Many people would think that playing Aussie Rules in the UK is the domain of ex-pat Aussies and maybe a few Irish players with a Gaelic background. This perception is changing, however, with the code expanding massively around the country.
The University of Birmingham Sharks is one such example of this.
The Sharks are a university Aussie Rules team set up, captained by, and consisting of only British undergraduate students.
The president and founder of the University of Birmingham Sharks Aussie Rules Football Club, Tim Smith says he was inspired to get involved in the game after seeing it on TV.
“[I thought] that looks nuts,” he said.
Smith played for the Birmingham Bears in the Central League in England in its inaugural season before deciding to set up the university team.
“I played for Birmingham in Central. Played for a year and it’s a summer sport in the UK basically ‘cause the ground’s harder. And then I just thought when I finished the season with the Senior team I wanted to carry on playing so I set up the Uni team and that’s basically it,” he said.
The Sharks have experienced considerable success in their short history, losing only two matches since the club was founded. Their early recruitment was very much a nor frills affair though.
“Basically, there’s a sports fair at the beginning of each term. And first term, it was literally just me and a ball. And then we managed to get about 20 people. That was last year. This year we got about 35 people around,” he said.
The Sharks’ scalps include a recent win over established team Cambridge. Their win-loss record is even more impressive considering none of the players had ever played the game before a year and a half ago.
Considering the limited exposure that these players have to AFL in the UK, the fact that Smith was able to recruit more than enough players is pretty astounding. Smith thinks this is because the Aussie game is such a unique code.
“Basically, we don’t turn anyone away. Other teams have trials. We just get on the rugby rejects and we convince them to play Aussie rules and because it’s so different, they go for it,” he said.
The success of the all-British Sharks is evidence that AFL has the potential to be played all around the world. In the UK alone, the last five years the game has experienced incredible growth with the inception of leagues outside of London.
“Outside of London five years ago, there was nothing. The London league has been going for about 20 to 22 years. Oxford and Cambridge have been playing for years. [Now] it’s springing up in all sorts of places and there’s more Unis joining as well,” Smith said.
Aussie Rules UK, is the body responsible for developing Aussie Rules in the UK. The ARUK has plans to expand the leagues to 7 in 2010, to include North East, North West, Cornwall, South East, South West, Central and London divisions with 34 clubs involved in the regions outside of London.
This expansion is indicative of the growing market of Aussie Rules within the UK. And with people like Tim Smith getting involved and promoting the game, I can’t see it slowing anytime soon.
Pete
Guest
Yeah, I hear they have 36 Rugby Rejects playing this year. Seriously, this was the funniest story I have read in years.
db swannie
Guest
Sure Mate,The expansion is so great that there is NOT ONE pro or semi pro comp anywhere outside this country.Yet the AFL media & cheersquad have poor people like you sucked into believing the propaganda.
zacbrygel
Roar Guru
Nice story. Let's hope the expansion of Aussie rules can continue around the world.
Ian
Guest
There are around twice as many teams now competing in the UK as there were 18 months ago so if that doesn't show the game moving forward i don't know what does. I really don't understand the amouont of people trying to knock the development of the game outside of Australia/the Pacific region. I thought people would be happy by that!
Republican
Guest
Re hurling. It has, as Beaver says been played in this country for yonks and integral to the Gaelic Games. These games played a significant role in shaping Australian Footies early heritage given the huge Irish diaspora that this country has been influenced by. I sometimes have a bit of a swing in the park with a mate of mine who owns a couple of sticks and slithers. Interesting enough, the Canadian National game of La X is very strong historically, in small enclaves i.e. Williamstown where some Canuky convicts were holed up, Jellibrand i believe, spreading to other Melbourne suburbs as well as parts of Adelaide. It has some similarities to Hurling and is a great game to watch. Cheers
beaver fever
Guest
Norm, thought i would help you out with your research, this is from the guy that started the team, posted towards the beginning of the thread, you may have missed it, whilst celebrating the "victory" that your initial post provided you. Norm – We are not part of that list yet because we are not part of ‘University of Birmingham Sport’ as we are still a relatively new club. We get funded by our student union, and are listed on their site http://www.guildofstudents.com/content/193065
beaver fever
Guest
Ted, i am going to have one more go at it, i hope you can follow. 3 Ten’s AFL Finals 2010: 1st Semi Final Wb V Syd Ten 935,000 87,000 497,000 35,000 166,000 151,000 Ten’s AFL Finals 2010: 1st Semi Final Wb V Syd One 146,000 33,000 75,000 3,000 21,000 15,000 Your link for Tassie said 61,000. Lets add them shall we, 935,000 + 146,000 + 61,000 Total = 1,142,000, .............. without regional VIC, southern/northern NSW, regional QLD, regional WA and SA and NT. Are you seriously trying to tell me TED, that the AFL would not have got to 1,200,000 with all those added in.
TCunbeliever
Roar Guru
I disagree. To many distinct personalities. Jimbo is always very enthusiastic and zealous with his pro-Association Football comments, his anti-AFL posts are often quite uninformed and has his own unique nickname for Australian Football (the sport, not the poster). Norm seems quite pessimistic and doesn't say much.. His trademark would be replying to a post - no matter how long - by emphasising one particular line, questioning it, and completely disregarding the rest of the post, it's topic, and any other information it might contain. AF is like Jimbo, he is (for want of a better phrase) a pseudo-'Association Football Evangelist'.. Very passionate about his sport and at times seeks to promote strong reactions from followers of the sport Australian Football, yet very distinct from Jimbo in that his posts are very well thought out and address the realities of the world around us.
Ted Skinner
Guest
More:: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/ratings-low-shows-split-in-code-loyalties-20100919-15i18.html 'Ratings low shows split in code loyalties September 20, 2010 TV RATINGS figures for AFL in Sydney reached an embarrassing low on Saturday night, with the St Kilda-Western Bulldogs semi-final attracting the smallest television audience for any match aired in prime-time this season. The lack of interest in the match, which was watched by an average of 41,000 viewers on Channel Ten, contrasted sharply with a significant lift in Channel Nine's television audiences for the two NRL finals on Friday and Saturday night compared with the weekend before. Wests Tigers' 26-24 defeat of Canberra drew an average of 604,000 viewers in Sydney, and peaked at 793,000, while Saturday night's Roosters-Panthers elimination final attracted a median television audience of 555,000. Friday night's Collingwood-Geelong semi-final, was watched by an average of 68,000 viewers, and peaked at 140,000. The ratings figures for the NRL in Melbourne were a mirror image of AFL in Sydney, with an average of 30,000 viewers watching the Tigers-Raiders, and 21,000 watching the Roosters-Panthers. However, both matches were shown in Melbourne after midnight. The coverage of Saturday night's AFL match on Ten started at 8.30pm, while Seven delayed Friday night's Collingwood-Geelong game until 9.30pm.
Norm
Guest
Exactly.
Ted Skinner
Guest
Beaver It's not implausible for the AFL to get les than 100K viewers in Regional Mainland Australia. Apart from the finals their games rarely feature in the top programs list. What makes you think the WB v Swans game would be any different especially when competing head-to-head against BC (union) & the NRL final. In Brisbane I note that the AFL got a total of 38K for that game. Why would you expect Regional Queensland, Norther NSW & Southern NSW to have a better audience. Anyway look here - the NRL QF2 got 1.322 million -no AFL or union in the Top 40 List cutoff 1,273 million: http://www.thinktv.com.au/SiteMedia/w3svc371/Uploads/Documents/Weekly_Ratings_Report-Weeks_37&38_2010.pdf
beaver fever
Guest
Hurling has been played here, for a long long time, i know Collingwood, Upper Yarra, Carlton, Nth Melbourne, Melbourne to name just a few all had Hurling sides dating back to at least the early 1870's. I imagine Sydney would be the same, BTW i do hope hurling gains more traction here. http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/result?q=hurling+collingwood On the other hand, lets hope it doesn't because we want to limit Australias and the worlds sporting variety ..... right !!.
peeeko
Guest
i saw a bunch of irish guys playing hurling down the park. looks like it is starting to "gain traction" in australia
punter
Guest
Funny, I think of you as a knocker, as an Anti-Football poster. You get a free reign.
Kermit is a frog
Roar Pro
Well done on your efforts. There are more and more stories like your these days. Such as the American who saw the game on TV and established a club, or the fellow who backpacked Australia and returned home to establish a club, or the fellow who studied in Sydney for a year and managed to fall for AFL even in that environment. Mostly this seems possible in the internet age. In the past - these sparks would have burned briefly and often come to nothing, or existed for 2 years and faded. However now that's all changing. Regarding the 'traction' word - well, there's actually a tractable structure in place now. We've seen some schools getting engaged in footy - such as Carshalton Boys Sports College in Sutton who proadly run a footy program and have seen 20 of their number represent England and 10 headed to Australia in the 2008 tour. Do you know of any schools around Birmingham who are on board or thinking about it? btw - check out Worldfootynews. Yours would be a story worth running an article on.
Kermit is a frog
Roar Pro
well, there you go. and none of us have mentioned basketball or volleyball yet either. The broad variety of 'attributes' makes it accessible for many. Mastered by few, but accessible by many. btw - noting that Swans Canadian Mike Pyke, after 2 years as a rookie, and finally a couple of break out serviceable games towards the end of season 2010, got offered a full contract and was officially listed on the senior list at last weeks draft. (just crossed the 't's' and dotted the 'i's). Took him 2 pre-seasons, two seasons and he's still behind Mumford and Seaby as a backup option.
Kermit is a frog
Roar Pro
Just look at the various budgets allocated to game development. The AFL is very, very much focusing on Australia. I'd just suggest again, that over 50,000 participants overseas is something the AFL could NOT have achieved with a budget of it's own. This has mostly grown without AFL involvement. The AFL then had a choice - - support or ignore. They've taken a while, and now there's some real support. But again, compare the budgets and you realise where the focus lies.
Kermit is a frog
Roar Pro
What makes it so hard to accept that there are more than one person out there. Although, I've long speculated that Jimbo, Norm, KB and AF are all one and the same.
Kermit is a frog
Roar Pro
I dunno mate. The knockers seem to get free reign on theRoar. It's annoying but it illustrates the mentality at play. You'd think some of the regular anti-AFL posters who just post the same objections over and over would be getting moderated on the AFL tab.
TCunbeliever
Roar Guru
dj, I have read all that and I understand where you are coming from.. But I still don't believe that you have anything to fear from any AFL expansion. The AFL will continue to support the two new AFL teams in NSW and QLD for the next 30 odd years, but only the boldest commentators have said they will reach 30,000 members each in that time. Anywhere above 22,000 members will be a success, and is essentially all that the AFL is after. If the AFL achieve that, the teams are a success, but that will not nearly be enough to 'convert' QLD and NSW to the AFL, as the two states combined contain upwards of 10 Million people.. With their greatest possible figures, the AFL would only have a combined total of 120,000 members (between 4 clubs), and possibly 200,000 casual fans in an area containing 10 Million people. Really insignificant numbers. And you have to keep in mind that everyone in these areas knows about Australian Rules, and the sport has been played there at amateur levels since the late 1800s, although with a very low profile. The reason the AFL is able to expand to these regions is because despite it being unpopular, there are people who already play it in those areas.. In fact there have been over 70 AFL players from NSW/QLD, some of which have become absolute superstars and icons of the competition.. Conversely, should it ever arise, the prospect of an AFL club based in NZ could never work because (despite proximity) AR is almost entirely unknown.. It is not a part of the local consciousness, and there wouldn't be enough local supporters to ensure a team was viable, no matter how much money the AFL put into it.