London

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DAY 14 - THURSDAY 2 SEPTEMBER

Got up and watched ?The Jim Stynes Story - Dublin?s Jim?, which is available from Australian Football Video. I had never seen it before and recommend it to anyone. Jim?s story is a great one and hopefully will inspire other Irishmen to follow him. There?s definitely a lot of talent here.

Caught a taxi to Croke Park and had a meeting with Debbie Massey, from the Policy and Planning Unit of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). By way of introduction I gave her some background info on the IAFC as well as a couple of copies of The International Footballer. I then requested a copy of the GAA?s international database i.e. a contact list of all Gaelic football clubs outside Ireland.

The reason for seeking such a list is simple. Although both sports are played outside their country of origin, Australian and Gaelic football both have a long way to go if they are to become truly international. Like Aussie rules, Gaelic footy is played in many countries at an amateur level (the exception being Boston where a lot of money is spent on winning the championship each year). By the IAFC and GAA exchanging their international contacts, it is hoped that Australian and Gaelic football clubs will get in contact with each other and play matches. This already happens, examples being the LA Crows playing in the local Gaelic competition and the Singapore Wombats (footy) playing an annual match against the Singapore Lions (Gaelic).

By playing each other it is quite possible that Gaelic players will also play footy, and vice versa. Thus both sports can work together to increase their international profile. Having an increased participation base is very important if this is to happen.

Caught another cab to the airport for my 1.30pm flight to London, arriving in at Gatwick at 2.30pm. Caught the train into Victoria Station and rang the bloke I was staying with, Matty Glynn, General Manager of the BARFL. Caught ?the Tube?, as London?s underground rail system is known, to Acton Town to meet Matty. I was much surprised to run into Darren King, ex Development Officer with the Australian Football Foundation. It was good to see Darren as I had had a lot of contact with him via the phone and email but had never met him in person. Kingy resigned earlier this year and was enjoying some overseas travel.

Matty finally turned up and we proceeded to his luxurious accommodation, which is shared by 7 other people. Matty?s club is the West London Wildcats and as soon as I put my bags down we were off to their final training session before the grand final. I had a run with the boys as I had not had much of a chance to work out during the trip. It was good to have a kick and I felt much better afterwards.

After training we all went to the Kings Head Hotel, one of the Wildcats? sponsors, for a feed and the announcing of the team to take on the Wandsworth Demons in the grand final on Saturday. The food was bubble and squeak with baked beans, typical English fare. An early night.

Matty ?Mattress? Glynn is 27 and hails from Benalla in Victoria. He has spent the past 3 years in London and was making preparations to return home in October. He got involved with the Wildcats as a player and committee member upon his arrival in London in 1997. In 1998 he was the Wildcats representative on the BARFL committee and in 1999 he became the BARFL General Manager.

The GM position was basically created by Matty as a huge amount of work was required to run the BARFL. Thanks to his employment situation Matty was able to dedicate 40 hours a week to running the league. The last full time GM was Greg Everett in 1994 and since then it has been felt that the league has suffered a decline.

In Matty?s opinion the following needs to be addressed in the future:

1. Media awareness (mainstream media rather than publications targeted at expats such as Southern Cross, TNT and LAM).
2. AFL on free to air television
3. Junior Development
4. Manpower (e.g.. making use of the PE teachers that are involved in BARFL. They all currently teach other sports and would love the opportunity to teach Australian football).

There is no doubt that Matty has done a first class job and I sincerely hope that BARFL are able to find a replacement.

Former West Coast and Fitzroy player Mark Zanotti arrived in London in February 1999 and wanted to get involved. He was appointed CEO of the BARFL in March and his high profile was a great boost to the code. He also started a new team, the London Gryphons. Unfortunately a family tragedy meant he had to return to Australia just before the grand final. It is not known whether he will return.

DAY 15 - FRIDAY 3 SEPTEMBER
They say a fool and his money are soon parted. Well an Aussie and his money are parted even sooner in London. It may be one of the greatest cities in the world, but it?s also one of the most expensive.

Caught the Tube to Picadilly Circus, which is right in the heart of London. Got on one of those hop on/hop off buses to get some bearings. Spent the day doing the sightseeing thing, and it was great to see some of the world?s most famous buildings.

I started off by seeing the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, which normally takes place daily at 11.30am. There are people everywhere, all jockeying for position to take photos, although it is really not that exciting.

Got back on the bus and got off again at Trafalgar Square, home of Nelson?s Column, a massive tribute to Lord Nelson. His lordship is the bloke that defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. Judging by the size of the monument the British were obviously grateful. Just a quick note - if you?re willing to part with 25p you can even feed the pigeons here.

Although I know nothing about art I had a look in the National Gallery, which is directly across the road. It?s nothing spectacular but a great place to cool down in summer.

From there it was off to have a look at Big Ben. On the way caught a glimpse of No. 10 Downing Street. You used to be able to get a lot closer, but now the street is permanently blocked off after all the IRA activity. Big Ben is pretty impressive, although the term actually refers to the bell rather than the clock tower itself.

Next door is Westminster Hall, which is absolutely magnificent. Built in 1099 it is one of the largest medieval halls in Europe. The Hall has been used for many purposes, among them State trials. Just some of the famous people who have been tried and sentenced to death here (and there are plaques on the floor commemorating where they stood) are William Wallace (of ?Braveheart? fame), Sir Thomas More, Guy Fawkes and Charles I.

Westminster Abbey is also very impressive. Many kings and queens are buried here, as are other famous people such as Charles Darwin and Geoffrey Chaucer. You can also see the coronation chair, where all of the English monarchs (except two) have been crowned since 1066.

Got back on the bus and drove past a few more sights, including Harrods. I was going to go in but remembered I had forgotten to bring my IAFC gold card. It was getting late and I decided to call it a day.

DAY 16 - SATURDAY 4 SEPTEMBER
Had a sleep in as I knew it was going to be a long day.

Walked to The Kings Head to catch the Wildcats bus (they had hired a 75 seater for players, members and supporters) to the grand final venue, Clapham Common. The ?Catters? had never won a BARFL grand final, despite appearing in four of them. They were favourites courtesy of a 1 point victory over the Wandsworth Demons in the 2nd semi-final a fortnight previously.

Whilst waiting for the bus one of the Wildcats players had a kick with an 8 year old English boy, who picked up a footy that had gone astray. He?d never kicked a footy in his life and was obviously loving it. I asked him would he play Australian football if it was offered at his school? "Yes" was his enthusiastic reply. It just goes to show the enormous potential in England.

At the ground I ran into Keith Burley, an Englishman, BARFL Treasurer the last two years and a former President. He told me it was probably his last year as he has other things to do. He seems to have lost a bit of enthusiasm for the game, which is a shame.

Keith told me that Australian football used to be televised on Channel 4, in fact Channel 4 paid the AFL for TV rights. Footy was shown at 9am on Saturdays for one hour, which was great. Then it was shifted to 1am before being dropped altogether by Channel 4. It was picked up by Channel 5 in 1998 and 1999, but is unfortunately being shown at 4am. This lack of TV exposure is the reason why the game is suffering in Great Britain. TV exposure is vital if the game is to develop.

1999 BARFL Grand Final
Final scores:

Wandsworth Demons 5.1 11.3 13.7 14.10 (94)
West London Wildcats 3.1 8.2 11.3 14.5 (89)

Crowd - 1200

A sensational game. The Demons looked home before a typical Wildcats fightback almost stole the game, hitting the front with just a few minutes to go. A Demons goal in the final seconds broke the hearts of the Wildcats, handing them their fifth defeat in a BARFL grand final. By contrast it was the Demons fifth Premiership. Both teams gave their all in an extremely skillful and physical game.

You run into all sorts of people at the footy. I met Tim Coventry, a member of the Brunei Sharks that caused a huge boilover when they defeated the Singapore Wombats in Singapore in May 1999. Tim was in Brunei from April 1998 until July 1999, playing in the local 3 team competition, with games every Thursday. He is now with the Bristol Dockers.

Also met Trevor Wright, General Manager of the North London Lions. The Lions were set up in 1990 by a group of Essendon fans and wear Essendon colours. They wanted to use the name Bombers but it was a bit politically incorrect at the time, due to the activities of the IRA.

It was also nice to catch up with Chris and Anne Bourke from Melbourne, who I had met at the Dublin airport. I invited them down to the game and they had a great time.

Mark Jackson and Warrick Capper were also there as guests of the BARFL. Given his marketing background I asked Jacko what Australian football needs to succeed outside Australia.

Jacko believes the sport needs to be marketed as a whole entertainment package. "The grand final was a great game and judging by the people involved they had a lot of fun and played footy like it should be enjoyed. But the sport here still needs a bit of infancy treatment. It needs sponsorship - they have a good kindergarten of opportunity provided they take the right marketing road. If it?s marketed as an entertainment sport it has unlimited potential similar to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). If the leagues internationally take on a different flavour, more 'funster' (eg. coloured faces on the field, foghorns etc.), it?s got great potential. But if you align yourselves with the AFL you will always be in the back seat. But if you take a different innovative approach it has immense potential."

Further Jacko believes that in order to sell the game to the Americans the commentators should be trained to speak American terms (eg. offense and defense rather than half back line and half forward line).

Had a kick with Jacko and Capper at half-time. Hit Warwick on the chest with a beautiful stab pass, but couldn?t outmark Jacko as he kept shoving me in the back. Good fun though.

Congratulated the Wandsworth Demons playing coach, Martin Tunley, a 32 year old Aussie from Perth. As Minor Premiers they had a great season, only losing one regular season game. Their only other loss was the second semi-final by 2 points to the Wildcats, after being 6 goals up at half time. Martin believes the difference in the end were their British players, Dave Milham kicking 4 goals and Irishman Sean Buckley kicking the winning goal.

I had a great day apart from one incident. After the game I had a chat with a certain league official who was quite adamant that a junior program was a complete waste of time. I found this to be a very disappointing attitude, one which I can only hope was due to his extreme state of intoxication. Won?t name any names but I found his opinions quite freakish.

I caught the Wildcats? bus back to The Kings Head for the after match wake. They had their presentation night, with the Best & Fairest going to Michael 'Billsy' Billings, closely followed by Shane 'Shorty' McDonald. Life Membership of the club was awarded to Matty Glynn and Greg Everett.

I left early to get some sleep but was awoken by a drunken horde in the small hours of the morning. The boys were still going hard and sleep was difficult.

DAY 17 - SUNDAY 5 SEPTEMBER
Managed to get some sleep. Attended the Wildcats breakfast at the Walkabout Inn in Shepherds Bush. The boys started drinking straight away, the local favourite being a ?Snake Bite? (cider or beer with a liberal dash of grenadine).

The Walkabout Inn is tailored to the Aussie market (as well as Kiwis and South Africans) and it?s a huge venue. After a much needed hot brekkie we watched a replay of the Brisbane v Collingwood match on the big screen, courtesy of Foster?s Aussie Rules. This excellent program is hosted by Gerard Healy and is available from Vuecast in Melbourne.

Jacko and Capper were scheduled for 2.30pm but finally made an appearance at 4pm. After some bad jokes (I?ll never forget Jacko calling one of the player?s girlfriends "big fella" and "barge arse") and a few songs they disappeared into the crowd, never to be seen again.

Some fat idiot then got up on stage, his act consisting of playing mostly Aussie songs and insulting the crowd. It was time to leave. Caught the Tube home and grabbed some maccas.

Later that night I attended a South African night hosted by Matty Glynn. Good fun was had by all.

DAY 18 - MONDAY 6 SEPTEMBER
Said goodbye to Matty as the Wildcats were leaving for their footy trip. Footy trips in this part of the world are awesome. Last year they went to Greece and this time they were going to Turkey.

Another sightseeing day. My first stop was the infamous Tower of London. Construction of the Tower began during the reign of William the Conqueror in the 11th century. Whatever you do, go on the free guided tour offered by the Beefeaters. Their explanations of all the beheadings and executions that took place are quite graphic and detailed. It?s a scream.

This is the place where two of Henry VIII?s wives lost their heads for getting on the wrong side of the big fella. It?s also the home of the Crown Jewels and of seven huge (and I mean huge) ravens. Legend has it that England will fall should the ravens ever leave the Tower, so they keep their wings clipped just in case. It?s better to be safe than sorry.

For you history buffs, the Tower is also the place where Richard III (?a horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse?) allegedly murdered his two nephews to gain the throne. Richard had a humpback and apparently the Humpty Dumpty rhyme is about his death on the battlefield. You certainly learn something every day.

I spent 3 hours at the Tower and could easily have spent a lot more. If you?re ever in London this is a must see. Anyway, crossed to the other side of the Thames via the impressive Tower Bridge. This area of the river was once the heart of the British Empire, from which the English set forth their ships to explore and colonise the New World. Like many other areas of London you get a real sense of history here.

I headed west before recrossing the Thames via the London Bridge. This bridge was first built by the Romans in the first century AD and was the only one over the Thames for over 1500 years. I climbed the monument simply known as the 'Monument', a tribute to the rebuilding of the city after the Great Fire in London in 1666. Climbing the 331 steps offers some great views of the city and your ?1.50 even gets you a Certificate of Achievement when you get back to terra firma.

Recrossed the bridge and visited the Globe Theatre, a reproduction of the theatre used by Shakespeare in Elizabethan times. A huge fan, I was very keen to do a tour of the theatre, but instead bought a ticket to a performance of Antony and Cleopatra the following day.

Caught a train to Greenwich to see the Royal Observatory. It?s here that the Prime Meridian, which divides the Western and Eastern Hemispheres, is located. Took the touristy feet in both hemispheres photo - it?s corny but it?s got to be done.

Nearby is the very impressive Cutty Sark, a famous ship which was built for speed in 1859. The opening of the Suez Canal the same year made it obsolete for the tea trade (as steamboats could now do it cheaper) but it managed to do quite well on the Australia to England wool run.

From here you can actually walk under the Thames via a tunnel. I thought this would be a cool thing to do and it was, the drop in temperature very noticeable as I journeyed under the murky depths.

My sightseeing done for the day, I headed back home, stopping at Victoria Station for dinner and to check my email. Another day, another dollar (worth about 40p).

DAY 19 - TUESDAY 7 SEPTEMBER
Spent all morning reviewing a folder of BARFL information.

Junior Development

The BARFL have 6 schools which are enthusiastic in participating in an Australian Rules Junior Development program, namely: East Acton Primary School, North Ealing Primary School, Gunnesbury Primary School, Acton High School, Twyford Secondary School and Northolt High School.

Unfortunately not a lot has been done in junior development. A promising move however was an invitation from the London Youth Games to conduct Australian football clinics in July 1999.

Income

The BARFL Member registration fee is ?10. Further, each club is required to pay an annual ?200 affiliation fee.

The BARFL is not doing too badly when it comes to sponsorship. In 1999 they received ?1000 from Bundaberg Rum (the league?s pre-season competition is known as the Bundaberg Cup) and ?1500 from Celtic Brewery. Former sponsors Interpack contributed ?500 in 1996, ?1000 in 1997 and ?1500 in 1998.

I met Belinda Bridgman, Group Director of FSS Financial, at the Grand Final (the FSS Financial BARFL Premiership). FSS have just signed up as the BARFL?s major sponsor for 3 years. The BARFL will receive ?25,000 over the next 3 years, which is fantastic news. At about $60,000 Australian, it?s the largest ever sponsorship of international footy.

So just who is FSS and why are they putting so much money into the sport? FSS Financial is an international financial recruitment consultancy with offices in the UK, South Africa, Australia and associates in New Zealand. Established in 1983, they have been recruiting overseas candidates for global opportunities for the past 10 years and provide workforce solutions to prestigious clients throughout the world. FSS Financial employs over 200 staff focusing on recruiting contract and permanent staff for a wide variety of positions in banking, finance, industry and public services and charities.

They have previously being involved in sponsoring footy, sponsoring the BARFL?s Wimbledon Hawks and being a major sponsor with TNT magazine for the Western Bulldogs v St Kilda match at The Oval in 1998. They are very excited about the opportunities that the BARFL has and expect to see a huge amount of growth in the UK. They are delighted to be able to align themselves even closer with the Australian community in London.

Further, Belinda, who will be on the BARFL committee in 2000, told me that FSS is interested in anything the BARFL plan to do in Ireland. They currently have a small database of Irish nationals and are looking to expand on this.

Finally, the BARFL received the standard annual assistance package from the AFL, which is provided to international leagues like Britain, Denmark and Canada. This consists of 6 Sherrin footballs per club (8 clubs, total = 48) and $500 per club (total = $4000). However in 1999 the BARFL received a further junior development grant from the AFL, which was "conditional upon provision of a schedule of activities to be undertaken by Mark Zanotti and progress reports on 1 June and 1 August of the progress of the development plan and the outcomes of Mark?s clinics."

The BARFL clubs are not doing too badly either. I?ll use the West London Wildcats as an example. Their sponsors include The Kings Head, Walkabout Inn, Backpackers, Stray Travel, Taxback and SANZ Shipping - all up a total of ?8000 worth of sponsorship.

Player Eligibility

The BARFL has had to deal with an imbalance between country and city clubs since its inception. There is an over abundance of Australians in London teams and a lack of British players. The reverse situation occurs with the country teams. Over the last few years different proposed changes to the player eligibility rules have been rejected, mainly because they would weaken one of the BARFL?s key missions - to promote the sport to the British people.

The qualification of players has caused much debate. In order to field a team you must have a minimum of 14 players and a maximum of 22. Of these a maximum of 11 may be classified as Rest of The World. The remainder must be classed as European Union (EU). The current rule is that to be classified as an EU player you must have lived in the EU at least 80% of your life, and have never played footy in another country. As the Constitution states: "Any player without an EU passport, who wishes to be reclassified as EU due to the fact that he has spent most of his life in the EU, and has not played Australian Rules Football in a league other than BARFL, should put his case in writing to the management Committee, who shall decide upon classification."

Herein lies the fundamental dilemma of British Australian Football - the huge number of Australians is the BARFL?s greatest strength and its greatest weakness. The 11 Rest of the World players (ie Australian) are usually the first 11 picked, which only leaves 7 other playing spots. Of these seven there are quite a few Aussies with British passports who play as EU players. That?s great if the object is to win a Premiership but not so great if the object is to "promote the sport to the British people."

Are the player eligibility rules hurting the BARFL? Opinions are divided, but one only has to look at recent results of Great Britain v Denmark matches to see the effect:

1995 Copenhagen Denmark 12.21 (93) d. Great Britain 3.7 (25)
1996 London Denmark 8.6 (54) d. Great Britain 6.13 (49)
1997 Copenhagen Denmark 20.24 (144) d. Great Britain 7.7 (49)
1999 London Denmark 12.18 (90) d. Great Britain 5.6 (36)


What?s the solution? The Wandsworth Demons have taken a proactive approach, forming a second team, the Clapham Demons, in 1999. ?Primarily our aim is to provide matches for our players who are not able to make the first team and increase the number of EU players in the league. We have a large squad and are losing players too often due to lack of availability of places in the team. Our second side is therefore intended to be a weaker side. We are aiming to increase our club?s effectiveness and the League?s viability. We will also hopefully provide some inspiration for the other large London clubs to follow suit so that the sport may continue to strengthen its position and awareness overseas.?

An interesting proposal has been put forward by Ewen Hill, regarding forming the British Australian Rules Football Association (BARFA). Ewen, 34, is a Director of LAM magazine and has been in London since 1991, playing with the North London Lions and Sussex Swans before settling with the Wildcats in 1992. He is an ex-President of the Wildcats and was on the BARFL board from 1993-1995. He believes BARFL has two directions - Aussies who come to London to have a beer and play footy and EU players who like a game but not every week. A flexible competition could be the answer. Flexibility will make it more fun by stripping away some of the administration requirements of playing in the BARFL.

"The BARFA is a competition designed to promote the game to rugby clubs during summer in the M25 corridor and slightly beyond. Played by teams of 12 over 80 minutes, it is designed to allow rugby clubs to keep fit and together over the summer period. In no way will it attempt to remove rugby from being the most important game.

The Association will create a very simple mechanism to allow clubs to enrol and play. There will be no match fees or umpires fees, no registration of players, simple eligibility rules and will be played once every two weekends excluding important dates and bank holidays. The competition is aimed at having fun and limiting the amount of pressure on the club officials who must be on side."

Ewen?s idea has merit. No matter what country you are in, if you try to sell Australian football as a better sport than the dominant code (eg, American football in the US or Soccer in Denmark) you are doomed to failure. It has to be sold to the locals as an alternative sport, emphasising the aspects of skill and off season fitness. This approach has been successfully implemented in Samoa in their dealings with rugby union.

Umpiring

It was pleasing to see a full complement of uniformed umpires at the BARFL grand final. Field Umpires get paid ?40 a week, of which the clubs and league pay half each.

AFL matches

Although the AFL have played exhibition matches in other countries, London is by far the No. 1 overseas venue. On October 9, 1999 Hawthorn will play Essendon at The Oval. This presents a great opportunity to the BARFL to promote footy to the English public. As such, in 1998 the BARFL asked the promoter, Capitalize, for some advertising boards and two advertisements in the matchday program. This was done, with Capitalize sending the BARFL a bill for ?1,762.50 (approx. $4500.00).

Now fair enough, under the terms of their agreement with the AFL Capitalize are required to cover match costs and most of the AFL administration travel expenses. But the $4500.00 bill is ridiculous and would be much better spent on junior development. Surely the AFL could arrange something in this area.

1999 Clubs

CLUB COLOURS AREA YEAR FORMED
Wimbledon Hawks Hawthorn South 1990
Wandsworth Demons Melbourne South 1990
West London Wildcats Geelong West 1990
North London Lions Essendon North 1990
Sussex Swans Sydney South 1991
Bristol Bears Dockers West 1991
London Gryphons Carlton East 1999
Clapham Demons Adelaide South 1999


After reviewing the above information I caught the Tube to Waterloo Station, enjoying a pleasant walk along the South Bank to the Globe Theatre.

The original Globe (?the house with the thatched roof?) was built exactly 400 years ago, in 1599. In 1642 all London?s theatres were closed under the city?s Puritan administration and it was demolished in 1644. Rebuilt just a few years ago, it is London?s first thatched building since the Great Fire of 1666.

I really enjoyed Antony & Cleopatra. Although the distractions of an overhead crane, aircraft and a pillar right in front of me were sometimes irritating, the acting was first class. Along with the rest of the audience I was initially quite surprised to see Cleopatra being played by a man - indeed all the parts were played by male actors. This is nothing new, however, as all parts were played by male actors in Shakespearean times.

After the performance I walked to Piccadilly Circus via the South Bank, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and Trafalgar Square. It is a truly majestic city and one tailor made for sightseeing. Unlike Los Angeles, you don?t need a car as the Underground system is superb.

Arrived back at Matty?s and went down to the Wildcats field to have a solo kick of the footy. Afterwards I caught up with a mate from the Gold Coast, Chris Taylor. Chris and I used to work together at a law firm and he is now working for the BBC in London. We went down to the Red Lion and Pineapple (I love the names of the pubs over here) for some bangers and mash (I just had to order this) and a pint or two. It was great to see Chris doing so well, and if you?re under 28 and would like to get paid in pounds instead of Aussie pesos, I would highly recommend a year in London.

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