World Footy News

The prospect of an AFL match being played in the United States has been tantalising Australian Rules footy fans and players in the US for several years. After several disappointments the signs have been promising this year. Although it has yet to be officially confirmed, it now looks like the match is more likely than ever before.

The Leeside Lions are the 2005 ARFLI Premiers after a toughly contested Grand Final with the Dublin Demons in Kilkenny last Saturday. The Lions completed a clean sweep of all major honours offered by the ARFLI in 2005, also winning the pre-season Super 10s and the leading goalkicker award.

The AFL anticipates that the first and third round of matches at the 2005 Australian Football International Cup will be filmed, most likely for promotional purposes. They wish to hear from anyone interested in volunteering their time to assist with commentary in those matches.

2005 has been a big year for the North Carolina Tigers with playing an international match, moving to a newly formed league and starting their own local metro league among the events so far.

Well, in the Physical Education curriculum at least. This is according to an article in Britain’s Guardian newspaper, which discusses the rise of sports that aren't traditional in the UK.

An old favourite and a relative newcomer were the latest US clubs to kick off their 2005 season recently with their nearest rivals. And in other news another team looks to make their debut at this year's National Championships.

The Australian Football League, organisers of the 2005 Australian Football International Cup, have revealed plans to dramatically increase promotion for the tournament compared with the inaugural Cup in 2002.

In our 6th poll, we asked the question "Would you consider contributing financially in any way to international footy?", with the additional information that "The reasoning behind this poll is to gauge the interest of supporters of international footy. We all know clubs and leagues around the world need support (not just financially), and it would be interesting to know whether people would dip into their own pockets. Obviously readers who play outside of Australia already do contribute financially in some way, everytime they pay their fees etc. And many Australians have made some contribution, from donating old or new boots through to paying for scholarships or becoming members of overseas leagues."

The Collingwood sponsorship deal struck today with Wizard has given Collingwood and football a foot in the door with NBC, and negotiations are under way to have Collingwood matches and highlights packages broadcast into Asia. It may also be the first step in bigger things to come.

In the first game ever played by the New Zealand Falcons on home soil, powerhouse Victorian country side Maffra last Saturday July 9th defeated the locals by 70 points, running out 15.10.100 to 4.4.30 victors.

As Australian Football has developed in the United States over the past ten years, a number of clubs have begun using 9-a-side 'Metro Footy' to overcome the hurdles posed by a lack of large enough grounds, small initial squad sizes and the distances between cities.

Now, a new initiative is underway to take 9-a-side footy to the next level with the creation of 'Major League Aussie Rules', a plan which may see metro sides from across the USA competing against each other.

We previously reported a planned match between teams representing the MAAFL from the US and OAFL in Canada. The Canadians were planning on using the match to give valuable team practice to much of the Team Canada Northwind squad. Unfortunately the match has been cancelled due to the MAAFL unable to gather sufficient numbers willing to travel.