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.

We all love getting on the pitch and hip-and-shouldering our opponent. We all love the social aspects of the sport which bring us together, making new friends that last a lifetime. We all enjoy the endless banter about the shot we missed and the superman block you accidentally tripped into. What pushes a person to sign up for more work than they already have in their already busy life, organising the footy so that others have the opportunity to play?

Love of the game.

My name is Adam Bennett and in November 2010 I was voted in as the President of AFL GB at the 2nd annual national conference. There were numerous changes in the AFL GB committee and I'd like to recognise up front the massive contributions from Glen Ocsko - the previous President who helped steer the organisation onto the path; Kat Wheeler - one of the most passionate supporters of footy growth and development I've ever had the pleasure to work with; and Sam Percy - who continues to be a stalwart of the sport in London, spending untold hours supporting the sport.

Richmond Football Club tonight confirmed that it is the club that has signed American born Irishman John Heslin. Heslin, an 18-year-old Agricultural Science student from University College Dublin, who has competed at hurling, soccer and Gaelic football at a high level, will be selected by the Tigers as an international rookie in next December’s Rookie Draft.

Heslin currently plays Gaelic football for his university team, as well as at senior level for county club Westmeath. As a junior, he represented Ireland in soccer, and made such an impression that he was noticed by a number of Premier league clubs and invited to trial at then English Premier League club Derby County.

In a first-ever for Australian rules football in Europe, the AFL’s future stars from the Australian Institute of Sport will take on a representative European side in London on Saturday April 23.

Newly-appointed AFL Europe General Manager Ben MacCormack views the event as a perfect opportunity for Aussies and locals with an interest in Aussie Rules to get a sneak peek at the future of the AFL.

“We are excited this event is coming to London as it is a great opportunity for not only the Aussie community living in the UK but includes locals being introduced to a sport that flows in the veins of so many Australians” MacCormack said.

The AIS-AFL Academy squad will be made up of the best 16 & 17-year-old footballers in Australia. In the past over 80% of players in this squad have been drafted on to an AFL list and some have become champions of the game. Players in previous academies include the likes of Chris Judd (West Coast/Carlton), Luke Hodge (Hawthorn), Joel Selwood (Geelong), Lance Franklin (Hawthorn), Adam Cooney (Western Bulldogs) and David Swallow (2010 #1 Draft Pick – Gold Coast)."

“AFL Europe are extremely pleased to have secured the services of Glenn Lovett (ex-Melbourne FC player) as coach of the European Legion which is a squad of Under 21’s made up of players from Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Sweden and Wales. These boys have the talent to surprise a couple of the AIS young guns which will lead to a great spectacle” MacCormack added.