The second annual Champions League tournament will be held on March 19th next year, once again in Amsterdam and organised jointly by AFL Europe and the Amsterdam Devils club. The tournament goes into a second edition after the success of the inaugural event last year, in a competition which pits the premiership teams of European member nation leagues against each other to determine the best club, as opposed to nation, in Europe.

Last year the title was taken out by the West London Wildcats when they downed German team the Rheinland Lions. Ten clubs attended the event in 2015 with the others being the Belfast Redbacks (3rd), Amsterdam Devils (4th), Toulouse Hawks, Edinburgh Bloods, Malmo Redeyes, Solna Axemen, Manchester Mosquitoes and Zagreb Hawks.

The event is governed by certain rules regarding eligibility of players. This includes no more than four Australians on the field at any given time (passports used if necessary to determine this), but arranged mutually between clubs on an honour system. Players must have been registered to play during the 2016 season or have played for the club in 2015. The competition will follow the Euro Cup format and be nine players per side on field, with squads of up to 16.

The AFL’s Rookie Draft held yesterday provided the final formality for two young Irish talents as they made their way onto the lists of both Hawthorn and the Sydney Swans. Conor Glass and Colin O’Riordin were both signed by their respective clubs back in October after the 2015 season was completed. The Rookie Draft was the final stage of their selection process.

Conor Glass is from Maghera in Northern Ireland and has been signed as an International Category B Rookie after his eye-catching displays of Gaelic Football as captain of the Derry youth team. Hawthorn have been tracking Glass for some time, assisting him to come to the club to meet the players and get a feel off the heartland of AFL footy in Melbourne. The Hawks used their final pick in the draft, pick 62 in the fourth round, to complete his recruitment process.

In light of the truly horrifying and incomprehensible terror attacks in Paris earlier today, the CNFA – Football Australien (controlling body of Australian Rules football in France) has released the following information about weekend matches on their Facebook page.

“Au vu des récents évènements, le match Lyon-Paris Cockerels est reporté à une date ultérieure. De l'autre côté, les Paris Cockatoos ont choisi de ne pas se plier à la barbarie et se déplaceront malgré tout à Bordeaux. Nous soutenons bien sûr nos clubs dans leur choix.
A notre communauté, nous espérons que vous et vos proches êtes en sécurité. Toutes nos pensées vont également aux victimes et leur entourage.‪ - #Prayforparis”

On the 15th of November the Manchester Mosquitoes host a charity Aussie Rules tournament at Trafford MV Rugby Club. The Nathan Blakey Movember Cup is held annually in support of the Movember Foundation raising funds for men’s illnesses, in particular prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health issues. The first tournament was held in 2011 and has been growing year on year raising around £10,000 for charity so far.

The week before the first event, Nathan Blakey, a member of the Manchester Mosquitoes ARFC, passed away during complex surgery at the age of 28. Nathan had been part of the Mozzies since the clubs first season and was part of their 2010 premiership team. He was known for his down to earth, friendly nature and his love of the footy. He played, umpired, helped coach and loved a beer. He was a paramedic so would often be sorting himself out after matches whenever he took a hit. He is greatly missed. With his passing the week before the first Movember Cup it was decided to play the tournament in honour of Nathan. It seemed a fitting gesture to remember him in this way considering his love of football and his commitment to developing the game.

Hawthorn Football Club announced today Irishman Conor Glass was added to its list, with the 18-year-old signing on as an International Category B rookie.

A talented Gaelic footballer, Glass has won three Ulster club minor titles with the Watty Graham team, as well as two MacRory crowns and a Hogan Cup victory with St Patrick's, Maghera.

Glass hails from Maghera in Northern Ireland and has been on the Hawks’ radar for the past few years, having previously made three trips to Australia to visit Waverley Park.

Ireland’s own UCC Bombers footy team, based down in Cork, has been gradually developing a full head of steam as it heads closer to becoming a key part of the continued growth of Australian Rules football in the nation. The club’s Public Relations Officer, Ian O’Brien, was happy to give an overview of their season to date and a look at the inspiration that Geelong’s Irish ruckman, Padraig Lucey has become to the club.

“The UCC Bombers started the new season in a positive manner with a win over the current Rebel Shield winners the Leeside Lions. This proved to be a close encounter with a highly skilled and experienced opposition. The Bombers came out on top in the first leg of the Rebel Shield competition with a 5 point margin and the final score being UCC Bombers 7.12.54 defeating Leeside Lions 7.7.49.”

The Cergy-Pontoise Coyotes have got their season of to a fantastic start, winning the opening match of the new Football Australien (CNFA) season for 2015/16. Up against last year’s premiers and most dominant team, the Coyotes left nothing in the tank and showed no regard for past reputations by downing their cross-town Paris rivals.

The final score saw the Cergy-Pontoise Coyotes 111 defeat the Paris Cockerels 82.

With the Paris Cockerels having spawned a new team, the Paris Cockatoos, over the off season it is likely that the Paris team may have been missing a player or two compared to last season, but that means little as the Coyotes, but their own admission, were “in the face” of their opponents from the outset and determined to fight. Certainly, the Coyotes took full advantage of playing on home soil to ground out their 29 point win.

The new look AFLG footy format wound up last month with the Hamburg Dockers defeating the Munich Kangaroos in the Grand Final by 39 points in the 16 players per side competition held from July to September. This followed a reversed result in the earlier nine per side competition held between April and June where the Kangaroos defeated the Hamburg Pirates (one of two Hamburg teams in this competition) by 32 points.

The new format which was put together over the past off season was designed to allow teams which had struggled with numbers to compete across a season more effectively and fairly. The draw was also constructed to rationalise the locations of rounds to allow multiple games to be help at a single venue to increase games but make planning for travelling a little easier.

In the “9’s” competition, the Frankfurt Redbacks were able to return to competition after a season out of regular combat. At the same time the format allowed for newly formed teams, the Dresden Wolves and Freiberg Taipans, to be able to enter the competition on a permanent playing basis for the first time. All three of these teams recorded multiple wins under the format, giving heart to the clubs and their supporters that they belong at this level and can grow.

The love of the game in Russia is slowly growing, largely through the efforts of late of two of their newest clubs – the Saint Petersburg Cats and the Lazy Koalas in Moscow. After many years of work by Roger Scott and his crew to get a foothold in Moscow, a new breed has grabbed the game by the throat and is lovingly steering it to bigger and better places.

Whilst the national team has yet to reappear at the Euro Cup since their debut international appearance in 2011, the game is far from finished in Russia. During this season the teams from Moscow and St Petersburg have found the resources to compete on a reasonably regular basis – considering distance, opportunity and personnel need to be available at the same time every time to make an event happen.

Alexey Andryushin from the Saint Petersburg Cats, one of the new clubs in the nation, forming in 2014, was happy to give an overview of the 2015 season in Russia – especially from the viewpoint of the Cats as they continue thee long road to stability and success.

The AFLCNE will welcome a new team to their playing fields for the 2016 in a move which will bring the competition back to eight teams and bring the city of Liverpool back into the Australian Rules football scene.

The recent AGM for the league saw a unanimous decision to allow the fledgling Merseyside Saints to take their place in the competition next year. A message from the AFLCNE on their Twitter account said “following today's AGM it gives us great pleasure to welcome [the] Merseyside Saints into the AFLCNE. See you on the field!”

Will Sykes is co-founder of the club and club president. In a short interview, Will laid out the situation for the club in terms of how people feel about the decision. He also looked at the demographics of this newest team from a Liverpool base and what will ensure future longer term success.