World Footy News

Ryan Bartz, an exchange student from New York, was selected in the Green & Gold Australian Women's football team at the Australian University Games late last month. Although selection is honorary as there is no international competition to play in, it is a major achievement for Bartz who had only played two games of Australian Rules football prior to the Australian University Games.

WFN has reported on International rules matches around the world. Apart from the AFL v GAA senior and under 17 matches, International Rules matches have been played by amateur clubs, increasingly on an annual basis, in at least 23 cities across Australia, Ireland, USA, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, China, Singapore and Japan. That is probably not an exhaustive list. This article reports on the first series that we know of in England, where Reading, west of London, has become the scene of what is set to be a regular 3 match annual series.

St Anthony's GAA club in Reading and the Reading Roos share adjacent grounds that has helped forge the partnership. They are also two of the more progressive clubs in developing under age football in Gaelic football and Aussie rules in England.

Melbourne newspaper the 'Herald Sun' reported on October 19th that Michael Ablett (relative of the famous AFL family) is moving to the US with his fiancée whom he will marry next year. Included in the report is a suggestion that he will coach fledgling US Footy club the Las Vegas Gamblers who are yet to play an official match.

At World Footy News we're keen to see the game of footy grow internationally. A key factor will always be the health of the game "at home". Recreational Football could well prove to be an important factor in that health.

AFL club Melbourne recently made the news after announcing it was investigating playing an exhibition match in the Chinese metropolis Tianjin. The Demons are now about six weeks away from announcing a five-year development plan, supported by the City of Melbourne and the Tianjin regional government, according to General Manager of Business Development Shane Anderson.

The Bakersfield Barbarians founder Leigh Hickling knew his Christmas had come early when the fledgling club's first set of jumpers arrived. All those well established around the world started somewhere, and maybe when those first Guernseys arrived was when they really felt that it was all really happening - or maybe that came the first time they copped a big bump. There's no doubt the uniforms look great and now the team awaits their imminent first game.

The 2005 AFL International Rules Series will be televised in the following locations:

Australia

• Melbourne (live Friday 21st October @ 8:30 EST - Channel 9)
• Perth (live Friday 21st October @ 8:30 EST - Channel 9)
• Adelaide (live Friday 21st October @ 8:30 EST - Channel 9)
• Tasmania (live Friday 21st October 9:30pm TDST - Channel 9)
• Brisbane (delayed Saturday 22nd October 12:10am EST - Channel 9)
• Sydney (delayed Saturday 22nd October 12:10am EST - Channel 9)
• Newcastle (delayed Saturday 22nd October 12:10am EST - Channel 9)
• Gold Coast (delayed Friday 21st October 10:00 pm EST - Channel 9)
• Darwin (delayed Saturday 22nd October 12:10am EST - Channel 9)

Elsewhere in the World

• Hong Kong (Friday, 21 October 2005 at 23:00 - ABC Asia Pacific)

If you have any local information for the benefit of international viewers, feel free to contact WFN staff.

UPDATE:

Advice from AFANA is that when they last checked there would be no international coverage besides Ireland and on ABC Asia Pacific, although there would probably be some sort of coverage, radio and or delayed video, on the AFL web site. However, AFANA are also chasing news that the games may be shown, delayed by 2 days, on US satellite TV. AFANA will have the latest information on their site as soon as it is available.

Just a quick note to say that our RSS feed is working again, having been out of action for a few weeks due to a problem when we changed servers. For those unfamiliar, RSS feeds allow news headlines to be sent straight to your email or RSS reader.

Our commenting policy has now been changed to disable the commenting option on new stories. Read on for more details.

For purveyors of timely footy news 'and' commentary, this contribution may come a little late in the day. That 'day' being yesterday, when a story about the EU Cup winners Belgium -- a team I am currently managing -- was posted.

In the first 9-a-side EU Cup held in London last weekend October 9th, Belgium (represented by the Brussels Saints) defeated Sweden 78-37. Ten sides competed in the cup, representing nations from around Europe.

The following article was written and sent to us by Associate Professor Stephen Alomes. Stephen is a historian of football and of Australian nationalism at Deakin University in Victoria, and a supporter of the international growth of Australian Football. He was a keen spectator at the 2005 International Cup. His article also appeared in a recent AFL Record in the Last Line column. As time permits Stephen will continue to contribute to WFN and we welcome him on-board.

This year's International Rules series between the selections of the AFL and GAA is coming up and the Australian team has been picked with an emphasis on a tactical approach to beating the Irish rather than basing the squad on the All-Australian team. WFN takes a preview of the Aussie side.