| Australian rules football in Scotland | |
|---|---|
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| Governing body | Scottish Australian Rules Football League |
| National team | Scotland |
| Clubs | 3 |
Australian rules football is played by a three-team league in Scotland, with clubs in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh forming the Scottish Australian Rules Football League. The current Premiers are the Edinburgh Old Town Bloods and the current wooden spooners are the Aberdeen Dingoes
There are rumours of a competition near the River Clyde during the early 20th Century, famously referred to in A Game of their Own, where a number of expatriate Australians were based in Scotland either as Ship Workers or Soldiers. Had this league existed, and there is no proof it ever did, then it had died out around the time of the First World War.
An "Edinburgh Australians' Club" existed in the years between 1870 and the First World War as large numbers of Australians were studying in Glasgow and Edinburgh, including some who had played Australian rules football with clubs in the Victorian Football Association, and at one time four Australian test cricketers. On Saturday 14 April 1888, the Edinburgh Australians, having travelled down to England to play an Australian Rules game against the University of London at Balham, lost the match two goals to four. Early records and photographs in the University’s Student magazine and the perpetual Cup which the Australians donated to record champion athletes and which is still on display at the University. Arthur Shrewsbury, organiser of a tour of Scottish and English rugby players who had toured Australia in 1888 playing under both rugby rules and Australian rules football, suggested that the Edinburgh Australians team at the University of Edinburgh should travel down to England to meet the Australian team in a series of demonstration matches in Lancashire and Yorkshire, although this plan did not eventuate.
Champion Australian Rules players who were members of the Edinburgh Australians Club over the next decade or two were Victorian premiership players RH Morrison, AB Timms and GF Read (Geelong); Colin Campbell and ‘Gus’ Kearney ( Essendon). Other prominent players were J (Jos) Adams (Melbourne, Essendon and Geelong), J Pender, AE Syme (Essendon); FJ Clendinnen and AW Marwood (Melbourne).
In addition there were many prominent Public School players such as WC and CC Macknight, SW Pitcher, WE O’Hara, DA Robinson, DGM Teague, W Scott, LG Pearson, HW Bryant, (son of ‘Jerry’ Bryant the publican who organised one of the first games in Melbourne), CS and CG Ryan (Melbourne Grammar), CG Timms, I Glassford (Geelong College), D Gordon, J & P Russell, AH Rutherford, RC Irvine (Geelong Grammar), GM Munro, R Fetherstone, CL Carter, T Fitchett, HF Lawrence (Wesley), Ramsay Mailer, HE Jackson and DJ Macrae (Scotch College). Testimony to the existence of the Edinburgh Australians Club are early records and photographs in the University’s Student magazine and the perpetual Cup which the Australians donated to record champion athletes and which is still on display at the University.
Scots living in Melbourne and Victoria in the mid-19th century were greatly involved in the formation of the rules of the game, as well as the formation of a number of early clubs. The very first competition and trophy in 1861 was the instigation of the Royal Caledonian Society and known as the Caledonian Challenge Cup. One club formed by Scots was the still-existing Essendon Bombers in the elite Australian Football League in Melbourne, Australia.
The now-defunct Glasgow Redbacks wore black jumpers with a red diagonal stripe across the front, the same as worn by Essendon Football Club. This is said to recognise the Scottish roots of Essendon, which was formed in 1871 by a Scots family who had moved to Melbourne.
Thomas Leather is the first known Scottish born player to have appeared in the Australian Football League and Sean Wight the most recent.
During the 1990s the Caledonian Sharks were set up by John Boland, but eventually folded. The first lasting Scottish club of the modern era was known as the Edinburgh Puffins in 2003 with informal matches held, and invitiationals of clubs from the British Australian Rules Football League. The Edinburgh Puffins and modern SARFL came about through the work of Andrew Butler and Richard Prentice, former players with BARFL side, North London Lions. Butler and Prentice began plans for the SARFL in the winter of 2002/2003. Intra city friendlies began in early 2003 and a combined rules match against Edinburgh Gaelic side Dunedin Connolleys. The Puffins made their debut in the 2003 Northern Cup tournament staged in St Helens. The side remained unbeaten against the then St Helens Miners and Wandsworth Demons. Later in 2003, the Puffins staged a home and away series against Oxford University winning both hard fought games. The inaugural SARFL season was held in 2004 with a league consisting of two sides in Edinburgh and one in Glasgow. The Puffins name, originally conceived by inaugural Edinburgh Puffins coach Gavin England was subsequently conferred upon the Scottish national team.
In 2006, Glasgow and Edinburgh considered competing in the BARFL Regional competition, though travel problems saw them continue an expanded SARFL local competition with the Glasgow Redbacks and Middlesbrough Hawks from northern England joining the league. The Hawks left the league in 2007 to join the northern division of Aussie Rules UK, and the Scottish league had difficulty in operating on more than a social match level in 2008.
The league was relaunched in 2009, with the Glasgow and Edinburgh playing bases consolidated to one club in each city. They were joined by a new club in Aberdeen, named the "Aberdingoes".
The Scottish Puffins have competed at some tournaments as a stand-alone team, but are represented by the Great Britain Bulldogs. There has been speculation that they may compete as a separate team at the Australian Football International Cup in future, but this has not been confirmed at any official level.
The following teams are active in Scotland:
| Year | Scotland |
|---|---|
| 2004 | Edinburgh Old Town 24.25 (269) d Glasgow 2.4 (16) |
| 2005 | Edinburgh Old Town 12.11 (83) d Glasgow 1.7 (13) |
| 2006 | Edinburgh University Bodysnatchers 11.9 (75) d Edinburgh Old Town Bloods 10.3 (63) |
Scotland competed at the inaugural EU Cup in London on 9 October 2005 and then again at the EU Cup in Prague, 2008.
Classification Match
Scotland also competed at the 2008 EU Cup in Prague.
ESPN (UK) and British Eurosport are the current holders of the British rights to the Australian Football League (AFL). ESPN shows three live games each round of the season including the playoffs and the AFL Grand Final. Eurosport shows one game a week but the coverage is delayed.
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