History

Australian football was played by Australian armed forces at Poperinge in 1916. Among the recorded matches was also one in 1919 played in Le Havre.

Australian football was first shown in France on Canal+ television in the 1980s. Aussie Rules had been played sporadically in the 1990s by clubs in Paris and Normandy, with the formation of the first club, Houquetot in Normandy. With the support of the Australian embassy, the club became the Montivilliers in 1998 and was nickamed "Tasmania" in reference to the Australian state. The first game was played against Australians in 1998, but the club disappeared the following year.

It wasn't until 2003-04 that the first stable teams began to appear, the first two being the primarily Australian-expat based Paris Cockerels and the mainly French Strasbourg Kangaroos. The first footy match on record between two 100% French teams was played in Strasbourg on 3 December 2005, with the hometown Kangaroos defeating the Senlis Razorbacks 91-17.

A promotional match was played in March 2006 between English club Reading Kangaroos and a French national side in front of between 500 and 700 spectators in Perpignan, including a sizeable media presence.

Owing to the large distances between clubs, there is no national league as such. Strasbourg competed in the Australian Football League Germany for 2006, with the Saint Esteve Saints considering joining the Catalan league for their 2007 season before going into recess.

The first French club championship was held in Paris in 2008, with Paris, Strasbourg, Montpellier and Bordeaux taking part.

In 2008 France finished 6th at the EU Cup in Prague.