Irish expansion on the way

Ireland's local league plans to have 16 teams by next year.

The Australian Rules Football League of Ireland was formed in October, 2000, after the first Irish Grand Final between the Dublin Demons and the Belfast Redbacks.

The Demons had travelled to London in April that year, taking part in a pre-season competition run by the British Australian Rules Football League. They finished third of 12 teams in the competition.

The Demons and Redbacks then played a best-of-three series, with the Demons crowned Ireland’s first Australian Football champions.

Soon after, Michael Currane and Ciaran O’Headhra, working closely with the two clubs, helped set up the ARFLI.

The ARFLI spent several months promoting the game and assisting with the formation of new clubs. The league grew to five clubs in as many months, with the Leeside Lions (Cork), Drogheda Dockers and Midland Tigers (Mullingar) formed.

A committee made up of representatives from each club governs the ARFLI. Aiming to grow Australian Football in Ireland, it meets regularly to address league issues, implement changes, organise fundraising events and discuss developmental strategies.

In 2001, the ARFLI had two major domestic competitions – the ARFLI Super 9s (played on Gaelic Football fields and designed to help the new clubs adapt to the code) and the ARFLI Premiership.

The Super 9s competition was a huge success, with two of the new teams making it through to the final.

The 14-a-side ARFLI Premiership started in June of 2001, with the first final held in Kilkenny in an effort to spread the game.

The inaugural Foster’s Aussie Rules Australia Day Challenge Cup took place on January 26, 2002, as part of wider Australia Day celebrations. The ARFLI also introduced a version of the AFL Auskick development program – a safe, fun way of introducing the game to children – on the same day.

The Limerick Saints and the South Dublin Eagles joined the competition in 2002, with new clubs formed in Kilkenny (Bulldogs), Galway, Dublin (Liffey Valley Magpies) and Clare (Crows).

The Irish representative team is undefeated in international competition, winning the Atlantic Alliance Cup in 2001 to become the northern hemisphere champion. Ireland beat Papua New Guinea to win the 2002 Australian Football International Cup in Melbourne.

In October of 2003, Ireland’s Gaelic International Rules team challenged the Irish Australian Football representative team to a game of International Rules, as a way of preparing both teams for international games, with the Gaelic International Rules team winning.

Australian Football certainly has a bright future in Ireland and the ARFLI continues to expand at an amazing rate.

The ARFLI has 10 registered clubs, six of which play at a highly competitive level, and is on target to achieve its goal of having 16 clubs established across Ireland by 2006.

The Irish representative team would like to thank all who have supported its efforts to make it to the Australian Football International Cup in Melbourne, and we hope to perform as well as we did in 2002.

More information about the ARFLI competition and its member clubs can be found by logging on to www.arfli.com.