The development of women’s football in Europe outside of Ireland has been slow and troubled. In previous years, teams have sprung up quickly in Italy and then Switzerland, a promise of how appealing the game is to European women and how quickly it can be developed, but after the breakaway of most Italian players to play the similar 6-a-side game O-Rules, it left the map of remaining female players very sparsely populated.

However, with the rise of European tourists getting into the game in Australia, there are growing numbers of talented European female players cropping up across Europe. With no teams left to face the Irish, and no one country able to field a full 9-a-side team, a handful of female players travelled to Reading in early July, and after having a kick about together at the Brit Cup, the decision was made to amalgamate numbers and enter the Euro Cup as a joint European team.

The videos featured here are of the Round 9 match between the Helsingborg Saints vs Farum Cats and give a great view of footy as played in the DAFL.

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This year’s AFL London Grand Final will be held in Motspur Park on Saturday the 18th of August.

The league’s three divisions’ finals will be played consecutively, with the Social Division final starting at 11:30, followed by the Conference Division final at 13:00 and the Premiership Division final at 15:00.

In last week’s semi finals, Balham Hawks defeated the Ealing Emus and will now face the Reading Kangaroos in the Social Division final; Regents Park Lions defeated the Clapham Demons and will play against the Shepherds Bush Raiders in the Conference Division final, and in the Premiership Division, the North London Lions narrowly defeated the Putney Magpies to secure a place in the grand final alongside the impressive looking Wandsworth Demons.

The AFL today announced number of changes have been made to the rookie rules to continue to enhance the opportunities available to development players. This continues the successful innovations made in previous years to the Rookie List such as the introduction of Nominated Rookies and mature age Rookies.

Clubs may now list one Irish player under the Rule that allows for three extra rookies for development players. Irish players (unlike other International players) previously took a spot on the main rookie list and this change recognises the risk Clubs take in recruiting and retaining Irish players relative to local talent.

In a nail biting finale, the Manchester Mosquitoes defeated rivals Nottingham Scorpions to take home the 2012 AFL Central and Northern England Premiership title.

The event was held at the fantastic Lockwood Park in Huddersfield, under bright sunshine, with supporters taking to the grandstand to cheer on their teams.

The two final contenders this year, the Mosquitoes and the Scorpions, have been deadly rivals for years, both top level teams with a healthy number of talented squad men to choose between. This year the two teams finished first and second in the league with very little between them. The Mozzies were undefeated in the home and away season, but Nottingham came extremely close during their last league meeting.

 

Kevin Bartlett (pictured) and Patrick Smith become the Glasgow sharks number 1 and 2 season ticket holders and club patrons.

Richmond and AFL Legend Kevin Bartlett who played the second highest number of games in VFL/AFL history at 403 games scoring 778 goals in a glittering career that saw him win 5 premierships with Richmond from 1967 to 1980 works with Patrick Smith on SEN’s Hungry For Sport programme, Patrick is one of Australia’s leading sports journalists.

A long standing interest and promotion from the pair was thanked and rewarded recently by the Sharks when they sent over new training guernseys. Patrick and Kevin both frequently mention and wish good luck to the Glasgow Sharks as well as occasionally taking credit for their wins.

 

A 16-year-old French exchange student by the name of Lou Quidu-Tronscorff received some coverage in the local newspaper of the Queensland town of Mackay yesterday. Lou has taken up playing junior footy with the North Mackay Saints since arriving in Australia last month.

Coming from a background of playing rugby and judo back in France, he has adapted quickly to the physicality of Aussie Rules. "I'm not a great kicker of the football, but I like to tackle," he said. "I find that part of the game easy because of my rugby background."

Queensland AFL spokesman Darryl Griffiths said his performances in his first two matches with the Saints have been encouraging. "Lou definitely wants to learn more about the game and for someone new to the sport he is picking up it up really well," he said. "He is very tough, attacks the ball well and continues to develop his skills. A big challenge for him apart from communicating at times in English, has been to continually learn the positions and rules of Aussie rules so he knows what to do on the field."

For the full story, read this article in the Mackay Daily Mercury.

The AFL Europe has announced that a European All-Stars match will be held as the curtain-raiser to the November 3rd clash between the Western Bulldogs and Port Adelaide in London.

The match will pit a team drawn from across the European continent against a team representing the islands of Great Britain, Ireland and Iceland. The official team names will be released later in the year, with squads to be named following the 2012 Euro Cup in Glasgow.

The Bulldogs vs Port clash will this year be played as a twilight match at the KIA Oval, with tickets on sale via kiaoval.com at £5 for kids and from £20 for adults.

For more information, visit afleurope.org.

NAB AFL Auskick coach Michael Greenham recently held a once-off Auskick session in the Turkish capital Ankara, while en route for a cycling tour for charity. Assisted by some local PE teachers and staff from the Australian embassy, Greenham took over 200 local kids through some Aussie rules skill sessions.

While we've had contacts interested in starting footy in Turkey before, it's never quite gotten off the ground. However, you never know when the next impromptu session will be the one that gets things underway.

The full article from the AFL website can be read below.

After coming close a few times this season, the past weekend saw a record five Irish former GAA footballers playing in the same round in the AFL.   

This past weekend Collingwood selected Martin Clarke and Caolan Mooney.   Mooney started the game and was substituted off for Clarke in the third quarter.  Carlton's Zach Tuohy and Brisbane's Pearce Hanley were also selected to start at the weekend, and the record fifth starter was a late inclusion when emergency Niall McKeever received a last minute call up for Brisbane.  The stats for the five can be seen below.