AFL Britain

The British Australian Rules Football League was the former name of the organising body for Australian rules football in the United Kingdom, including four separate competitions - the London Premiership, London Conference, Regional Premiership and the Scottish Australian Rules Football League. Since Spring 2008 the BARFL has become AFL Britain, an organisation which aims to continue and build upon the work previously started whilst forging stronger links with all other bodies promoting Australian Rules Football in Great Britain.

History

:See Also Australian Rules Football in EnglandThe league was formed in 1989, with efforts from John Jelley and others seeing the formation of eight clubs for an inaugural season in 1990. The founding clubs were the London Hawks, West London Wildcats, North London Lions, Earls Court Kangaroos, Lea Valley Saints, Thames Valley Magpies and Wandsworth Demons in and around London and a club based in Leicester, the East Midland Eagles. Of the foundation teams, four still survive in West London, North London, Wimbledon (former London Hawks) and Wandsworth.

Between 1990 and 2001, the league existed as one competition for all clubs, ranging from a high of 10 clubs in 1991 to a low of only 6 in 1998.

Divisional Structure 2001-2007

In an environment where large numbers of Australians could be both a blessing (in terms of experience and teaching ability) and a curse (in terms of new clubs outside London finding it difficult to compete against the Australian expat-based London clubs), the league in 2001 divided teams into two leagues. The first league was the "London Premiership", where the powerful London clubs would continue under the same local-content regulations as previously (ie quotas of British players who must be on the field at any time).

Beneath the London Premiership would be a "London Conference", where the teams could field their 'reserve' sides, including the Clapham and Ealing teams which had been previously entered by Wandsworth and West London respectively. The London Conference has greatly relaxed 'local content' rules, meaning that backpackers and other Australians can compete at a social level.

In 2003, with new clubs being formed outside the capital and regional clubs still struggling against the larger numbers of Australians playing for the London sides, it was decided that clubs outside London would compete in a "Regional Premiership". This included the Bristol Dockers, St Helens Miners and the two new sides in the Doncaster Saints and Reading Kangaroos.

In 2004, a fourth division of the BARFL appeared, with the Scottish Australian Rules Football League forming. In the inaugural season, three clubs played each other for the premiership, the Edinburgh Old Town Bloods, the Edinburgh Uni Body Snatchers and the Glasgow Sharks.

2007 saw the introduction of a third tier of football in the London region, known as the Social Division. This division was formed for the same reasons as the Conference division, with some of the larger clubs being unable to field their full player lists in two teams resulting in some fiedling more than one team in the Conference.

AFL Britain

Due to a number of contributary factors, including the developments initiated by Aussie Rules UK and the changing nature of the sport across the country, 2008 saw the BARFL rebranded and redeveloped to become AFL Britain, an organisation with less direct control over football in London but a greater ability to support the game to grow both in and outside the capital.

Clubs

London Premiership

:See "BARFL Premiership"

Current Teams

Past / Defunct Teams

cotland

* Edinburgh Old Town Bloods 2003-
* Edinburgh University Body Snatchers 2004-
* Glasgow Sharks 2004-
* Glasgow Redbacks 2006-

Past/Defunct Teams

* Caledonian Sharks (1990s)

Grand Final Results

Pre-Divisional Structure

*1990 Wandsworth 10.10.70 d Earls Court 9.14.68
*1991 Earls Court 18.15.123 d Wandsworth 12.15.87
*1992 Wandsworth 12.5.77 d West London 11.9.75
*1993 London Hawks 12.13.85 d Lea Valley 6.5.41
*1994 London Hawks 15.8.98 d West London 8.11.59
*1995 Wandsworth d West London
*1996 Wimbledon d West London
*1997 Wandsworth 7.11.53 d Wimbledon 7.10.52
*1998 Wimbledon 11.8.74 d Wandsworth 7.2.44
*1999 Wandsworth 14.10.94 d West London 14.5.89
*2000 West London 11.12.78 Wandsworth 5.2.32

Divisional Structure

UK team

The BARFL co-ordinated a representative team, the British Bulldogs, who have competed at the Australian Football International Cup, in the Atlantic Alliance Cup and against other national sides in European test matches.

ee also

*BARFL Premiership
*BARFL Conference
*BARFL Regional
*Australian Rules Football in England
*Australian rules football in Scotland

External links

* [http://www.aflgreatbritain.com AFL Britain Official Site]
* [http://www.fullpointsfooty.net/The%20Story%20Of%20BARFL.pdf Full Points Footy Story of the BARFL]