If Ian Mitchell has anything to do with it, Australian Rules football will become the premier football code across England. The Wolverhampton Wolverines president, and captain of the England Dragonslayers national team has lived a double life, combining his senior development roles with a wonderful junior program that might yet become the blueprint for future schools development across Europe.

In a recent interview, Ian detailed the his journey in school footy – past, present and future – and it makes for a fascinating story of determination and vision.

“Sometimes, when going about daily life it can be too easy to carry on from day-to-day without ever stopping to reflect on what is happening. Writing this has given me that opportunity and it makes me realise I should do it far more often than I currently do.”

After s self-imposed hiatus for the 2015 season, one of the ARFLI (Australian Rules Football League Ireland) foundation teams, the Dublin Demons, will return in a merger with the North Leinster Giants. The move will is a bonus and a boost for both clubs, but also for football in Ireland as it returns the men’s competition to its full complement of teams.

The new entity will be basing itself out of Islandbridge in Dublin and training will commence soon in preparation for the upcoming 2016 season. Details of playing strips and other aspects of the merger, such as team name and nickname, will be announced as the season start gets closer.

The French football season is due to return this weekend after an extended break for the winter and festive seasons. Barring new unwanted delays, the rescheduled Round One match between the Bordeaux Bombers and the Strasbourg Kangourous is set to take place in Bordeaux. It marks a vital game for both teams. Strasbourg currently sits inside the top four and another win could cement that spot a little longer. Bordeaux also needs a win to get away from the lower rungs of the ladder.

Later this month the other rescheduled Round Three match between the ALFA Lions and the Paris Cockerels will be played in Lyon. Once again both teams need this win, the Lions to claw their way off the bottom of the ladder and the Cockerels to secure their place in the top four. The match is scheduled for 20th February, the same day as the first of the Round Five matches featuring the Bordeaux Bombers versus the Perpignan Tigers and the Toulouse Hawks versus the Paris Cockatoos.

The inaugural Northern Storm football teams for the upcoming clashes against the England Dragonslayers and the AFL London tournament have been announced on the AFLCNE website.  This is the first occasion where an 18 per side format has been used for the selections.

 

The following AFLCNE players have been nominated and selected to represent the Central and Northern England Australian Football League  with  The Northern Storm in April 2016.  For the game against the England Dragonslayers,  as the higher tier of representation the national team had first choice of available AFLCNE players.

 

The Northern Storm Inaugural Squad

 

Game Vs England April 2nd at Huddersfield.

The third instalment if the Fitzpatrick Cup Australian Rules football tournament was played this weekend at the University Of Birmingham fields. The tournament commenced in 2013 with the University College Cork (UCC) winning the inaugural event against Oxford University. The event was won in 2015 by University Of Birmingham and this time they had the task of defending their title.

(Picture: 2015 Winners University Of Birmingham defend title – Courtesy AFL England)

The teams this year consisted of University Of Birmingham, Oxford University (the oldest Australian Rules club in Europe), their arch rivals Cambridge University, two teams entered by University College Cork (UCC) and for the first time a team from the National University Of Ireland, equally known as Maynooth University.

Last year the AFLCNE (Central & Northern England) announced that the 2016 season would see the creation of a new representative team. The new entity would be designed as an 18 per side team, preparing the AFLCNE players for 18 a side formats, particularly at representative level.

The new team has announced that it will be called the Northern Storm.

According to the AFLCNE website, “the Central and Northern England League will be forming a League representative side with a view to playing 18 a-side games as opposed to the leagues 9s format. The aim behind this is to give our top British talent more experience of the 18s game and help them to prepare for national team selection and hopefully playing for the British Bulldogs.

The following article from Ben Guthrie at the www.afl.com.au website looks at the hopes of another Irish talent and their quest to reach the highest levels of AFL football in Australia as the drive to find the finest women’s talent gathers speed.

 

SINEAD O'Mahony hopes she can follow in the footsteps of fellow Irish products Tadgh Kennelly and Jim Stynes and become a trailblazer for the national women's AFL competition.

 

The 26-year-old primary school teacher, a 2015 Gaelic Athletic Association Dublin County team member, recently moved to Australia and turned her attention to tackling a new sport.

 

 

O'Mahony will join around 140 other players trying out in the inaugural female football national talent search at the Whitten Oval in Melbourne's west. 

If enthusiasm is one of the criteria on which success is based then the new Croatian footy team, the Ploče Eagles, is in great hands. A chat with the fledgling club’s president, Johnny Roncevic, tells the story so far, but also tells a story of a larrikin who may have exactly what it takes to bring together another successful Croatian footy team.

The town of Ploče is not large – approximately ten thousand people – but it important as port on the Adriatic, or Dalmatian Coast, and is used heavily as a port for the neighbouring nation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The reference to a port adds to the irony of a president of a new club who is from Fremantle in Australia.

Recently, World Footy News published an interview with Croatian journeyman, Josip Habljack, who has become a beacon, if you will, for other European players seeking a dream to follow in A Pilgrimage From Zagreb To Adelaide. Following is an excerpt from a new interview with Josip for the Savez Australskog Nogometa Hrvatske (SANH – Australian Union Of Croatian Football) looking at his journey since his arrival.

 

The 24-year-old from Velika Gorica, Josip Habljak was a Zagreb Hawks player, but now he is in Australia. He is the first Croatian footy player who became a pro and signed one-year contract in Adelaide for Sturt FC. Read this interesting interview and find out more about his life in Australia.

 

 How did you manage to sign one-year contract for Sturt FC and to play footy in Australia.  What is the key of your successω