World Footy News

With a a squad containing fifteen players between the ages of 17 and 22, the New Zealand Falcons will be one of the younger squads on display in Melbourne this August. In addition, most of them either play in the Australian Capital Territory AFL or the AFL Queensland or have toured Australia multiple times, playing against Queensland under18s representative sides.

The US Revolution are hoping for a strong showing at the International Cup in August, and one man hoping to give them every chance of bringing home the cup is professional strength and fitness coach Troy Anderson.
World Footy News speaks with Anderson to give some insight into how the Revolution are shaping up.

The votes are in - North Melbourne and St Kilda are the AFL sides with the greatest amount of support among the readers of World Footy News. There was some considerable distance between these two and third-place Collingwood. The Brisbane Lions finished last, one vote behind those who professed not to follow any team in the AFL.

The Brussels Saints were newcomers to the European scene for 2004, with an impressive mix of experienced footballers and new recruits from a rugby background taking out the Central European AFL championship.

Luke White reviews their 2004 season and tells more about their plans for 2005.

As clubs in the northern hemisphere are coming out of their winter hibernation, players are hitting the training track and plans are being made for the 2005. World Footy News has recently had stories on how Spain and Germany are shaping up, now we're giving a sneak preview of some of the new developments in other leagues across Europe this year - including some new clubs, new structures and possibly a whole new league in Italy.

In March 2004, the inaugral Australian Football Multicultural Cup was held, celebrating the achievments and contributions of Melbourne's ethnic communities to Aussie Rules. This year sees the cup return, with three Mediterranean sides in Greece, Italy and Turkey taking the field.

The second match of the Convicts tour has been played, on 3rd February, in the northern city of Mafikeng. The Australians encountered a tougher side than their first match, so had to lift their tempo, but again ran out comfortable winners.

The touring Australian Convicts side has proven too strong for Gauteng Province in the first of a series of matches in Africa, running out 142 - 70 victors.

The only new nation to step up for the International Cup 2005, Spain is still a mystery to everyone but a few of the European sides such as Paris, Brussels and some of the German teams who have come up against them in the past year.

There are some promising signs from the nation, and as a Spanish national team largely organised by the Madrid Bears players prepares for the International Cup in Melbourne, a four-team league has resurfaced and is kicking on in the small Catalan town of Valls, 120km from Barcelona.

Continuing a series of Aussie Rules exhibition matches at US pro sports events, the Orange County Bombers will take on the San Diego Lions in an experimental exhibition match on February 20 during the halftime break of a Los Angeles Avengers (Arena Football League) match.

The biggest Australian Football event in 2005 might be the AFL grand final, or Australia versus Ireland in the International Rules series. But it could be argued that on the world stage, nothing will be bigger for footy than the 2005 International Cup. With very few internationals since the last Cup in 2002, it's a tough job predicting winners, but the World Footy News writers have all put their tips in and the results tallied to give our rankings.

In an attempt to find the first American to play in the AFL, the Collingwood Football Club will hold open tryouts in early April in conjunction with USAFL powerhouse the Denver Bulldogs. The Collingwood Magpies, one of Australia's oldest, largest and most successful clubs, are actively searching for young men with athletic abilities to possibly draft from the USA.