World Footy News

The Sussex Swans were founded by Julian "Rooster" Clark in 1990 as the first BARFL club outside London. From the start the Swans have been a particularly British club, with the majority of players British born and providing many players to the national squad. As a result it would be fair to say the club has struggled for success against the dominant London clubs which have had a greater share of expatriate Aussie players. However this situation has forced the Swans to become more innovative. With a controversial northern winter coming to a close in which regional teams had to decide between staying with the BARFL or joining the new ARUK league, the Swans chartered a different course – expanding their numbers to play in both competitions, as well as greatly expanding their club's junior operations as one of the first British teams with a junior development officer.

(Alexandria, VA) In the shadow of the George Washington Masonic Temple here in Alexandria, Virginia, and with the snow melting on the George Washington Middle School Football field, 20 to 30 young men and women are out trying their hand at Ausball. It is a cold Easter Saturday morning but those brave souls willing to get out of bed are excited to put the footy boots on, kick some goals and have some fun. Ausball, is a version of "Rec Footy", developed for the US. It is a 9-a-side game played on a smaller oval (100 yards in length) with no tackling and various rules to encourage coed participation. According to the Eagles website, "No previous experience is necessary. Just some running clothes, maybe a pair of cleats or sneakers and plenty of enthusiasm."

The Vienna Kangaroos have announced they will host the 4th Central European AFL Championships on Saturday 9th June, 2007. The CEAFL tournament has run every year since 2003, pausing only for the EU Cup in 2005, and has traditionally been a chance for countries with only one club or European leagues not yet at the stage of fielding an International Cup side to get a game against regional competitors. This year the format will be 9-a-side with one representative team allowed from each country. At least four countries in Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Finland are committed so far.

Further north, the year's second all-Europe 9-a-side championship, the EU Cup, is scheduled for September, hosted by the Hamburg Dockers. The tournament will be the second EU Cup, the first being held in London late 2005 and last year's tournament in France being cancelled.

The much anticipated Aussie Rules debut of Sedgars Park, Potchefstroom, is almost here, as the Australian under 17s head to South Africa for the historic match on April 14th. The international, along with the warm-up trial for the touring squad, will be the first games at the cricket ground and hopefully the oval will come through the matches in good condition. AFL South Africa are also planning to use the day to officially launch "FootyWild", billed as "The New Game That Roars".

Here are a few snippets of footy info from around the web over the past few weeks, with signs of increasing professionalism in South Africa, Jason Akermanis again pushing the AFL to embrace Japan, and Essendon translating part of their website into Japanese.

Ireland's GAA is talking tough in the lead up to negotiations to restart the International Rules series between Australia and Ireland. All the indications are that the Irish want major rule changes and won't proceed without them.

As reported in the Irish Independent:

GAA President Nicky Brennan has revealed that efforts are underway to revive the International Rules series with Australia, just months after it was shelved. The Irish management team, led by Seán Boylan, met recently to draw up a number of issues which they feel need to be addressed if the series is to have a future. And Brennan said that further feedback had been received from the players involved in the controversial Autumn series with the Australians.