Welcome to World Footy News Sunday, July 06 2025 @ 02:59 am ACST
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
Elsewhere in the World
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.
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.
After a long time at the top of the AFL ladder, the Brisbane Lions are rebuilding their aging team. One innovative recruiting strategy involves the Lions hosting trials this week to identify potential Australian footballers within Ireland's Gaelic sports community.
The curtain-raiser to last weekend's AFL Challenge Cup at the Brit Oval, London, was the international match between Ireland and Britain.
This wasn't an expat event, both sides were composed fully of Irish and British lads under International Cup qualification criteria. Unlike the Eagles v Dockers match that followed, the game was also Australian Rules by the rulebook - in other words it was melee free, and the standard impressed the crowd that had grown by the last quarter to several thousand. We got the views of some of the people involved and some ideas of future plans.
Sports fan and Canadian-based WebTV broadcaster 'Myk Aussie' has recently made available documentary footage of the 2005 USFooty nationals in Milwaukee, parts one and two of a four-part series available for viewing online.
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