World Footy News

Every year the AFL clubs seem to find themselves hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons, but clubs outside of Australia are by no means immune to controversy either.

Australian football continues to grow in a country where it already has a well established base.

The China Blues chalked up their first win on foreign soil during the Asian AFL Championships in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) on Saturday 31st July. It had been a long time between drinks with their only other win being at home versus Japan on November 6th 1999 in their debut match. Rather than an overall match report, we have an interesting account from some of the players involved. Hopefully we'll have a full tournament run down shortly.

Hampden Football League side South Warrnambool (270km west of Melbourne, Australia) boasts an impressive list of youngsters that are currently playing at the highest level. Jonathan Brown, Brent Moloney, Matt Maguire and James Rahilly are all products of the club's successful junior program, which also boasts recent stars Wayne Schwass and Leon Cameron. Could the next South Warrnambool player to step up be an 18-year-old exchange student from Japan?

The chances of an AFL match being held in the US next year are considered better than ever.

After re-establishing itself in the 1970s, Australian Rules football has become a fast growing sport in the Land of the Long White Cloud.

An Australian Youth Ambassador has helped develop Australian football in the Kingdom of Tonga, and there are plans for the Solomon Islands too

The large Australian expatriate community ensures footy has a foothold in the UK, but the recent Brit Cup indicated that the number of locals playing has increased.

Footy development in South Africa is set to receive a boost, courtesy of Australian Volunteers International and the AFL. Working together, the organisations have called for applicants wishing to fill the role of footy development officer working with South African clubs, schools and communities.

Many believe the Mid American Australian Football League (MAAFL) is fast becoming the benchmark league in the United States. The following report is from eastern USA correspondent Wayne Kraska. He reviews the history of the MAAFL and gives us a season wrap to date. Although the MAAFL spans what is described as the American mid-west, it still falls in the eastern half of the country.

In only four months of existence, the Brussels Saints have defeated Paris both home and away, taken first place at the Central European AFL championships and assembled a playing list of almost 30 players, of which only around half are ex-pat Australians.

AFL Queensland is working with AFL PNG to give talented young Papuan's a pathway through to senior AFL level in Australia. The following is an edited version of an update on junior Australian football in Papua New Guinea, by Jaive Smare.