AFL London

Last updated

AFL London
AFL London Logo.svg
Formerly British Australian Rules Football League (BARFL)
Sport Australian rules football
Founded1989
First season1990
PresidentSarah Howell and Marianna Graham
No. of teams9
CountryEngland
Most recent
champion(s)		 West London Wildcats (13th premiership flag)
Most titles West London Wildcats (13 premiership flags)
International cup(s)AFL Europe Champions League
Related
competitions		 AFL England
AFL Europe
Official website afllondon.com

AFL London is one of the largest organised Australian rules football leagues outside Australia. The league organises multiple grades of full 18-a-side games across London, United Kingdom.

Contents

The competition provides a competitive and fun game of football to the many Australians that live and work in London, as well as spreading the game to residents of non-AFL playing nations resident in the capital city including British, Irish, South African, American, Canadian, Italian and other Europeans.

The league is currently made up of eight clubs, across three levels of competition (Premiership, Conference and Social) that participate in a competition running from April to August.

History

First formed in 1989, AFL London was formerly known as the British Australian Rules Football League (BARFL). The inaugural season was held in 1990 and featured eight teams; the London Hawks, West London Wildcats, North London Lions, Earls Court Kangaroos, Lea Valley Saints, Thames Valley Magpies, Wandsworth Demons and the Leicester-based East Midland Eagles. Of these eight foundation teams, West London, North London, Wimbledon (formerly the London Hawks) and Wandsworth continue to compete in the league. [1]

In 2001 AFL London was expanded to incorporate two levels of competition, known as the Premiership and Conference competitions. In addition, due to growing interest and numbers, a Social grade competition was added in 2007.

2008 saw an organisational restructure of Australian Rules Football in the UK, with the BARFL redeveloped to become AFL Britain. This change came about as a way of focusing the efforts of the organisation on supporting the growth of the game both in and outside the capital. [2] It was at this time that the London competition was rebranded as AFL London.

In 2015 a women's competition [3] [4] was introduced, including three of the foundation teams; Wandsworth Demons, North London Lions and Wimbledon Hawks, and the Peckham-based South East London Giants. This was expanded in 2017 into two divisions of four women's teams, with the addition of teams from the West London Wildcats, London Swans, Putney Magpies, and a second side from Wandsworth.

Teams

Greater London UK location map 2.svg
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Greater London Australian Football Clubs
South East England districts 2011 map.svg
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Portsmouth Pirates
Blue pog.svg
London
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South East England, UK
ColoursClubCompetedGroundPremierships
North London Lions Australian Football Club colours.jpg
North London Lions a 1990- Albert Road
Recreation Ground 		4
Melbourne AFLW icon.png
Wandsworth Demons b 1990- Clapham Common 9
Macedon Football Club colours.jpg
West London Wildcats c 1990- Dukes Meadows 11
Hawthorn Football Club colours.jpg
Wimbledon Hawks 1990- Motspur Park 4
London Swans Australian Football Club colours.jpg
London Swans 1991- Hackney Marshes 0
Reading Kangaroos Australian Football Club colours.jpg
Reading Kangaroos 2003- King's Meadow d 0 e
AFL GWS Icon.jpg
South East
London Giants 		2008- Peckham Rye 0 e
Sussex Swans Australian Football Club colours.jpg
Sussex Swans 2020-University of Brighton Sports Centre0 e

Sussex Swans began in 1991, London Swans emerged from a split.

Former clubs

ColoursClubCompetedGroundPremierships
AFL Fremantle Icon 2011.png
Bristol Bears/Dockers 1991-2003 Bristol 0 e
Portsmouth Pirates Australian Football Club colours.jpg
Portsmouth Pirates2019- Warblington School f 0 e
Benalla All Blacks Football Club colours.jpg
Putney Magpies 1999-2020 Putney Vale 0 e

Premiership Winners

The following teams have won the competition: [5] [6]

Pre-divisional structure

Divisional structure

YearLondon PremiershipLondon ConferenceLondon SocialLondon Women's PremiershipLondon Women's Conference
2001North London 10.7 (67) d. Wimbledon 6.9 (45)Shepherds Bush 10.6 (66) d. Regents Park 8.10 (58)
2002North London 18.11 (119) d. West London 8.5 (53)Shepherds Bush 11.10 (76) d. Regents Park 11.8 (74)
2003Wandsworth 11.11 (77) d. West London 9.8 (62)Shepherds Bush 11.8 (74) d. Clapham Demons 7.6 (48)
2004West London 14.12 (96) d. Wimbledon 5.2 (32)Shepherds Bush 18.19 (127) d. Putney Magpies 9.4 (58)
2005West London 9.14 (68) d. Wimbledon 9.7 (61)Shepherds Bush 11.12 (78) d. Clapham Demons 11.9 (75)
2006West London 18.11 (119) d. Wimbledon 2.6 (18)Shepherds Bush 5.11 (41) d. Clapham 4.3 (27)
2007West London Wildcats 16.17 (113) d. Wandsworth Demons 3.2 (20)Shepherds Bush Raiders 10.13 (73) d. Clapham Demons 4.2 (26)
2008West London Wildcats 13.8 (86) def Putney Magpies 4.3 (27)Shepherds Bush Raiders d. Clapham DemonsEaling Emus d. Nottingham
2009West London Wildcats 11.8 (74) d. Wandsworth Demons 10.7 (67)Clapham Demons 8.5 (53) d. Shepherds Bush Raiders 5.7 (37)South London Demons d. Ealing Emus
2010Wandsworth Demons 15.15 (105) d. Putney Magpies 4.7 (31)Shepherds Bush Raiders 12.9 (81) d. Clapham Demons 7.3 (45)Ealing Emus d. South London Demons
2011West London Wildcats 13.11 (89) d. Wandsworth Demons 8.9 (57)Shepherds Bush Raiders 17.4 (106) d. Clapham Demons 9.13 (67)South London Demons 3.11 (29) d. Ealing Emus 3.4 (22)
2012North London Lions 8.8 (56) d. Wandsworth Demons 8.7 (55)Shepherds Bush Raiders 11.11 (77) d. Regents Park Lions 12.3 (75)Reading Roos 8.9 (57) d. Balham Hawks 3.4 (22)
2013West London Wildcats 10.10 (70) d. North London Lions 9.6 (60)Shepherds Bush Raiders 9.5 (59) d. Regents Park Lions 5.12 (42)Reading Roos 6.5 (41) d. Ealing Emus 3.6 (24)
2014West London Wildcats 14.13 (97) d. Wandsworth Demons 8.10 (58)Shepherds Bush Raiders 14.9 (93) d. Clapham Demons 2.4 (16)Ealing Emus 4.7 (31) d. South East London Giants 4.6 (30)
2015North London Lions 8.9 (57) d. West London Wildcats 8.8 (56)Shepherds Bush Raiders 8.20 (68) d. Bounds Green Lions 5.5 (35)South London Demons 7.4 (46) d. Ealing Emus 1.9 (14)Wandsworth Demons 5.3 (33) d. Wimbledon Hawks 1.2 (8)
2016West London Wildcats 14.10 (94) d. Wandsworth Demons 7.3 (43)Clapham Demons 8.2 (50) d. Shepherds Bush Raiders 7.5 (47)South London Demons 8.10 (58) d. Reading Roos 3.2 (20)Wimbledon Hawks 10.5 (65) d. North London Lions 0.0 (0)
2017Wandsworth Demons 4.14 (38) d. North London Lions 5.5 (35)Shepherds Bush Raiders 7.8 (50) d. Clapham Demons 4.5 (29)South London Demons 6.5 (41) d. Bounds Green Lions 1.3 (9)Wandsworth Demons 6.2 (38) d. South East London Giants 0.1 (1)West London Wildcats 4.8 (32) d. Clapham Demons 0.1 (1)
2018Wandsworth Demons 8.13 (61) d. West London Wildcats 9.6 (60)Shepherds Bush Raiders 7.9 (51) d. Clapham Demons 4.5 (29)South London Demons 7.5 (47) d. Bounds Green Lions 1.4 (10)Wandsworth Demons 5.3 (33) d. North London Lions 1.5 (11)Clapham Demons 1.3 (9) d. London Swans 1.2 (8)
2019West London Wildcats d. Wandsworth DemonsShepherds Bush Raiders d. Wimbledon HawksSouth London Demons d. Ealing EmusNorth London Lions d. Wandsworth DemonsLondon Swans d. Clapham Demons
2021North LondonLondon SwansEaling Emus
2022West london Wildcats 7.6 (48) d. North london 6.11 (47)London Swans 9.7 (61) d. Shepherds Bush Raiders 7.7 (49)Sussex Swans 2.6 (18) d. Wandsworth Demons 0.8 (8)

Best and Fairest

The Best & Fairest awards in each division celebrate outstanding players each season, as voted on by umpires at the conclusion of each game. [7]

YearPremiershipConferenceSocialWomen's Prem.Women's Conf.
2019David Allitt (West London Wildcats)Ian Ash (London Swans)Nick Bucovaz (Reading Roos)Stephanie Filby (North London Lions)Dee Kelly (Putney Magpies)
2018Paul Fry (North London Lions)Harrison Pearce (Clapham Demons)Simon Kenny (Bounds Green Lions)Kyle Russo (North London Lions)Dee Kelly (Putney Magpies)
2017Andy Challis (West London Wildcats)Harrison Pearce (Clapham Demons)Matt Pike (Ealing Emus)Lisa Wilson (Wimbledon Hawks)Jessie Humble (West London Wildcats)
2016Andy Challis (West London Wildcats), Cameron Perry (Wandsworth Demons) & Nik Schoenmakers (North London Lions)Tim Kear (Shepherds Bush Raiders)
2015Lloyd Williams (West London Wildcats)Chad Sellenger (Shepherds Bush Raiders)Trav White (Reading Roos)Jess Edwards (Wandsworth Demons)
2014Trent Georgiou (Wandsworth Demons)Jimmy Gottschalk (Shepherds Bush Raiders) & Jimmy Boot (Regents Park Lions)Nathan Grindall (Reading Roos)
2013Joel Moloney (Putney Magpies)Matt Halacas (Regents Park Lions)

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The story of the British Footy League". Australian Football. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  2. ↑ "East London school embarks on AFL Program". Australian Times. 1 April 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  3. ↑ Kirby, Chloe (12 March 2015). "Women's AFL making its mark in London, and they want you". Australian Times. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  4. ↑ "It's all kicking off: the rise of a new Aussie rules women's league | Sport". The Guardian . Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  5. ↑ "AFL London Premiers | AFL London, Season 2017". Afllondon.com. Archived from the original on 6 April 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  6. ↑ "Grand Final Winners | AFL London". afllondon.com. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  7. ↑ "AFL London Best & Fairest Winners | AFL London, Season 2017". Afllondon.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
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