Northern England has lead Europe in terms of growth in club numbers over the past few years - whilst in 2006 the Manchester Mozzies were the only club further north than Nottingham, there are now eleven sides taking the pitch in season 2009.

Of those, the Mozzies, Liverpool Eagles, Leeds Bombers and Huddersfield Rams are situated in an area measuring around 100km from end to end, with the clubs to form the nucleus of the new ARUK Central competition.

The Rams have already made a strong first impression, taking an almost all-English squad to the recent Cardiff Clwb Challenge and putting in a very solid effort in all their matches. This weekend will see them travel to Newcastle for the first ARUK National club tournament, eager to prove they are the real deal.

Rams founder Karl Haigh gave us the following report on the development of the team from its inception last December up to the present.

Among the crop of new clubs on the English Aussie Rules scene this year are the Liverpool Eagles, a side hoping to bring footy to the Merseyside.

Although the Eagles actually already played their first game late last year, a friendly against the Manchester Mosquitoes, the nature of a mainly student-based club means they are back to recruiting a fresh squad for 2009.

World Footy News spoke with Eagles organiser Chris Thompson about the challenges associated with getting the club off the ground.

Saturday April 18th was a perfect day for football, with the sun shining and barely a cloud in the sky for the 6 teams from around Wales and England who competed for the inaugural Cardiff British Clwb Challenge in Cardiff hosted by the WARFL at the picturesque Llandaff Fields.

The Nottingham Scorpions were the favourites to take out the cup, however a pumped-up Manchester Mosquitoes side, along with the two WARFL development composite teams at home thought otherwise. ARUK’s Huddersfield Rams, playing in their first competition since their formation this year was also keen to impress, along with the Bristol Dockers who always put a competitive team on the park.

The whole day saw some very tight contests, with no side completing the tournament undefeated and Nottingham winning only by percentage over the Manchester Mozzies.

Thanks to Bryce Stone from the Welsh Australian Rules Football League for this report.

Some are calling it the greatest debut since Guns & Roses emerged with Appetite for Destruction. Others are saying that a new dawn has broken. However you choose to describe it, the April 18th debut of the "Aberdingoes" against the Glasgow Sharks was a hugely impressive display from the newest team in the Scottish Australian Rules Football League, dominating the game to win 103-16.

It was a great day for the fledgling club, and an even better day for their fearsome full forward Andy "Plugger Dicko" Dickson who put away 9 goals on debut to stamp his name as a dominant spearhead in Scottish footy. Even more astonishing was that he managed this haul all before the 10 minute mark of the 3rd quarter, when tiring legs and a resurgent Sharks ebbed the flow forward for the Aberdeen side.

This report courtesy of the SARFL.

Despite mixed success with the O'hAilpins, and Michael Shields returning home at the end of last year, Carlton have continued with the Irish experiment, signing up 18 year old Ciaran Sheehan as an international rookie. The Herald Sun has reported that the Blues will bring the Cork youngster over for a while in July once his school year finishes in June. Sheehan is expected to become a midfielder, and comes via camps run by Gerard Sholly, who has reportedly been following the player since he was 15.

The Manchester Mosquitoes have a busy year in front of them, competing in not one, but two leagues. While remaining committed to the AFL Britain's Social League, the Mozzies will also compete on a social basis in Aussie Rules UK's new Central division, together with a growing crop of fellow local clubs across the Merseyside, Midlands and Yorkshire regions.

Manchester president Kat Wheeler told WFN "We have been trying to work with ARUK in the region to get the new clubs off the ground. The Huddersfield Rams are doing really well and have a couple of really enthusiastic people running the show up there. We have some pretty strong links established with the Rams and it's fantastic to have a new local rival! We have had some training together and are planning a few games and social events for the year. The Rams are definitely here to stay."

"We are playing in the AFL Britain social league again but we are also playing with the ARUK Central clubs on a social basis fitting in games where possible and providing a central point for the new clubs to get information and experience."

"This may change next year depending on how that league goes. If a strong enough league emerges we will definitely be in it."

"I've had contact with Liverpool and Birmingham who are looking forward to having a few friendlies with us and apparently Leeds has now sorted out a team. It's going to be interesting to see what happens up here in ARUK this year, whether all these clubs can get it together and get a real league sorted. In the meantime, Manchester are trying to help the new clubs as best we can whilst still being committed to AFL Britain."

The Mozzies won't be hosting a club tournament this year, however they are planning a trip to Ireland, where they will take on new Irish regional club the Mayo Mariners in September.

This year the Birmingham Bears are bringing footy in Britain's second-largest city out of its 15-year hibernation, set to compete in Aussie Rules UK's new central division in addition to friendlies against other local clubs.

Despite being Britain's second-largest city, Birmingham hasn't yet made a mark on the English footy scene. The city had a side known as the Crows back in the early 1990s, but the club disappeared after only a little over a season.

The new side, sharing its colours and Bears mascot with local county cricket side Warwickshire, is lead by local Mat Mitchell, who got hooked on the game while playing cricket with expat Australians. WFN spoke to Mitchell about how the club is progressing in the lead-up to its debut season.

Carlton's fiery Irishman Setanta O'hAilpin is back in the Blues' side for the first time in 2009. Suspended by the AFL and then kept in the VFL after his infamous pre-season indiscretion (striking and kicking a team-mate in an internal trial), big "Carlos" will be looking to make the most of what could be his last chance to remain in the AFL. He has been named on the bench.

The AFL's pseudo-British connection, Brad Moran, has been named as an emergency for Adelaide. Similarly Irishman Pearce Hanley is an emergency for Brisbane. No call up yet for Canadian Mike Pyke at Sydney.

A huge number of ANZAC matches are scheduled for tomorrow, in locations across the globe.

One town with a very strong connection to the Australian and New Zealand military in the First World War is Villers-Bretonneux in northern France, where this weekend a commemorative match will be played between "les Coquelicots", a team drawn from French nationals and Australians resident in France, and the "Aussie Spirit", a team drawn from across Europe, as reported in Never forget Australia.

The AFL website this week featured a preview article entitled The French Connection with some background to the cup, including an interview with Simon McGregor of the Finland Icebreakers, who hatched the concept along with Cyril Talon of the Paris Cockerels at last year's EU Cup.

The day's festivities will kick off at 10am, let's hope the event can become a tradition.

The former Karlstad Dragons are proud to announce a new partnership with the West Coast Eagles, described by the club as "an exciting new association with one of the AFL’s leading clubs".

Under the new sister club association, Värmland’s only Aussie Rules footy club, The Karlstad Dragons, have changed their name to The Karlstad Eagles, and will play in the blue and gold jumpers of the West Coast Eagles. The Karlstad Eagles club song, ‘Down by the Lakeside’, will also be tweaked to accommodate the new name.

The Karlstad Eagles and AFL Sweden President, Jimmy Ljunggren, believes the new partnership will be a real boost for the development of Aussie Rules footy in Värmland: “The kids that have come to this club are really excited by this new relationship with the Eagles, and are already following their games in the AFL.”

News of the Eagles’ new association has already been picked up by Karlstad’s premier newspaper, Värmlands Folkblad, which scooped the news before the official announcement. But Ljunggren thinks it’s a sign of growing interest in footy in the region. “We got a lot of great press last year, and we’re pretty happy VF are following our development,” Ljunggren said.

The Karlstad Eagles hope to unveil their new strip in the season opener on 16 May, a home game at the ‘Eagles Nest’ against traditional AFL Sweden West rivals, the Gothenburg Berserkers.

Stay tuned for more news from Sweden, with the Stockholm league welcoming new side Årsta in an ANZAC Day double header opening round this weekend.

Thanks to Stuart Roberts from the Karlstad Eagles for this report.