If you fancy yourself as a coach capable of changing the fortunes of a growing club in Europe - Denmark, to be exact - then the Odense Lions are looking for you.

According to club president Morten Merhoj “the Odense Lions footy club from Denmark is looking for a new coach from Australia to come and help us improve our club. “

Certainly this presents a fantastic opportunity for anyone with a coaching background and a desire to travel. The Odense Lions have grown steadily since their introduction to the DAFL a couple of years ago. Danish footy holds a special place on the European stage, winning last year’s Euro Cup in London and being a regular powerhouse on the bigger stage. The opportunity to be part of a successful club in a successful league in a country that has embraced the game would be highly attractive to many.

Here in tropical North Queensland “rampant mozzies” might mean disease carrying insects, but across central England it might equally mean the powerhouse Aussie Rules team from Manchester. Such was the case in Round Two action last weekend as AFLCNE teams gathered in combat on the footy fields and commemorated combat with pre-match recognition of ANZAC Day.

 

The round was hosted by both Sheffield and Huddersfield. The Thunder played the visiting Tyne Tees Tigers and also hosted the second match between the Birmingham Bears and Manchester Mosquitoes. The Huddersfield Rams played host to the visiting Wolverhampton Wolverines. The Nottingham Scorpions had the bye.

 

 

Thunder started their season in fine style after the first round bye, downing a spirited Tigers by 97 points. The Mozzies put the Bears to the sword to the tune of 59 points, enhancing their premiership prospects further, whilst in Huddersfield the Rams were too good for the Wolverines on the day, home by 63 points.

The brand new season for AFL London got under way last weekend with two huge magnets dominating the program. The Premiership League kicked off with a grand-final replay between the West London Wildcats and the Wandsworth Demons. Equally exciting was the first women’s match in the AFL London competition when the South East London Giants took on the North London Lions.

 

The following reports from the AFL London website give the details of the weekend’s matches.

 

Round 1 Premiership Results:

Round 1 saw some great games of footy in the sunshine here in London, including the huge grand final rematch between the Wildcats and the Demons. Results were:

 

Wildcats 12.7.79 def Demons 9.8.62

Swans  6.6.42 def by Lions 15.14.104

Hawks 15.15.105 def Magpies 4.6.30

This article courtesy of Michael Douglas from the Greater Glasgow Giants.

The Greater Glasgow Giants made their competitive debut at the 2015 Haggis Cup, an annual invitational tournament held in Scotland every April. This year’s event took place in Edinburgh and, with experience levels ranging from 20 years to a few weeks, the Giants’ squad started the tournament excited to develop and get vital game time ahead of the 2015 season starting in May.

They faced a daunting task in the opening match as the Huddersfield Rams had brought a squad full of experience and littered with England internationals. The game went to the wire with the Rams coming out on top by 2 points, the Giants got off to a slow start but came back strong in the 2nd half finding themselves unlucky not to snatch victory late on as they had the chances!

The new footy season for AFL in central and northern England (AFLCNE) got underway last weekend with a settled group of teams ready and waiting. Whilst in previous seasons there has been the addition of new clubs (Tyne Tees Tigers) and the departure of clubs for indefinite periods (Leeds Minotaurs), this season saw the same seven clubs hit the fields.

The future may hold new changes with the possibility of a new team from Liverpool (Merseyside Saints – see story: Merseyside Saints Continue Liverpool Legend but for now the 2015 teams remain the same as last season.

Round One got away to a start with the Manchester Mozzies hosting two matches, whilst the Birmingham Bears hosted the other.

Report courtesy of Matt Jaggar, AFLCNE

After six years of trying, the Huddersfield Rams Australian Rules Football Club finally triumphed in the Haggis Cup last weekend.

Edinburgh played host to this year’s pre-season AFL Scotland tournament, which saw the Rams narrowly beat Glasgow Giants in the first game, before walking over them in the final of this year’s Haggis Cup.

The Rams, who are sponsored by Grosvenor Casino, named a match day squad that was a dynamic mix of fresh blood, youth and experience, with newbies getting their first taste of Aussie Rules alongside players who had competed in all five of the previous attempts north of the border.

Huddersfield’s pathway to the final was by no means a straight shot as they ran in a couple of close games with wins of less than one goal in two out of three games before the final.

Luke Booth, the Rams' most decorated player, claimed the tournament's Best on Ground votes, whilst club founder, Karl Haigh kicked the most goals and Robbie Wilson marked his Rams return with a performance which earned him the club’s player of the tournament.

This Saturday brings the first round AFL Central and Northern England League, which sees the Rams face off against Manchester Mosquitoes in a rematch of last season’s Grand Final. Huddersfield will be eager to seek revenge after narrowly missing out on the flag in 2014 in a close final.

The club is always seeking new players of any ability and holds weekly training sessions at Huddersfield YMCA, Laund Hill, Salendine Nook from 6:45pm, every Tuesday.

The world has a lot to thank the city of Liverpool for. This Lancashire city on the Mersey River estuary, some 280 kilometres to the north-west of London has touched people’s lives in some way.

From The Beatles, Cilla Black (originally White!) and the other Mersey Beat bands of the early 1960’s (Gerry and The Pacemakers, Rory Storm and The Hurricanes, The Searchers) to comedians such as Ken Dodd and Jimmy Tarbuck, Doctor Who (or Tom Baker at least), Dr Doolittle (Rex Harrison) or even Lucius Malfoy from the Harry Potter stories (Jason Isaacs), few have been spared a touch of Liverpool.

More notably, the Liverpool F.C is one of the greatest football/soccer clubs the world has seen, after winning 5 Champions Cup then Champions League. Even the RMS Titanic and the Queen Mary ocean liners were registered in the city.

Now, maybe, Australian Rules football will become part of that story of Liverpudlians, with the new Merseyside Saints club being formed. Their newest incarnation sees a return of Australian Rules to the city. The Liverpool Blues existed briefly in 1993, followed by the Liverpool Eagles for a short-lived existence in 2008.

 

The Stuttgart Emus played host to the first game of the new tournament style format of the AFLG at their home ground in Esslingen. Esslingen is a short drive from Stuttgart and quite picturesque with an altstadt and the ground surrounded by a hilly backdrop. Two established teams in Stuttgart and Munich were playing as well as two teams new to the AFLG - Dresden and Ludwigsburg.

It was encouraging to see Dresden making the long trip. They had enjoyed their time in the Czech Republic and were now looking forward to playing in the AFLG. This is not unlike the Strasbourg Kangaroos that once played in the AFLG but now prefer to play in the French league even though travel is much more of a problem.

In an update to this story, the Huddersfield Rams from England have beaten last year's winners, the Glasgow Sharks, to take out the 2015 Haggis Cup played this weekend in Edinburgh.

Original Story:

The 2015 Haggis Cup is about to get underway in Scotland. Played at the CSE Peffermill Playing Fields in Edinburgh, this years competition will feature men's and women's divisions again.

Competing in the Men's draw are last year's winners, the Glasgow Sharks, host city team the Edinburgh Bloods and fellow Scottish teams the Kingdom Kangaroos and newcomers the Falkirk Razorbacks and Greater Glasgow Giants.