Interest in Australian football in China received a boost after the AFL, the premier professional football competition in Australia, invested in an AFL exhibition match in Shanghai in 2010, and followed up with an AFL academy in 2011. Further investment has followed from other interests including the construction of a dedicated AFL oval in Tianjin in 2011. The AFL Commission designed AFLX in 2017 as a means to promote the sport in China.[3] It scheduled a series of AFL Premiership matches was played at Jiangwan Stadium from 2017-2019, the first outside of Pacific, which attracted an average attendance of 10,073.
The local state TV network began broadcasting matches from Australia in 2016.[2] The 2019 AFL Grand Final was watched by a record 5.67 million viewers.[4]
There are a number of senior clubs spread throughout China, including in the bigger cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Tianjin, as well as Auskick programs in other cities such as Suzhou, Jiangsu province.
Chinese Australians have been playing Australian rules football since the late 19th century. In 1882, 17-year-old Henry George Chin Kit made his debut for the Ironbark Football Club against Charing Cross in the Bendigo Football League.[5] The BallaratChinese Football Premiership was covered extensively between 1892 and 1896, in local newspapers.[6]
A widely published 1939 editorial highlighted a very positive response to the game from a group of visiting Chinese delegates, one of which proposed that China should adopt the game.[7]
The first recorded match in Hong Kong was in 1939 played by the Royal Australian Navy.[8] At least two papers posted positive reviews of the matches:
"Given a big ground and normal conditions, the Australian rules game should prove popular with football followers and it would not come as a surprise to see the Chinese adopt this game which is a combination of football (meaning soccer), rugby and basketball."[8]
"it was a great im provement on rugby union football, and the game showed what an immense difference in speed there would be in rugby union if scrums were disallowed."[8]
Matches were played by Australian Naval Reservists in 1940, there was hope that local Chinese would take up the game.[9] In July 1940, a match was played at Kowloon at the Police Club grounds.[10]
The Hong Kong Dragons Australian expatriate team was formed in 1990, and have been one of Asia's most successful Australian rules football clubs since this time. The Dragons play against other Asian teams regularly and have competed at all Asian Australian Football Championships to date. Auskick, the Australian football program for juniors, grew in Hong Kong in the early 2000s after two Victorian expatriate families managed to secure official support and equipment from the AFL in Australia. The Dragons also coordinate an Auskick juniors program. Players trained at the iconic grounds at Happy Valley as well as the Australian International School Hong Kong (AISHK).[12]
A junior program called the Gobi Desert AFL existed at a primary school in Hami, Xinjiang in the 1990s, but this has now disappeared.[citation needed]
A club was established in Shanghai under the name of the Shanghai Tigers in 2002. The Tigers have a playing list consisting mainly of expatriate Australians, with some British, American and South African players as well.[citation needed]
Australian rules was first played in Beijing in 2004, with the foundation of the Australian Expatriate team, the Beijing Bombers.[citation needed]
In city of Suzhou in 2007, 18 schools had introduced the sport into their curriculum.[13]
The Beijing Bombers played an annual China Cup series against the other Australian expatriate team the Shanghai Tigers, as well as starting a 3-team metro league known as the Beijing AFL in 2009.
Australian football began in Macau in 2009, with the introduction of Auskick and matches at the International School of Macau. The Macau Lightning Australian expatriate senior team debuted in 2010, with matches against the Hong Kong Dragons and Pokfulam Vikings.[16] They made their first Asian Championships appearance in Shanghai in October 2010, but failed to win any matches at the tournament.[17]
A second Australian expatriate team in the Pokfulam region of Hong Kong was in existence in 2010, playing as the Pokfulam Vikings and conducting some matches against the Dragons.[16]
The Guangzhou Scorpions Australian expatriate team was formed in 2010, playing matches against the Hong Kong Dragons and Macau Lightning.[18]
In late 2011 into early 2012 Darrell Egan Founded the Dongguan Panther Blues team at a middle school in Humen Dongguan. The team is also known in Australia as the China Blues consists of 15 to 18 years old student players, with some old school players up to the age of 20. The team went on to play Chinese teams of locals which formed in mid 2013 and is now coached under team's original captain Lin Honghue (Leighton Lin). Darrell Egan now acts as the team's Australian Liaison manager. The Dongguan Panther Blues established the first Chinese team of locals in China in 2014. Carlton Blues player Wally Koochew (See Below) being a pioneer as the first Chinese player in VFL/AFL history the Dongguan Blues team are also the pioneers in China.[19][20]
In 2016 Port Adelaide FC signed born and raised 2014 International Cup captain Chen Shaoliang to its International Scholarship list[21] Shaoliang played reserves matches with Port Adelaide in the SANFL[22] however was not elevated to the club's AFL list.
A representative team mainly consisting of expat Australians in China has competed under the names China Blues and China Reds in International fixtures and Asian AFL Championships. The first national representative team composed entirely of Chinese nationals appeared as the China Red Demons at the 2008 Australian Football International Cup. Bo Gee Lu, a native of Guangdong played Australian Rules Football while studying at the University of Adelaide and went on to represent China with significant esteem in a number of International Cups, mostly as a midfielder/forward or pinch hitting in the Ruck.
Parents. West Perth's longest-serving captain (1980–85). Selected for six State of Origin games for the Western Australian team, including the first such game (1977).[34]
The Hong Kong national football team represents Hong Kong in international football and is controlled by the Football Association of Hong Kong, China, the governing body for football in Hong Kong.
The Australian Football International Cup is a triennial international tournament in Australian rules football. It is the biggest international tournament in the sport that is open to all nations. More than 26 nations have participated and the competition has expanded into multiple pools and both men and women's divisions. At the time of the last tournament in 2017, the sport had a record 170,744 registered players outside Australia growing at a rate of 25 per cent per annum.
Exhibition matches in Australian rules football have been used to promote the game as a demonstration sport outside of its heartlands in Australia.
Auskick is a program designed to teach the basic skills of Australian football to children aged between 5 and 12. Auskick is a non-contact variant of the sport. It began in Australia and is now a nationwide non-selective program. It has increased participation and diversity in the sport amongst children, and is now being run in many countries across the world.
The Geography of Australian rules football describes the sport of Australian rules football played in more than 60 countries around the world. By 2017 more than 26 nations had contested the Australian Football International Cup, the highest level of worldwide competition.
Women's Australian rules football, is the female-only form of Australian rules football, generally with some modification to the laws of the game.
Australian rules football in Japan describes the development of the team sport which dates back to 1910, but found its roots in the late 1980s mainly due to the influence of Australian Football appearing on Japanese television.
Australian rules football in South Africa is a team sport played at amateur level in the country with a small audience. The governing body is AFL South Africa.
Australian rules football in Oceania is the sport of Australian rules football as it is watched and played in the Oceanian continent. The regional governing and development body is AFL South Pacific it is affiliated to the AFL Commission and was formed in 2008.
Australian rules football in Asia dates back to 1910 but was only sporadically played until the 1980s after which it has boomed. Clubs have begun in most Asian countries and a governing body for the region, AFL Asia was formed in 2008 to coordinate the Asian Championship and promote its affiliated leagues. AFL Asia estimates that there are now more than 10,000 Australian Football players across the continent.
Australian rules football is played in Europe at an amateur level in a large number of countries. The oldest and largest leagues are those in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, in each of these nations there are several established clubs, and organised men's, women's and juniors programs. The British AFL has now expanded into Welsh, Scottish and English leagues. The Danish AFL has been responsible for the expansion of Australian Football into Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Norway. The governing body for Australian Football in Europe was founded in Frankfurt in January 2010; the body was initially called the European Australian Football Association, but changed its name to AFL Europe at a general assembly meeting in Milan in October of the same year. It currently has 22 member nations. AFL Europe, with backing of the AFL in Australia has overseen a large improvement in the organisation of Australian football in Europe.
Australian rules football in the Middle East describes the minority sport of Australian rules football as it is watched and played in the Middle East region.
The Asian Australian Football Championships, also known as the AFL Asian Championships or Asian Champs is an annual tournament of Australian rules football between AFL Asia member clubs.
Rugby union in China is a growing sport; however, it is still not overly popular. China became affiliated to the International Rugby Board in 1997 and as of 1 July 2019, its women's XV side was ranked 24th and its men's XV side 80th in the world. Neither the women's team nor the men's team has yet qualified for a Women's Rugby World Cup or a men's Rugby World Cup. However, China has hopes of one day hosting the men's event, and World Rugby has indicated it supports taking the event there.
Variations of Australian rules football are games or activities based on or similar to the game of Australian rules football, in which the player uses common Australian rules football skills. They range in player numbers from 2 up to the minimum 38 required for a full Australian rules football.
Rugby union in Hong Kong is long established, partly as a result of its being a British colony. Rugby union is one of the most popular sports in Hong Kong. In contrast to the People's Republic of China, it has had a continuous existence dating back over a hundred years, and is most notable for the Hong Kong Sevens tournament, the best known of the rugby sevens tournaments. The top domestic club competition is the HKRFU Premiership.
Brodie Smith is a professional Australian rules football player who plays for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Brendon Ah Chee is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles and Port Adelaide in the Australian Football League (AFL). He now plays for South Fremantle in the WAFL.
Callum Ah Chee is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Chen Shaoliang is an Australian rules footballer from Guangzhou, China.
↑ "Game In China". Sporting Globe. No.1882. Victoria, Australia. 6 July 1940. p.4 (Edition1). Retrieved 27 April 2023– via National Library of Australia.
↑ Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2014). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (10thed.). Seaford, Victoria: BAS Publishing. p.976. ISBN978-1-921496-32-5.
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