World Footy News

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

Highlights and interviews from the USFooty Nationals are up on the net - the YouTube link is here.

The clip opens with a short chat with Rod Grjlusich, regular Nationals guest commentator from Fremantle who mentions that back in 2003 he knew straight away who the Americans on the field were - but now with the improving standard it isn't so obvious.

The link will also put you into close proximity with the huge (and growing) amount of footage from USAFL games on YouTube, as well as footage from Europe and elsewhere available with a few clicks in the search bar.

English-born Fergus Watts' recent delisting by St Kilda and David Rodan's delisting scare last year show just how fragile an AFL career can be. However, many players do bounce back.

Glancing upon the AFL lists, as we head into 2008, there is plenty to get excited about. As these players mature, they become role models for players growing up in their countries. The younger they are, the more potential for long successful AFL careers.

So we decided to look at the ages of some of the current crop of AFL "internationals" and encouragingly the signs are still youthful.

For the first time since the Crows took on Brisbane in Wellington, New Zealand back in 2001, a NAB Cup match will be played outside Australia.

The Crows are back on the bill for the revival, with their much-anticipated clash against Collingwood on February 9th next year in Dubai also given NAB Cup status .

The match will be only the fifth AFL Pre-season Tournament match ever held overseas, after games were held in Cape Town (1998) and Wellington (1998, 2000, 2001).

The Crows will hold a training camp in Dubai in the lead-up to the match, while the Magpies are spending time in South Africa.

Kevin Sheedy's tour of North America received a little more media attention in Melbourne today with an article in the Herald Sun on his presence at the USFooty National Championships. The article mentions Sheedy being given the key to the city of Louisville and some general comments on the standard of footy in the US and how it's risen in the two years since he was last in attendance.

In a sound bite that might spark debate in the USA, he also mentioned as an aside that the Minnesota Freeze - a fairly new club and Division 2 Champions - has the best young talent at the Champs, particularly helped by the Western Australian Football League partnership program.

(Louisville, KY) Legendary Coach, Kevin Sheedy, spent his first two weeks of retirement from coaching footy doing what he loves most – coaching footy. Sheedy’s trip to North America included opening the Toronto Stock Exchange, meeting with sponsors of 'The Northwind', Canada’s national football team, watching the Northwind vs. Convict match-up and the Ontario Australian Football League Grand Final, helping USFooty Kids National Coordinator Denis Ryan with a High School clinic, giving a pep-talk to the Seattle Grizzlies prior to their Division II Grand Final match up, and consoling the San Diego Lions after their tough loss in the Division 1 Grand Final. If the first two weeks of Sheedy’s retirement are anything to go by, he's not going to have much time for fishing and golf.

A fuller tournament report for the USAFL National Championships is on its way, but in the meantime we've got some pics of the event.

For the results, check further down the page in the story Denver Wins!

The BARFL's British Bulldogs continued their domination of all that come before them this year with a massive 146-point win over the ARUK combined England and Wales Dragons. The game was played 14-a-side as the Dragons suffered some last-minute withdrawals, with the Bulldogs again showing the form that saw them hammer the Irish in Dublin running out 23.28.166 to 2.8.20 winners.

The Bulldogs are now looking forward to next year's International Cup, where they will have the chance to show how much they've really come against the heavyweights PNG, New Zealand and the US.

For the ARUK sides, the next hitout will be a match between the England Dragonslayers and Wales Red Dragons on November 3rd in Cardiff.

The Denver Bulldogs won the 2007 Coopers USFooty National Championship, defeating San Diego Lions by just 6 points. It was a beautiful day for footy in Louisville's Champions Park - bright and sunny with little breeze and very warm for mid-October in the mid-West. The pitch was flat but dusty as Kentucky's blue grass hasn't seen water in a very long time.