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.

In an announcement from AFL Europe, the Croatian city of Umag will host the 2015 Axios Euro Cup in an enormous coup for the rapidly growing Australian Rules football nation.

According to the AFL Europe website, “It’s with great enthusiasm that AFL Europe, with the help of the Croatian Australian Football League (SANH), is thrilled to announce the location for 2015 Axios Euro Cup is the beautiful town of Umag.”

“The Axios Euro Cup is being held on the 10th October 2015 in Umag, which is located in Istra, the coastal region of Croatia. Taking place in the resort that also plays host to the annual ATP Croatia Tournament, the Cup promises a well organised, cheap and warm weekend. With special Euro Cup accommodation and being accessible from three airports under an hour and a half drive and the alternate option of hiring a car and driving from Italy or Slovenia, the 2015 Axios Euro Cup will be affordable for all.”

Earlier this year World Footy news reported on the rise of a new Australian Rules football entity in Poland, based in the city of Bydgoszcz. Since that time, Gareth Smith and his crew have worked overtime to get the team bigger and better.

The result is the Bydgoszcz Wildcats.

According to the club’s website, “at the moment, we train at the stadium at ul. Grim Piwnik in Fordon on Saturdays at 13:00. Everyone is welcome.”

“Most of the team are still novices to using the [oval] shaped ball, and all together we learn the sport.”

 

John McIntyre, president at the Glasgow Sharks in Scotland, is pretty proud of how his team is travelling in 2015. Apart from the usual match performances which tend to govern the day to day matters within a footy season, the club is also acutely aware that clubs cost money to run and that money doesn’t grow on trees.

 

The club’s venture, Bonus Ball Bingo, is doing just that – raising funds for the club. A recent article on the Sharks’ website details the idea.

 

 

Club President John McIntyre believes that Jacko’s Bonus Ball Bingo is only going to get bigger now and having raised a total of £1632, half going to the prize winner and half going to the club, in only 26 weeks John says that Adam has done a fantastic job and does a great job every year raising funds for the club through his tipping competition which has yet to start.

The West London Wildcats have won the inaugural AFL Europe Champions League tournament played in Amsterdam, claiming their place as the best Australian Rules football club across all of Europe.

 

Whilst it could be argued that with a shortened game time and just 10 European clubs in attendance a completely accurate story of which team is best is difficult. But the simple fact is that the Wildcats took on the best of the premiership winning teams across Europe from 2014 and won out on the day. With ten of the best teams across Europe in attendance, the Wildcats reigned supreme.

 

 

With the success of the day, and now a tournament that recognises the best club by title, it is hoped that the event can continue and grow bigger as clubs fight for the title of being Europe’s best.

The following is a story written by Charles Miranda in Amsterdam for News Corp. It details the decision made by AFL Europe to recognise Catalonia as a nation in the lead up to this weekend’s European Champions League tournament. The article appeared in today’s Herald Sun in Melbourne at: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/australian-football-league-recognises-spanish-region-catalonia-as-a-country-in-european-competition/story-fni5ezdm-1227269879164

 

In essence, the story follows the line that the AFL, through the efforts of AFL Europe, have given the region of Catalonia in Spain an independence not granted them through politics or societal influence. It marks a fascinating event where sport has had a direct hand in perceptions of nationhood.

 

AFL recognises Spanish Region Catalonia as a country in European Competition.

 

In the scheme of global politics it’s a pretty small thing.  

 

 

But the Australian Football League has done what three centuries of bloody wars and secessionist sentiment have failed to achieve and given nationhood status to the Spanish region of Catalonia.

The sounds of umpire’s whistles, half time sirens, advice from the crowd and parochial cheering are about to announce Australian Rules football to Amsterdam in a big, big way as the inaugural AFL Europe Champions League tournament takes place.

The draw has been released for the event which essentially divides the competing teams into two groups – Red and Black – which will compete in a round robin format to decide placings which will determine semi-finalists and other matches to decide final placings.

Teams in the Red Group are: Amsterdam Devils, Edinburgh Bloods, Solna Axemen, Zagreb Hawks and the West London Wildcats.

Black Group teams are: Malmo Redeyes, Toulouse Hawks, Rhineland Lions, Belfast Redbacks and the Manchester Mosquitoes.

Austrian Football in the form of the Styrian DownUnderDogs need you support.  They are taking part in the competition ' ING-DiBa Club Tausender' in Austria.

A total of 50,000 euros will be awarded to non-profit organizations nation-wide.  Every vote - counts as per category, the 10 clubs with the most votes receive 1,000 euros each for their club project.

Goto  https://www.ing-diba.at/vereinstausender/vereindetails?club_id=685.