The Croatian Knights are seeking sponsors for their 2011 International Cup campaign, with team manager Kolja Koracak currently rating his team only about a 25% chance to be able to attend.

"We never had big sponsors, but now we have none. We would stay with people in the Croatian community in Sydney and Melbourne, but have no funds for travel expenses, as most of my players are students, or recent graduates still unemployed," says Koracak.

There are about 40 active players in Croatia, although Koracak says that selection will be made mainly by who can travel. "There are 7 guys that will go no matter what, even if Croatia doesn't field a team they'll come to watch. And there are 10 guys that can go for sure if travel expenses get covered. We also plan to find few Croatian blokes in Australia that fit the criteria of eligibility," Koracak says.

The coaching panel is led by head coach Adam Loncar and assistant coach Josip Kravar, both of whom led the Knights at the European Championships and Euro Cup last year. Added are Josip Josipovic as a conditioning coach and Matija Mamic.

Croatia has been one of European footy newer power sides, performing strongly at the EU Cup and making their full-field footy debut at the European Championships in 2010. There has also been some strong domestic growth, with a fourth local club aligned with the West Coast Eagles to join the Zagreb Hawks, Agram Power and Velika Gorica Bombers in 2011.

The Finland Icebreakers are about a 75% chance to be at the 2011 International Cup, according to national team coach Grant Siermans.

The Icebreakers made their IC debut in 2008, but with a small initial squad and a large number of injuries, it was a tough first-up tournament. They eventually broke through for their first win against India, finishing 14th overall from a field of 16 nations. Finland also appeared at the inaugural full-field European Championships in 2010, but finished the tournament without a win.

However, Siermans says there is a core of new Finnish recruits who are keen to represent their country on the world stage, and with some steady growth in domestic Finnish footy since the last IC, they are still hoping to make it down under.

Photo courtesy of Alban Schieber.

In our fourth and final roundup of European local footy in 2010, we've had a look at southern and eastern Europe, where a number of new domestic comps have kicked off in the past season or two.

Included in this group is the AFL Italia, which followed up their inaugural premiership season by hosting the Euro Cup (previously known as the EU Cup) in Parabiago, near Milan.

Team Austria have signalled that they won't be coming to the 2011 International Cup, with Martin Schittegg from the Graz-based Styrian DownUnderDogs citing a lack of sponsors and players who could afford the trip as the main reasons.

"We set ourselves the target that we had to decide by the start of December... By that deadline we had only 13 players definite, plus around 9 more who weren't sure if they could organise it, or whether they could afford it," Schittegg says. The potential squad was made up exclusively of players from the DownUnderDogs, with no players from the Vienna Kangaroos nominating to make the trip.

However, whilst it looks like 2014 might be the first time we see an Austrian team at the IC, Schittegg says there has been plenty of positive growth for footy in Austria, where the Dogs and Vienna Kangaroos are planning some new projects for local and regional footy in 2011.

With the 2011 International Cup approaching, the Dutch Australian Football Association is currently weighing up the pros and cons of sending the Flying Dutchmen on their first trek Down Under.

At the moment, it's looking likely they won't be at the IC until 2014, with Josh Carmichael from the DAFA saying that for a league at an early stage of footy development, the question remains whether the benefits of experience and exposure on the world stage outweigh the high costs of sending a team to Australia.

Josh Carmichael spoke to us about their plans for the Flying Dutchmen, and the pros and cons of mounting an IC campaign in 2011.

LEFT: The Dutch National Team at the 2010 Euro Cup in Parabiago, Italy. Photo courtesy of Daniela Scalia.

Cyril Talon, president of the French Commission for Australian Football (CNFA) and national team manager, says Team France is "200%" certain to make their International Cup debut down under in 2011.

Les Bleus are one of a group of European nations who are hoping to make the pilgrimage to the home of footy for the first time this year, and have a big year of preparations in front of them, including international friendly matches, the ANZAC memorial match and national team training camps.

France has been home to Australian football clubs for some time now, with a few ups and downs along the way, but the past few seasons have seen rapid growth, with a number of club tournaments, the creation of a national league and seven senior clubs now in existence.

2010 saw traditional heavyweights Munich and Paris continue to build their reputation in the German and French leagues, whilst over in Ireland, the South Dublin Swans broke through for their first flag in four years.

The Netherlands hosted its first-ever national competition, with the Amsterdam Devils prevailing.

For more details of the season's play in those leagues, read on.

For the first time, all five Scandinavian countries hosted regular season footy in 2010, in addition to hosting the first-ever full-field European Championships in Australian Football.

Whilst Denmark and Sweden remain the most established leagues in Scandinavia, the Icelanders and Finns are also playing premiership seasons, and the clubs in Norway are laying the groundwork for league play in future.

Read on for the winners and losers in domestic footy around Scandinavia in 2010.

The Toulouse Crocodiles have recently aligned with AFL club Hawthorn, in the process changing their name to the Toulouse Hawks. Hawthorn have relationships with a number of international clubs and leagues, with the Zagreb Giants becoming the Zagreb Hawks and the Phoenix Scorpions rebranding as the Arizona Hawks a few years ago, and more recently the New Zealand AFL taking on the Hawks moniker for their national team.

As part of the arrangement, the Toulouse Hawks will play their future matches in the silver jumpers of the New Zealand Hawks.

The six-team French National League recently kicked off their 2010-11 season, with a Northern Division comprising Paris, Strasbourg and Bordeaux, and a Southern Division with Toulouse, Perpignan and newcomers the Marseille Dockers.

Pictured at left are Cyril Mahamad and Quentin Delaville from Toulouse in their club's new gear. For more on the new partnership between Toulouse and Hawthorn, visit this article on the Hawthorn FC website.

A great video on Youtube discussing women's footy in Italy, including quality footage from the match between Ireland and Italy in Parabiago (Milan), Italy, as part of the European Cup 2010 in September.

 [youtube:boCRch_9R1Y]

Thanks to keyframe.tv.it and australiaitalia.it.

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