4. Other Australian Football Leagues
What other leagues exist?
Each state has its own elite level of competition. As stated previously, the VFL, which was the strongest competition, has expanded and become the AFL. The original Victorian Football Association (VFA), which was left behind when the former VFL was formed in 1896, took the name Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1997 and now stands as the premier league in Victoria. For more information on the VFL, go here.
There are two other leagues which have provided the majority of non-Victorian players. These are the West Australian Football League (WAFL), which was known as Westar Rules for several years before reverting to its original name, based in Western Australia, and the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) based in South Australia. ("National football" and "Victorian Rules" were archaic names for Aussie Rules.) Contact addresses for each of these leagues as well as the other state leagues are provided below:
South Australian National Football League (SANFL)
South Australian National Football League. Inc.
Turner Drive
West Lakes, SA 5021
Phone:(08) 8268 2088
Mailing Address:
SANFL
PO Box 1
West Lakes, SA 5021
World Wide Web: http://www.sanfl.com.au/
The SANFL currently has 9 teams:
Victorian Football League (VFL)
Mr Martin Stillman (General Manager)
Victoria Football League
GPO Box 4337
Melbourne
Vic 3001
World Wide Web: http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?client=1-118-0-0-0
The present VFL is the former Victorian Football Association. The name change was made in 1997, several years after the current AFL abandoned the name.
The teams in the VFL are:
West Australian Football League
West Australian Football League
Grant Dorrington- General Manager
181 Roberts Road
Subiaco, WA
6008
Mailing Address:
WAFL
PO Box 275
Subiaco
WA 6904
E-mail:
World Wide Web: http://www.wafootball.com.au/wafl
The WAFL currently has 9 teams:
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Claremont Tigers
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East Fremantle Sharks
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East Perth Royals
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Peel Thunder
-
Perth Demons
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South Fremantle Bulldogs
-
Subiaco Lions
-
Swan Districts Swans
-
West Perth Falcons
Australian Football League Canberra (AFLC)
Lorrain Johnson
PO Box 3759
Manuka
ACT 2603
Website: http://www.aflcanberra.com.au/
The eight teams that compete in the AFLC are:
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Belconnen Magpies
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Eastlake Demons
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Queanbeyan Tigers
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Ainslie Tricolours
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Sydney Swans
-
Tuggeranong Cowboys
-
Wagga Tigers
-
Weston Creek Wildcats
Sydney Australian Football League (SAFL)
Mark Spooner (Registrar)
NSW Australian Football League
PO Box 333
Strawberry Hills
NSW 2012
E-mail: mspooner@nswafl.com.au
World Wide Web: http://www.sydney.com.au
Sydney AFL Premier Division teams are:
Sydney AFL Premier Division teams are:
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Holroyd-Parramatta Goannas
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Macquarie University Kookas
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Manly-Warringah Wolves
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Nor-West Jets
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Penrith-Rams
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Penrith-St Clair Crows
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Southern Sharks
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South-West Sydney Magpies
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Sydney University Students
-
UNSW-Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs
-
UTS Bats
-
Wollongong Lions
Northern Territory Football League (NTFL)
Mr Robert Kingston (CEO)
Northern Territory Football League
PO Box NTFL 1
Casuarina
NT 0811
The NTFL currently has 7 teams:
Darwin
Nightcliff
Palmerston
Southern Districts
St. Marys
Wanderers
Waratah
Queensland Australian Football League (QAFL)
Mr P. Cummiskey (CEO)
Queensland Australian Football League (Inc)
PO Box 1211
Coorparoo DC
Qld 4151
The QSFL currently has 9 teams:
Broadbeach
Eagles
Labrodor
Lion Cubs (Brisbane Reserves)
Maroochydore
Mayne
Morningside
Mt Gravatt
Southport
Australian Football League Tasmania (AFLT)
Craig Notman/Adam Viney
SOUTH-
PO Box 520
North Hobart, TAS 7002
NORTH-
PO Box 1986
Launceston, TAS 7250
NORTHWEST-
PO Box 40
Burnie, TAS 7320
World Wide Web: http://www.footballtas.com.au and http://www.southernfootball.com.au
There are currently eight AFLT clubs:
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Brighton Robins
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Clarence Roos
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Glenorchy Magpies
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Hobart
-
Kingborough Knights
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Lauderdale Bombers
-
New Norfolk Eagles
-
North Hobart Demons
Other helpful addresses:
Australian Football League
140 Harbour Esplanade
Docklands, VIC 3008
PH: (03) 9627 2600
FAX: (03) 9627 2650
Website: http://www.afl.com.au
National Australian Football Council (NAFC)
Mr E. Biggs (Executive Officer)
National Australian Football Council
120 Jolimont Road
Jolimont, Vic 3002
Non-Australian Australian Football Leagues
The AFL provides financial or practical assistance to Leagues in Britain, Canada, Denmark, Japan and New Zealand. Respective details of several of these leagues are:
British Australian Rules Football League (BARFL)
Sam Percy, President
PO Box 6237
West Kensington, London W14 9GA
England
E-mail: pres@barfl.co.uk
World Wide Web: http://www.aflbritain.com/
10 team competition, formed in 1990.
Season begins in May, and runs to the end of August.
The clubs:
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Bristol Dockers
-
Doncaster Saints
-
Putney Magpies
-
North London Lions
-
Reading Kangaroos
-
St. Helens Miners
-
Sussex Swans
-
Wandsworth Demons
-
West London Wildcats
-
Wimbledon Hawks
Canadian Australian Football Association (CAFA)
Mike Travers , President CAFA
PO Box 1160, Station F
Toronto, Ontario M4Y 2T8
Canada
Phone: (416) 534-8895
World Wide Web: http://www.aflcanada.com
Ontario Australian Football League
Greg Everett, President OAFL
E-maIl: b52bomber@bigfoot.com
World Wide Web: http://www.ontariofooty.com
10 team competition, formed in 1989. Season runs from end of May to start of October, for 14 rounds (play each other's teams twice with two byes.) McIntyre Final Four system is used for finals.
The clubs:
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Toronto Eagles
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Toronto Dingos (2003 League Premiers)
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Lawrence Park Rebels
-
Guelph Gargoyles
-
Broadview Hawks
-
Hamilton Wildcats
-
Mississauga Mustangs
-
Windsor Mariners
-
Etobicoke Kangaroos (Added in 2003)
-
London Magpies (Added in 2003)
Team contact details and league schedule are available on the Web site.
Other Canadian Teams
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Vancouver Cougars
-
Vancouver Bulldogs
-
Calgary Kangaroos
See the North American Footy Links page to get the links for all Canadian clubs.
Danish Australian Football League (DAFL)
Mark Scotland, General Manager
Phone: (45) 40 59 26 68
E-mail: marks@dafl.dk
World Wide Web: http://www.dafl.dk
Season runs from late April to late August for 14 rounds, with three weeks off in July, depending on the conference.
McIntyre Final Four system is used for finals; Grand Final to be held September 12.
The DAFL is comprised of three conferences and one area league:
Jylland Conference teams:
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Aalborg Power
-
Aalborg Roos
-
Århus
Sjælland Conference
-
Amager Hawks
-
Amager Tigers
-
NC Cudas
-
NC Barras
-
Copenhagen
-
Farum Cats
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Farum Lions
Skåne Conference
-
Helsinborg West
-
Port Malmö
-
Lund
The origins of Australian football in Scandinavia are the stuff of legend. Mick Sitch, an expatriate Aussie, was missing the footy so much that he placed an ad in a Copenhagen newspaper in 1989 offering a kick to all comers. He got two responses the first time out. But the game attracted so much interest from the locals that a three-team league was in operation just two years later, and is now a seven-team international league.
Japan Australian Football Association (JAFA)
Takashi Kariya (JAFA Coordinator)
E-mail: gk_recruit@jafa.ne.jp
World Wide Web:
Apparently a loose association of three teams (links to each are available):
Goannas (expatriates)
Samurai (university students)
Gokong (university alumni)
New Zealand Australian Football League (NZAFL)
Colin Tincknell, General Manager
P.O. Box 12364
Penrose, Auckland
New Zealand
Phone: 64-0-526-5483
E-mail: nzafl@win.co.nz
The NZAFL is broken into four different leagues. Visit the league site to get a listing and contact details of the clubs:
-
Auckalnd AFL
-
Canterbury AFL
-
Waikato AFL
-
Wellington AFL
United States Australian Football League (USAFL)
Mark Wheeler , League President
E-mail: president@usfooty.com
World Wide Web: http://www.usfooty.com
The USAFL has grown to over 30 teams across the country. Clubs play regional footy during the season (such as the Mid-America Australian Football League, or MAAFL) with results contributing to a team's overalll USAFL standing at the end of the season, which in turn determines its ranking at the annual National Tournament. Several years ago, most cities with USAFL registered teams also established a "Metro Footy League" which does not compete in the USAFL, but allows USAFL players and players not interested in playing USAFL games to compete.
USAFL Leagues:
Probability of an Aussie Rules "Super League"
The Australian Rugby League experienced massive upheaval in 1997 as Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd. started a new Rugby League competition - the Super League - in direct competition with ARL, and offered massive contracts to Rugby League players. Massive division resulted, with threatened expulsion of teams from the ARL - and a substantial real exodus - and threatened extinction of others. News Ltd. broadcast Super League matches over its pay-TV empire. (Murdoch has already done this in the UK with Premier League soccer, and Murdoch's Fox network televises National Football Conference NFL games here in the USA.)
There was speculation a few years ago that the AFL might be the next target for a Super League. This never happened, and is unlikely for many reasons:
a) Australian Rules Football is very much a tribal game - the allegiances are to your specific team.
b) Clubs leaving the AFL can't use their name, logo, uniform, etc., for two years afterwards - the AFL retains the rights to them.
c) The AFL has exclusive playing licenses for practically all major football grounds in the country.
d) Murdoch already owns part of the Channel Seven Network which owned the broadcast rights for 45 years. They lost those rights in 2001 to a Channel 9/Channel Ten/Fox consortium, but regained the rights when they outbid the consortium in 2006 in a partnership with Cnannel Ten, which abandoned its partnership with the consortium during the negotiations. Seven and 10 hold the rights for the next 5 years, 2007-2011 in the biggest broadcast deal seen in Australian sport. It is worth ove $700 million.
e) AFL doesn't have the broad international appeal on pay TV that would justify the massive expenditure of setting up a Super League.
f) AFL clubs receive much higher dividends from the AFL than ARL clubs from their league ($1.5 million vs. $400,000).
g) Player contracts revert to the AFL if a team happens to leave the League (originally in place to protect players should a team fold).
The rugby Super League in fact bled mass quantities of money and failed, and the 20-odd former ARL clubs reunited to form the National Rugby League in time for this season. The Hunter club in the suburbs of Sydney failed, and the Perth club became the Melbourne Storm. NRL was pledged to cut itself to14 clubs for 1999, so its troubles are far from over
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