On Saturday 13th June, the all-local German Black Eagles had their first International for the season, taking on the Finland Icebreakers in Cologne, Germany.

Although the hosts proved too strong for the Icebreakers early, the second half saw a spirited comeback by the Finns, who were goal for goal with Germany in the third term and outscored them in the last quarter. The early-match lead proved an insurmountable target however, the Black Eagles running out 37-point winners.

Thanks to Luke McBride from the AFLG for the following report.

Former Sydney Swan star Tadhg Kennelly has hinted that he may return to Australia once the current Gaelic football season finishes. The Herald Sun newspaper has quoted both Kennelly and his former coach Paul Roos, with both men appearing to be open to the suggestion of a return.

Carlton's Fijian-Australian-Irish recruit Setanta O'hAilpin tonight staked a claim to keep his AFL career alive. It has been speculated on this site and in other media that Setanta is likely in his last season unless he can string together a long run of good matches. After his infamous indiscretion at the start of the year (suspended for striking a team-mate in an internal trial) and injury problems, it was looking as though the Irishmen might not even get a chance to prove his worth on the field.

But injuries to other players have opened the door, especially with gun swingman Jarrad Waite out for the season. The Old Dark Navy Blues have given Setanta an extended run, giving him a chance to build some confidence and regain the tempo of AFL footy. Last night Carlton turned to Setanta to hold down a key position, as a roaming centre half forward against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium. Although the Blues went down to the Saints, O'hAilpin played a very useful game, gathering 8 kicks, 2 handballs, 5 marks and booting a goal that kept Carlton in the match late in the final term. His marking at full stretch caused some problems for the Saints, and his harassment around the ground slowed them moving the ball out of defence. A spearing pass to Brendan Fevola (who goaled) was also a crucial moment in the final stanza. For the record, Carlton couldn't quite do enough to defeat the unbeaten Saints, losing 14.11 (95) to 16.8 (104).

One game like that won't extend his career, but if he can repeat it most weeks for the rest of the season, then he'll continue to gain the confidence of his team mates who will use him more, and he may well find his odyssey Down Under continues at least another year.

The Solna Axemen were the toast of Swedish football last Saturday, after winning the VB Cup for the second year in a row. In what proved to be an exceptionally entertaining tournament, Solna remained undefeated right throughout the competition, before triumphing over Stockholm rivals Södermalm in a hard fought Grand Final.

This year’s tournament was held in the town of Falun in the north of Sweden, and is only the second ever after last year’s inaugural VB Cup in Karlstad. This year’s tournament, which consists of 24 minute, 9-a-side matches between club sides from all over Sweden, was played out by seven teams: Falun, Södermalm, Solna, Bromma, Helsingborg, Port Malmö and Karlstad. In addition the competition also attracted some fringe players from Oslo, Göteborg and Östersund.

Thanks to Nic Townsend from the AFL Sweden for this report.

Tromsø is the largest city in northern Norway, roughly on the same latitude as the northern coast of Alaska. The town is far enough north that when the sun sets in October it doesn't comes up again until well into the following year. It's also the new home of the most northerly footy club in the world.

Last month, Swede Johan Julin and Tasmanian Ben L. Jago kicked off Aussie Rules in the town, with three social matches played to date. A group of recruits, mainly Swedish and Norwegian, but also including a Canadian, a New Zealander and Dutchman, have been taught the rules and taken part in matches in a park with ski poles serving as goal posts.

World Footy News spoke with Julin about the group's progress so far.

A number of (non-Aussie) former members of the Danish Australian Football League are currently making headlines in spreading Aussie Rules across Europe. In the Norwegian city of Tromsø, Helsingborg Saints old boy Johan Julin is part of a group founding the world's most northerly club. In Andorra, British expat Doug Pate is running a club. Páll Finnsson, the Icelandic captain of the Denmark Vikings at IC08, this weekend pulled on the boots at the French Championships.

Back in Iceland, Páll's brother Jón Hrói Finnsson has also been trying to get the sport started since returning from his stint playing footy in Denmark. It seems his efforts are paying off, with school clinics underway and a senior side in formation in the town of Ólafsfjörður.

Around 400km away in the Icelandic capital Reykjavík, a group of around a dozen senior players have been kicking the footy on a weekly basis since May, under the leadership of Friðgeir Torfi Ásgeirsson, another Icelander who learnt to play in the DAFL.

A while back, we caught up with Gavin Mahoney - AFL London's first fulltime employee, focused at growing footy in and around the capital in England. This month, we speak to Rick Shrowder, employed by Aussie Rules UK to support the leagues outside the city in regional England.

With established leagues in the South and North-East of England, along with new clubs forming to grow a Northern league, Rick's territory is a lot more spread-out and without the large population of Australians present in the capital who can help bring that initial level of experienced enthusiasm. The regional game is based around 9-a-side teams, utilising existing facilities such as rugby posts and pitches to make the beautiful game accessible to a wider audience.

A story in the Country Footy section of the Weekly Times highlights a couple of French lads making an impact for Wickliffe-Lake Bolac in the Mininera & District League, country Victoria, coincidentally only about 100 km from Warrnambool, site of the country round of the 2008 International Cup.

In the first match of Australian rules football between two Dutch teams, the Utrecht Saints came up against the Rest-of-Holland components of the Flying Dutchmen.

The nine-a-side match at the Olympos Sportcentrum in Utrecht was played on May 9th in sunny conditions, with excited supporters clamouring for a spot in the sun while the two sides clashed.

Right from the first bounce, the Flying Dutchmen, composed of players from the Eindhoven, Amsterdam and Den Haag sides, took control of the match. The Utrecht Saints for their part had four first-timers, who put in impressive performances which demonstrated the progress made in just a few weeks of training.

The second and third quarters saw the Rest of Holland increase their lead, with their own collection of new players acquitting themselves well in their first match.

The final term saw the Saints stage a comeback and keep the game interesting. With four goals, they won the quarter, but with strong defence from the Rest of Holland the game was never in doubt.

The match was the first for the Saints as a stand-alone team, the first of four planned clubs for the DAFA's local league. The other three sides are still on the search for new players, but leagues and clubs across Europe have regularly shown that establishing a local competition has been the best recruiting tool.

Final score: (Rest of the) Flying Dutchmen 14.9 (93) def Utrecht Saints 8.10 (58)

Round One of the AFLG culminated on the weekend of May 9th, with teams in the league's new Second Division taking the field.

The largest Berlin side ever battled the Rheinland B-team through four quarters of intense footy, which saw the Lions manage a 23-point win despite four Lions going to hospital in unrelated accidents.

The Stuttgart Emus in their first official game showed that although they may be new, they’re a team to be reckoned with, beating Munich B’s by 11 points.

In Division One, Rheinland demonstrated they’re still the team to beat, taking out Frankfurt by 9 goals. Up in Hamburg, Munich had to give everything they had to hold on to their 2 point lead late in the last quarter.

Luke McBride from the AFLG spoke with World Footy News about the league's new 2-division structure.