Ireland Warriors

EMERALD ISLE PRIDE
Irish team looks to uphold strong record.

Australian Football truly arrived in Ireland during late 1999, when two clubs were formed in Dublin and Belfast.

The Demons and Redbacks joined forces to contest the first-ever game against the North London Lions in 2000. Although the Lions won, the sport was up and running in the Emerald Isle.

The Dublin side and a couple of Belfast players then travelled to London in April 2000 to take part in the local pre-season competition, finishing third out of twelve teams in the first-ever competitive games. The Demons and Redbacks then played out a best-of-three series, with the Demons crowned Ireland's first Australian Football champions.

Soon afterwards, Michael Currane and Ciaran OhEadhra, working in close collaboration with the two existing clubs, helped set up the Australian Rules Football League of Ireland (ARFLI). The league grew to five clubs in the preceding months, with the Leeside Lions (Cork), Drogheda Dockers and Midland Tigers (Mullingar) being formed.

In the first season in 2001, the ARFLI had two major domestic competitions, the ARFLI Super 9s and the ARFLI Premiership. The nine-a-side competition played on Gaelic Football fields to help clubs adapt to the code and allow maximum participation.

The competition proved a huge success, with the Leeside Lions and the Midland Tigers making it through to the final, and the Tigers coming out on top. In the following seasons the competition became the Super 10s to help expose players to the rigours of playing in the 18-a-side version.

The ARFLI Premiership commenced in June 2001 as a 14-a-side competition. The ARFLI brought the final to Kilkenny to help spread the game, with the Dublin Demons defeating the Leeside Lions. Despite the two finals losses, the Cork club would go on to dominate Irish footy.

Over the years, clubs such as Drogheda, Clare, South Dublin Eagles, Limerick Saints and the Belfast Redbacks have come and gone, and this season's aussieproperty.com Premiership was contested by five teams - the Dublin Demons, South Dublin Swans, West Dublin Saints, Leeside Lions and Midland Tigers. Two new clubs, the Kingdom Kangaroos and Mayo Mariners also began recruiting, but their players elected to play with the lions and Tigers respectively. Next year it is hoped that the Clare and Belfast clubs will be reformed as well as a new club in Galway.

The ARFLI national team has a proud record, being undefeated in international competition until 2005. The team won the Atlantic Alliance Cup in 2001 and also won the inaugural Australian Football International Cup in 2002. In 2005, Ireland finished fourth at the International Cup and is confident of improving on that performance this time around.

An executive committee, made up of representatives from each of the ARFLI's clubs, governs the Irish league, meeting regularly to address issues, implement changes and rules, organise fundraising events and discuss developmental strategies - all for the betterment of the game in  Ireland.

The ARFLI's website can be found at arfli.com.

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