The Scottish Australian Rules Football League saw the Edinburgh Bloods host 2011 Haggis Cup Champions the Glasgow Sharks this weekend, the first meeting of the year between Scotland's two oldest Australian rules football clubs.

On a sunny but blustery day in Edinburgh it was the Glasgow Sharks that drew first blood in this contest, taking a three goal lead kicking with the wind. This proved to be a wake up call for the Edinburgh Bloods and Travis Marshall pegged a goal back before the quarter time hooter.

The Bloods then had the wind advantage but fell further behind when the Sharks hero from last week's Haggis Cup, Adam Jack, slotted from just inside the scoring zone. This however marked the end of the scoring for the Sharks, who lost Jack to a dead leg and with his injury went their attacking momentum. Another injury to defender Andy Butler didn't help the Sharks cause and the Bloods capitalised by piling on the points.

The 8th Annual Haggis Cup was held at Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow on Saturday 9th April, bringing 8 club teams from across Europe together for an Australian Rules festival.

The eight team competition saw the Glasgow Sharks, Edinburgh Bloods, Huddersfield Rams, Dublin Demons, Aberdeen Dingoes, Wimbledon Hawks, Milano Footy club and Solna Axemen battle it out with the endeavour to become cup winners.

The semi-final saw Glasgow Sharks take on Edinburgh Bloods and Wimbledon Hawks against the Huddersfield Rams. With Glasgow and Wimbledon just shading their opponents in highly competitive semi-finals a close grand final promised to follow.

In an intense 10 minute halves format the crowd was right behind the home team in the grand final. It was finally Glasgow’s chance to shine as the sun beat down and the Sharks came away victorious for the first time in 8 attempts. Glasgow 31 defeated a brave but tiring Wimbledon 15.

AFL Europe board member Douglas Hunter of Glasgow has seen the Haggis Cup grow considerably in both size and quality over its 8 years. "We could not have asked for better spring weather to hold the annual Haggis Cup. The competition was fierce, fair and played with great sportsmanship. We are very pleased to see the obvious commitment and passion for the sport from all teams and support volunteers," Hunter said.

The Berlin Crocs last week played the first matches of their new Berlin metro league, with the West Berlin Eagles defeating the East Berlin Mariners, and the North Berlin Crows defeating the South Berlin Demons.

The Crocs, who will celebrate the club's 10 year anniversary later this year, are the second German club to start a metro league, with the Munich Roos founding the three team Bayern Liga in 2010.

The four Berlin metro teams are playing 9-a-side, with 6 rounds to be held on Thursday evenings throughout the season, allowing for players to get more game time in between the Berlin Crocs fixtures in the AFLG National League, as well as offering an introduction to the sport for new recruits.

Crocs coach Troy Pedder says the Crocs currently have over 50 players on their list, with 35 playing in the first round of the Berlin league. The club is hoping to grow this to around 80 by the end of 2011, and add a fifth metro team next year.

The Falun Diggers will join the Stockholm region Australian Football Federation in 2011, bringing the number of sides in the league to five, the other four being based in the Stockholm metropolitan area.

Falun Diggers founder and former Sweden Elks coach Cameron Crooks says the move has already given new impetus to the team in the lead up to the 2011 summer season, after 2010 saw them only able to play 3 friendly matches. "The numbers were dropping rapidly last year, due to the fact we were not in a league and just playing practice games. The boys were not getting motivated to play, so being accepted in the Stockholm league has giving us a new lease of life," Crooks says.

Falun's location in the Dalarna area 2.5 hours drive north of Stockholm has made it hard for the club to get regular matches in the past. Besides the SAFF clubs, the Karlstad Eagles are only a few hours to the south-west, but the Eagles currently have a league with Oslo and Gothenburg, both of which are around 6 hours drive from Falun.

After 2010 saw Croatia take out the gold at the Euro Cup and three clubs play out a 12-game season in the Zagreb area, 2011 will see the Croatian domestic season expand with an international flavour.

The HLAN (abbreviation for the Croatian title meaning "Croatian League of Australian Football") will kick off with three teams, as it did in 2010, but the only team to return from last season will be the Velika Gorica Bombers.

Croatia's two oldest teams, the Zagreb Hawks and Agram Power, will spend 2011 on hiatus, due to a combination of injuries, players with other commitments, and lack of sponsors. Players from the Hawks and Power will compete with either the Bombers, or new fourth Croatian side the Zaprešić Eagles.

It is hoped that the Hawks and Power will re-emerge in 2012 to give Croatia four functioning clubs, but in the meantime the Styrian DownUnderDogs from the Austrian city of Graz will be competing as the third team in the HLAN.

The HLAN 2011 kicks off this weekend, with the Velika Gorica Bombers taking on the Zaprešić Eagles on Sunday, April 10.

For more information, visit http://footycroatia.com.

The Haggis Cup is Scotland's premier annual footy tournament. The SARFL event is hosted by the Glasgow Sharks and this year is set to be the biggest yet. The event will be held at Scotstoun Stadium on Saturday the 9th of April from 10:30am, and will see teams from across Europe compete for the prized trophy.

These teams include Scotland's Glasgow Sharks, Aberdeen Dingoes and Edinburgh Bloods, English clubs Huddersfield Rams and Wimbledon Hawks, Irish powerhouse Dublin Demons, the Solna Axmen from the Swedish capital Stockholm and AFL Italia foundation club Milano.

The Haggis Cup is always a high intensity event full of passion and usually attracts an impressive crowd. The tournament's growth was highlighted when 6 teams had to be declined entry into the tournament, either through not being able to confirm their intentions or the team not being able to make the date.

With Grandstand seating, onsite eating facilities and kids' entertainment, the Haggis Cup is a perfect day out to watch some footy. After match celebrations will take place in the Walkabout Bar from 7:30pm so make sure you are there too.

Australian rules football is coming to South-Western England, with the formation of a new club in the port city of Plymouth. The CSSA Plymouth Seagulls have been holding training sessions and hope to soon kick off a year of friendly fixtures before joining the AFLB Southern Division in 2011.

The Seagulls have been training for three months, with 19 players registered so far, and a core group of 11 every week. In addition to those, they have had several rugby players say they will be down once their season is over. A committee has been voted in, and a major sponsor located in the Civil Service Sporting Association (CSSA).

Coordinating the Seagulls is Will Sykes, an Australian who moved to England to play cricket in 2004, and settled in Plymouth. Sykes previously played for Swan View FC in Perth, as well as a stint with the Swan Districts FC colts in the WAFL.

This weekend will see the continuation of one of European footy's oldest rivalries, when the Denmark Vikings take on the Sweden Elks in Copenhagen. The Vikings and Elks finished 2nd and 3rd respectively at last year's inaugural European Championships, and both sides will be keen to get bragging rights as Scandinavia's best nation going into the 2011 International Cup in Australia this August.

Before the Sweden-Denmark match kicks off at 2.15pm, British power club the West London Wildcats will be taking on a DAFL All-Stars selection from 12pm. The Wildcats have a strong Australian contingent, and are always very hard to beat on their annual European challenge matches.

Australian ambassador to Denmark, Mr James Choi, will be on hand to toss the coin.

The DAFL and AFL Sweden are both hoping for expansion in 2011, with the East Coast Bulldogs and a new club in Odense potentially starting in Denmark, and the Karlskrona Magpies to become the first Australian rules football club to be based in Sweden's south east.

Three players from the Huddersfield Rams have been included in the European Legion under 23 squad to face the AFL / AIS under 23 representative team.

Sixteen year old schoolboy Sam Gill, who has impressed selectors with some outstanding performances for the Rams, was one of the first named in the squad. The centre will be joined by twenty-three year old Great Britain and England half forward Danny Armitage, who can now add this experience to his list of domestic and international honours.

Huddersfield Rams club founder and president, current England skipper Karl Haigh, has been drafted in as assistant events manager as part of the back room staff.

The trio head to London on Wednesday 20th April where they will have three days of intense, gruelling training before facing the AFL in Barn Elms, London, on the Saturday.

Thanks to Oliver Hughes from the Huddersfield Rams for this report.

The Welsh Australian Rules Football League will expand to seven clubs in 2011, with the debut of the Bridgend Eagles and the admission of western England's Bristol Dockers to the competition.

The WARFL committee voted unanimously to admit the Dockers, with new WARFL secretary Josh Davey stating the league wants to maintain a healthy rate of expansion for the league, adding to an already competitive list of clubs. "Historically it was no problem, as in the first years of Aussie Rules in Wales the now defunct Swindon Devils from England were involved, even winning the League on occasions. It was unanimously agreed by all clubs to welcome the Dockers to the WARFL," Davey says.

The Bridgend Eagles will be making their competitive debut in the WARFL in 2011, bringing the number of teams in Wales up to six, and the number in the league to a total of seven. The Eagles played in friendlies last year, with some of their squad also playing for different clubs during the 2010 WARFL season, and even going on to represent Wales.