Footy has been reborn in the Spanish capital, with the Madrid Bears coming out of hibernation to take on the city's newly-formed second club, the Móstoles Kangaroos, at the Andrés Torrejón Sports club in Móstoles.

The match held on the 21st of February marked the first round of the Liga de Fútbol Australiano de la Comunidad de Madrid, with the two sides playing for the 'Wombat Cup'.

The opening encounter saw the Bears run out 94-54 victors, although locals report a definite improvement from the less experienced Kangaroos players over the course of the game. Among the Madrid Bears squad on the day were a number of players from the Spain Bulls side which attended the IC 2005 in Melbourne, a positive sign after the club disappeared from the radar of the international footy community over the past few years.

The next match planned between the Bears and Kangaroos has been scheduled for this coming Saturday, dubbed the 'Dingo Cup'. Also on the cards is a proposed 5-team national league, which would see the two Madrid area teams take on the Catalan clubs of Barcelona and Valls and the new club of the Catalan-speaking microstate Andorra in tournament play as the year progresses.

In the meantime, the Bears' new website at MadridBears.com is under construction and has some info up for Spanish-speaking readers.

The Scottish Australian Rules Football League (SARFL) offered its first taste of football in 2009 last Saturday when Glasgow and Edinburgh faced off in the annual preseason friendly fixture at The Meadows, Edinburgh. The SARFL has also announced the date of the 2009 Haggis Cup, with the welcome mat out for teams around the region.

Fresh off the back of a disappointing 2008 both on and off the field, the first hitout of the year suggests that 2009 will be a very different proposition for the SARFL. A number of new players featured for each side, both locals and Australians, with many more expected to be available as the season proper approaches.

Edinburgh won the match by 5 goals, showing much cleaner skills with boot and hand on the route to goal and in taking better advantage of scoring opportunities. However, Glasgow's less experienced side held their opponents in the second and last quarters with solid work both in defence and in the middle of the park, some poor finishing costing them on the scoreboard. What the game showed is that while Edinburgh still holds a clear advantage over Glasgow, 2009 should see a much more competitive season.

Added to this is the very welcome news that the northern city of Aberdeen will be fielding its first side in the SARFL this year, breaking the Glasgow/Edinburgh rivalry and monopoly which has endured up to this point.

As with any overseas league which does not have a large Aussie expat community, recruitment is key to the health of the SARFL, and a number of recruitment initiatives are being used this pre-season, and are expected to lead to greater stability and competitiveness within the league and individual clubs.

In other SARFL matters, it has been announced that the Haggis Cup will again be held in 2009, this time on 23 May. The host city will again be Glasgow and any sides wishing to compete are welcome to email info@sarfl.org.uk to express their interest.

Thanks go to Eddie McAvinchey for this story.

The organisers are still counting, but possibly as much as £10,000 (AU$22,000) was raised as London’s ex-pat community came out in their droves to show their support for the communities devastated by the Victorian Bushfires, for a special Australian Rules Charity match organised by the six Premiership Division clubs of the AFL London.

Over 3,000 people turned up at Clapham Common, in inner London, to see the North of the River side clubs (West London Wildcats, London Swans and North London Lions) play the South of the River clubs (Wandsworth Demons, Putney Magpies and Wimbledon Hawks). Many of those who played in, and watched, come from some of the hardest hit areas.

Volunteers collected donations for the Red Cross Bushfires appeal and proceeds from the sales of food and drink were also donated in the specially organised event. “The ex-pat community here in London really saw this as an opportunity to stand together and show those in Victoria and Australia that despite the distance, we don’t forget and feel just the pain just like those at home. Sport, as Australians know, brings people together in a very special way” said Peter Romanis, President of the West London Wildcats.

The match itself was played in good spirits, with glorious sunshine and London’s warmest day of the year, making conditions perfect for football.

There are numerous other fundraising activities taking place over the coming weeks across London at the Australian themed Walkabout pubs. The Shepherds Bush Walkabout donated ₤1,000 to the charity match.

For the record, the South of the River defeated the North of the River by 19 points.

2009 will see the launch of Germany's sixth Australian Football club, with the Stuttgart Emus set to take the field in the league's brand-new second division.

As with the ARFLI, the Australian Football League Germany has seen a growth in numbers and playing standard over the past few years among the strong clubs.

While this is an important indicator of good progress on the level of individual clubs, the gap between the top and bottom of the table can make it hard for new teams to enter the league.

In Germany, the Berlin Crocodiles in particular have been on the wrong end of a few large scorelines, and the Strasbourg Roos, known in their sole AFLG season as the Black Devils, found the going very tough.

The AFLG now look set to follow a similar model to the Irish in 2009, launching a second division to cater for both newcomers and the reserve teams from the stronger clubs. The Premier Division will see Frankfurt, Hamburg, Rheinland and Munich battle it out for the title, while the Second Division will see Berlin and Stuttgart field their senior teams, along with Rheinland and Munich's reserves.

AFL London are staging their first All Star game on Clapham Common this Saturday 21st February in support of those affected by the bushfires in Victoria and to raise money to assist the Red Cross response. Ben Gellie of the London Swans and Coach of the North All-Star team said, "Many of the league's players, former players and supporters are personally affected by the disaster, we really see this as a great way to come together as a community a long way away from home to share our emotions, and hopefully at the end of the day to be able to make a difference." The league’s traditional rivalries will be on hold with the Swans, Lions and Wildcats banding together to make up the Northern team and Putney, Wimbledon and Wandsworth making up the Southern push. Despite the winter weather and the possibility that some may be slightly underdone, the game promises to be a very interesting showcase of the undoubted amount of talent that is present in London football.

The Carlton Football Club has lifted the suspension on Setanta O’hAilpin and he returned to training at Visy Park earlier today. “Setanta was invited to return to the club and resume training with his team-mates following further discussions with the coaching staff and the playing group and a clearance from our Sports Psychologist,” said Carlton CEO Greg Swann. O’hAilpin addressed the playing group prior to the training session at Visy Park this afternoon and he was welcomed back by everyone at the club. He will continue to undertake ongoing counseling from the Club’s Psychologist.

“There has been much said about what was an unacceptable incident and the matter has been dealt with by the AFL in regards to a suspension from playing,,” added Swann. O’hAilpin has been training with the Northern Bullants while he has been suspended from Carlton. Carlton’s next training session will be at Visy Park at 9:30am on Thursday.

Setanta o’hAilpin today officially accepted the prescribed four week penalty handed out to him by the AFL for the attack on team mate Cameron Cloke during last Friday’s intraclub match.

Carlton yesterday made the following statement "O'hAilpin's indefinite suspension imposed by the Club last Friday remains in place and this is a matter for discussion between O'hAilpin and the Carlton Football Club, including the player leadership group. These discussions will take place this week and a decision on this club suspension is expected to be known by Friday. During his suspension from the Club, O'hAilpin will not be involved in club activities, including tomorrow's Community Camp in Seymour, and will be required to train with the Northern Bullants. He is also undergoing an anger management course with the Club's Sports Psychologist."

But speaking from the camp today Brett Ratten told afl.com.au "The AFL has gone through its review process and handed out a sanction…we want to get Setanta back as quickly as possible and not leave him in the lurch and try and help him through this time and get back with the boys. We're just waiting for Mick Martin, our sports psych, to give us the all-clear there, but if it takes another three weeks or a month we'll work through that.” So it seems at this stage that we will see Setanta continue his career at some stage this year.

The Carlton Football Club has suspended Irishman Setanta O’hAilpin indefinitely following an incident where he was reported to have punched and kicked team-mate Cameron Cloke during today’s intra-club practice match at Visy Park. Setanta finished the 2008 season with an injury and questions over whether the club would take him into 2009, and his brother Aisake was de-listed. Setanta stayed on the Blues' list but now it appears he will face a significant period on the sidelines. The following is from a statement from the Carlton Football Club:

“Setanta’s actions were totally unacceptable, on or off the field, and we are bitterly disappointed in the incident with Cameron Cloke,” said Carlton CEO Greg Swann. O’hAilpin has been suspended from the Club until further notice pending an AFL investigation. He will not be involved in any club activities and will be required to train with the Northern Bullants while he is suspended. In addition he will undergo an anger management course with the Club Sports Psychologist.

Setanta is remorseful about the incident and has spoken with Cameron to apologise for his actions. He is aware that such an incident is completely unacceptable and, in particular, is a poor example to junior footballers. The Carlton leadership group was involved in the decision to suspend Setanta and have spoken to him in relation to the matter.

Sweden's Karlstad Dragons and Queensland's Noosa Tigers have teamed up to start the first player exchange program for an individual Swedish footy club.

While a few Swedes also played footy in Australia via a partnership between Powerhouse FC and the DAFL, the first Swede from a northern club to travel down under to hone his footballing skills under this agreement will be Mattias Ewald, who will arrive in Queensland in early February. Ewald's journey has created some interest in the local press, with the Värmlands Folkblad and online version of the Nya Wermlands-Tidningen both publishing articles in the past few days.

The Noosa Tigers, based on the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane, play in the AFL Queensland state league. The AFLQ has grown in recent years to be the strongest league in the northern "rugby states", with a number of former AFL players playing or coaching.

The exchange was organised by former Dragons coach Kevin Anderson while visiting relatives last year, and supported by his company Maloo Inc.

Mattias will become the third Scandinavian we know of currently visiting down under for a kick of the footy, with Nicolai Secher and Chris Campion from the Denmark Vikings' IC08 squad currently in Geelong playing with the Thomson FC for 2009.

The Australian Rules Football League of Ireland will this year introduce a second division to its league, comprising reserve teams from the established clubs and new teams from around the Emerald Isle.

The move is hoped to make the creation of new clubs easier, with the league finding it difficult to expand in recent years due to start-up clubs struggling on-field against the powerful Dublin and Cork-based sides.

The ARFLI’s Ciaran O’Hara tells WFN that, while the ARFLI Premiership will this year see the same five clubs from 2008, the league is hopeful the second division could see the debut of the Kingdom Kangaroos, Mayo Mariners and Galway’s Midwest Magpies, in addition to the rebirth of the Clare Crows and Belfast Redbacks.

O'Hara also tells us the league is launching Rec Footy this year, as an avenue to taking the game to the nation's schools and colleges.

In international news, the Green Machine will this year take on Wales and Scotland for the inaugural Celtic Cup, as well as the return of the tri-series against Great Britain and Denmark.