The Crows are impressed with the trialists' ability to read the play, but say it's early days in terms of handling the Australian footy and building body strength.

Timuçin Sindirgilioglu had a dream. Born and raised in Carlton, he played footy for his school, the Princes Hill Football Club, and was asked to try out for Carlton's under 19s team, the old development division of the VFL. His footballing career was however put on hold when his family moved back to Turkey in 1987.

Back in those days it was pretty hard for a teenager to set up a club whilst also getting used to a new culture and environment. Now, thanks to the internet and continuous communication with friends back in Melbourne during the past 10 years, his long-held dream is about to become a reality.

The Karsiyaka Dockers have hit the training track as the first footy club in Turkey, based in the western port city of Izmir. The Dockers hope to be playing matches against regional opposition and possibly other local teams by next year.

This Sunday sees the 2008 SCAFL Grand Final being contested by the Beachside Sharks and the OC Jets. The Sharks will be looking to make it two in a row, while the Jets will be looking to exact revenge for their four point loss in last years Grand Final. The Sharks Club President (and founder) Adam Howarth will play his last game with the club.

On the Beachside Sharks site Howarth reflected on the work involved "Well, it's been a hard two years getting this club started and finding a way to get us in the position to win a second straight Grand Final. It's tough work and I couldn't have done it without the dedication of our coach, John Fragomeni, and the support of the players and their families." Howarth has played in every game for the Sharks and will be looking to go out in style before handing over the running of the club to the new President.