In Asia, Australian rules football 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.
Up until the 2000s, the sport was played mainly by expatriate Australians, however in a growing list of countries including Japan, China, Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Timor-Leste there are competitions running is a large portion of locals in the playing base sufficient to field teams in international tournaments such as the Australian Football International Cup, the All-Asia Cup division of the Asian Australian Football Championships and the AFL Asia Cup.
There are now several regional leagues including the South China Australian Football League (SCAFL) (2011); South East Asia Australian Football League (SEAAFL) (2013); Guangdong Australian Football League (GDAFL) and North East Asia Australian Football League (NEAAFL) (2014).
The main tournament and cup competition is the annual Asian Australian Football Championships. Played every year since 2000 this international tournament is the pinnacle of Asian Australian football calendar. It currently comprises teams from over a dozen countries contesting for Asia's greatest trophy.
It is also emerging as a spectator sport, with professional Australian Football League matches attracting paying audiences, record attendance was set in Japan with 25,000 attending a 1986 exhibition match at Yokohama Stadium. China has hosted AFL matches at Jiangwan Stadium since 2017.
The most prominent player born in Asia is Australian Football Hall of Fame member Peter Bell (of South Korea) while the most prominent locally developed player is Michito Sakaki (of Japan).
Australian rules is broadcast into Asia on satellite television through the Australia Network.
History
Australian rules football in Japan was first introduced in 1910. A. W. McLean founded the Seisoka Football Club and was successful in introducing it as a sport to four large high schools in Tokyo by having the rules translated into Japanese. McLean had hoped to select a national team, however met with a lack of assistance from Australia. McLean returned to Australia and Sydney in 1912 and it is not known if the game survived his departure.
During the wars, matches were played primarily by Australian servicemen in several countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Vietnam and South Korea. Before this time, only informal matches had been played in some countries. A rare example involving participants from other countries was the 1941 game held in Port Dickson, British Malaya.
The sport has been organised in Asia since the late 1980s with teams based in Australian expatriate communities and around universities, such as in Tokyo, Japan.
The first international games in Asia started in the early 1990s (the Hong Kong Dragons played their first match the day after the 1990 AFL Grand Final.)
There existed an informal association for various Asian AFL clubs for some time, but on 27 July 2013 a meeting of Asia's presidents was held in Bangkok to discuss the future of footy in Asia. In all, 13 countries / clubs attended and submissions were received from a further four clubs. This was the first time representatives of Asian Australian Rules football had ever met with the sole purpose of preparing a road map for Asian footy. This meeting lead to the formation of AFL Asia, the official Association for Australian Football in Asia.
Leagues The following leagues play within AFL Asia:
South East Asia Australian Football League (SEAAFL): Was first played on 26 January 2013, in Phnom Penh, between the Cambodian Eagles and Vietnam Swans as the EAAFL. Member clubs included the Malaysian Warriors, Cambodian Eagles, Lao Elephants, Vietnam Swans, Singapore Wombats, Jakarta Bintangs, China Reds and Thailand Tigers. Malaysia went on to win the first year. South China Australian Football League (SCAFL): The League was created in 2011 following a game between Guangzhou Scorpions and HK Dragons in Guangzhou. Both clubs were keen to establish a league so that players would have the opportunity to play frequently. It comprised the Macau Lightning, Guangzhou Scorpions, Hong Kong Reds/Typhoons, Hong Kong Blues/Cobras, Lantau Lizards and the Hong Kong Gaelic team was added in 2013. The Guangdong Seagulls a local Chinese team joined in 2014. Guangdong Australian Football League (GDAFL): After experiencing Australian Football in the SCAFL local Chinese teams were created and play regular "metro" footy 10-a-side round robin tournaments. Teams include Guanzhou Scorpions, University Seagulls, Dongguan Giants and Huizhou Hawks. North East Asia Australian Football League (NEAAFL): Introduced in 2014 North East Asia AFL includes Beijing, Shanghai, teams from Japan.
The main tournament and cup competition is the annual Asian Australian Football Championships. Played every year since 2000 this international tournament is the pinnacle of Asian Australian football calendar. It currently comprises teams from over a dozen countries contesting for Asia's greatest trophy. The most recent Asian Champions are the Malaysian Warriors who defeated the Philippine Eagles in Manila, Philippines on 21 October 2017. The 2018 AFL Asian Championships will be held in Kuala Lumpur on October 13, 2018.
Nations Afghanistan Australian and New Zealand soldiers have (in the past) played games of Australian rules football in Afghanistan, most notably on ANZAC Day.
Brunei Australian rules football has been played in Brunei since 1998 when a social match was held, followed by a meeting to establish the Brunei Australian Rules Football League. Anthony Rodaughan was duly appointed the League's first president.
The domestic competition soon commenced at the Jerudong International School soccer field, with a three-team competition including players from England, Scotland, New Zealand, Canada and Brunei. Late 1998/99 saw huge changes in the fledgling competition as the country began ending numerous expat contracts. Player numbers were reduced but the league took stock and continued to provide a regular competition for its members. 1999 brought the formation of the Brunei Sharks, a composite side representing the league, playing their first match against the Singapore Wombats. The Sharks' first appearance at the Asian Australian Football Championships was in 2000 in Jakarta.
Cambodia Australian rules football has been played in Cambodia by members of the expatriate Australian community in Phnom Penh since around 2000, when a club nicknamed the Cambodia Crocodiles was formed. The Crocodiles hosted other teams from around the Asian region for at least one tournament, but then went into recess.
A new club, now known as the Cambodian Kangas, was under formation in 2008, hosting a four-team Indochina Cup in Phnom Penh in November of that year, but this club also did not last beyond their first tournament. In 2010, the Cambodian Cobras formed, hosting the Vietnam Swans in Phnom Penh on July 31.
The Cambodian Cobras went from strength to strength in 2011, signing a partnership with the Australian Football League club, The West Coast Eagles. The Cobras changed their name to the Cambodian Eagles and participated in their first Asian Champs in the same year.
A number of Cambodian Australians play for the Southern Dragons in the Southern Football League in Melbourne.
The Cambodian Eagles went on to win the 2016 ICC where BJ Fitzgerald was named player of the tournament.
Clubs TeamLocationFoundedNotes Cambodian Eagles Phnom Penh 2010 Cambodian Eagles website Changed name to Eagles in 2011
China
Australian rules football has been played in China since the 1990s, and is currently played by senior clubs in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Tianjin and Beijing, with the Beijing AFL metro league beginning in 2009. There are also clubs in the special economic development zones of Hong Kong and Macau that play against Chinese teams from Guangzhou and Guangdong in the South China Australian Football league (SCAFL), since 2011.
A representative team of mainly expatriate Australian players has represented China under the names "China Blues" or "China Reds" in competitions such as the Asian Australian Football Championships.
The first representative team composed entirely of Chinese nationals appeared at the 2008 Australian Football International Cup, competing as the China Red Demons. Since 2011 it has been known as Team China.
The Australian Football League AFL exhibition match in Shanghai in 2010 and a series of AFL Premiership matches was played there from 2017 to 2019, the first outside of Pacific.
East Timor
The sport began after the independence of Timor-Leste in 1999 due to Australian Defence Force personnel stationed in the country. The East Dili Eels were founded around this time.
In 2001 an organisation named the Timor Lorosa'e Austrálian Futebal Associacao (TILAFA, ) was formed in Dili and there were plans to send a team to the Arafura Games in Darwin, although this organisation later disappeared.
In early 2006 two teachers from Kambrya College, a secondary school in the outer-eastern Melbourne suburb of Berwick, visited a partner-school in the village of Letefoho, Ermera district as part of the Friends of Ermera organisation, holding clinics in Australian rules football in addition to donating other sporting and educational materials.
In 2007, an exhibition match was played between the ISF (International Stabilisation Force) Tigers from the ADF and the UN Police Warriors (Jumpers borrowed from the NT Team Waratah Warriors). Both teams had female players and local Timorese players, played at Democracy Field in Dili, which was constructed by the Combat Engineers, this match was the culmination of several Auskick clinics over two months where up to one hundred kids participated. The match raised $10,000 US for the Mary Mackillop Foundation and went to the local, underprivileged people of Timor. The clinics and match were planned and implemented as team effort to build relations and trust between the local Timorese and Soldiers and Police on deployment between the Army and VICPOL members on secondment to the AFP, CPL Adam Bourke instigated the philanthropic activity and Captained the ISF Tigers to a 10-goal win in front of a curios crowd. Forces combine for footy Operation Astute
In 2008 Luke Gosling and Justin Bayard helped start the Timor-Leste Australian Rules Football Club.Timor-Leste Crocs enter Asian Footy by Aaron Richard for World Footy News 13 August 2008 The club managed to work with the Northern Territory Football League and Australian Volunteers International to get locals playing the game. A national team was created in 2008, though not in time to get to the 2008 International Cup.
In 2008, the East Timor Crocodiles team formed, making their debut at the 2008 Bali 9s tournament.
A governing body, AFL Timor-Leste, was created in 2011 to facilitate sending a team to that year's International Cup.
East Timor, playing as Timor-Leste participated in its first International Cup in 2011. The team did participate in 2011 however not win a game and did not return.
Lin Jong, of East Timorese heritage, debuted in 2011 and received a congratulatory letter from Timor Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao. Jong served as an AFL Multicultural Ambassador and ambassador for the East Timor Hearts Fund.Jong's community impact from Western Bulldogs 30 September 2021
Clubs TeamLocationFoundedNotes East Timor Crocodiles Dili 2008
Notable players