Welcome to World Footy News Friday, September 27 2024 @ 06:58 pm ACST
 |  | Western Australia's Subiaco Lions have become the first Australian Football club below AFL level to visit South Africa as part of the sport's growing push into the region. AFL clubs have visited in the past, as have AFL junior and indigenous squads and the Convicts tourist team, and now the first state league side has joined the party. |
The Kokoda Track in PNG is certainly getting a work-over from many with AFL connections. Following on from many recent forays, including a trip just lately from ex Fremantle Dockers and Adelaide Crows high flyer Tony Modra (as part of a McGuiness-McDermott Foundation trip), the Hawthorn Football Club will once again tackle the track. They will take their latest batch of recruits, and those unavailable when the Hawthorn last walked the track at the end of 2004, on the trip.
The Melbourne Football Club's tour of China is revealing that initial investment in Australian Football in Asia's giant is already bearing fruit. In the past there have been occasional visits by AFL clubs to international destinations with one-off clinics they may not leave a lasting legacy. So it must have been a delight for the Demons to find school children in Suzhou already well-versed in the skills of Aussie Rules. Details of the club's trip are being regularly updated on their website as the Melbourne dalliance with new markets begins in earnest.
Mustafa İlhan, known as John Ilhan, the founder of mobile phone retailer "Crazy John's", died this week in Melbourne. The flamboyant Ilhan was a very popular figure with migrants and footy fans alike and respected by many around Australia.
John was an Australian "rags to riches" story, a Muslim who migrated from Turkey to Australia. From working class Broadmeadows, he opened his first store in 1991 and in just 10 years he had built up one of Australia's biggest retail chains. In 2003, he topped the Australian Young Rich list, becoming Australia's richest man 40 years or younger. His personal fortune was estimated to be worth over AUD$300 million. His success came largely from his business innovation, his larger than life personality and his hands on approach to business. John became a role model for many Australian muslims and migrants.
 | Eccentric expat Australian Myk Aussie is a regular at Aussie Rules events across Canada and the United States. He recently caught up with football legend Kevin Sheedy at the 2007 US Nationals in Louisville. Myk's excellent interview ranged from the way the game has changed, Aussie Rules in North America, learning from other sports, Aboriginal players, the great Essendon premiership sides of the past and even horse racing. Myk's site is MYKwebTV and also contains other footy footage from Canada and the US. The Sheedy interview is here. |
The trickle of Irish players into the Australian Football League is set to become a flood in 2008. Carlton may be about to take the recruiting experiment to a new level, and what had been a curiosity could now become a major phenomenon, set to shape the on-field destinies of some clubs and possibly even bring on the possibility of true international Australian Football competition for Australia.
Victoria is home to 5 million people and ten of the sixteen teams in Australia's elite football league, the AFL. A year ago I wrote a controversial article challenging the AFL to make some tough decisions and truly nationalise the league whilst ensuring football remains at the forefront of Victoria's sporting scene. I believed that reducing the number of Melbourne clubs would be the key to improved performances from the city's remaining clubs and would mean new clubs in unrepresented parts of Australia. This article looks at the relevance of my arguments a year on, following much improved results by Victorian clubs. It also looks in depth at the underperforming VFL (Victoria's prominent state league) and possible measures to lift the league to the status it could enjoy.
1 Denver Bulldogs (9-1) (10 #1 Votes)
 | Swedish footy has seen big growth in the past few years, with new clubs springing up outside the traditional hot spots of Stockholm and Scania and the Swedish Elks improving strongly onfield - taking out this year's EU Cup. However, the creation of a central governing body has proven elusive until now - partly due to the distances between clubs and leagues. A meeting held recently has seen the formation of the Svenska Australiensiska FotbollsLiga, with a seven-member committee - composed entirely of Swedes - drawn from all leagues and clubs in Sweden. |
Talks between AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou and the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA)’s president Nickey Brennan, took place in Paris on Thursday night.
It was the first face to face meeting of the two heads of their respective codes since the controversial second test match of International Rules in Croke Pk, Dublin 12 months earlier. That game, played before a full house of 82,000, finished in a convincing victory to Australia but the Irish were incensed by rough play in the first quarter, and called a halt to the series in the immediate aftermath.
Perhaps the biggest issue for the international spread of Australian Football is making the step from a small club to larger numbers and getting juniors into the game. Of course it's completely reasonable for an expat-Australian club to function purely at that level, but in many cases a decision is made to try to develop the game locally and leave a lasting legacy.
In some cases a club may morph into a league, or in areas with higher numbers of Aussies, several clubs may form and become a relatively stable league relatively quickly. Over time the question sometimes emerges of how much pressure the league can or should put on clubs to ensure local development occurs to ensure the continued growth of the sport. Classic examples of reasonably large, stable leagues are those based around London (England), Ontario (Canada) and Auckland (New Zealand). Each of those boast a good standard of footy and a solid mix of Aussies and locals. But over the years all three have had issues in getting their clubs to invest heavily in junior development. Here we have a look at one small example of the tough decision another sport made.
Geelong's brownlow medal-winning Jimmy Bartel pulled on the boots for the Halikko Juggernauts last weekend, helping Finland's second club to their first-ever win over the Helsinki Heatseekers.
Bartel pulled in at least one spectacular screamer and impressive goal - and was presented with the number 8 Finland jumper after the game. The Finland AFL now has around 40 playing members, with two active local clubs (Helsinki and Halikko) and hopefully two or three more ready to go soon. If all goes according to plan, the Finns (and the Swedes) will be in Melbourne next year for the IC 2008.
The full story and a shot of Bartel receiving the jumper is available on the AFL website here
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