Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

is played by a six-team league in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, with clubs in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Linlithgow,

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

and Newcastle. Current competition has its origins in the 1990s with the founding of the Caledonian Sharks (later

Glasgow Sharks The Glasgow Sharks is an Australian rules football club in Glasgow, Scotland. History The Sharks were re-formed in late 2003 by Australian Andrew Butler from what had been the Caledonia Sharks, who had existed in Glasgow for a time during th ...

). Scottish involvement in the sport's early days, coordinating the very first competition and trophy, the

Caledonian Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup was the name of several football trophies contested in Melbourne, Australia, during the 1860s and 1870s under the Melbourne Football Club rules and the Victorian rules (which were early versions of Australian rules football). H ...

, in 1861 and founding one of the game's earliest and most successful clubs, the

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCracken family in their A ...

. Edinburgh has hosted the

EU Cup The Euro Cup (formerly known as the EU Cup) is an international Australian rules football tournament played between European national teams. Played under 9-a-side Footy rules, the tournament was first held at Chiswick in London, England in 2005, ...

, including the 2012 tournament and most recently in 2022. The national team's best result is 3rd at the tournament in 2014 and 2022. In all other international tournaments, Scotland competes as part of the Great Britain side.

Early history

There are rumours of a competition near the

River Clyde The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...

during the early 20th Century, famously referred to in ''A Game of their Own'', where a number of expatriate

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...

were based in Scotland either as Ship Workers or Soldiers. Had this league existed, and there is no proof it ever did, then it had died out around the time of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Scottish involvement in early years of Australian rules in Melbourne

Scots living in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in the mid-19th century were greatly involved in the formation of the rules of the game, as well as the formation of a number of early clubs. The very first competition and trophy in 1861 was the instigation of the Royal Caledonian Society and known as the

. One club formed by Scots was the

(participating in the elite

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

) formed in 1872''Football's Forgotten Tour'', 2003, J Williamson, which was founded by Robert McCracken, born in Ayrshire, Scotland, who emigrated at the age of 28.''The Clubs – The Complete History of Every Club in the VFL/AFL'', editors G. Hutchinson and J. Ross, The now-defunct

Glasgow Redbacks Australian rules football is played by a six-team league in Scotland, with clubs in Glasgow, Linlithgow, Kirkcaldy, Edinburgh and Newcastle. Current competition has its origins in the 1990s with the founding of the Caledonian Sharks (later Gla ...

wore black jumpers with a red diagonal stripe across the front, the same as worn by Essendon Football Club said to recognise the Scottish roots of Essendon.

Thomas Leather Thomas William Leather (2 June 1910 – 10 May 1991) was an Australian first-class cricketer who represented Victoria. He also played Australian rules football with North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Family Thomas William ...

is the first known Scottish born player to have appeared in the

and

Sean Wight John Phillip "Sean" Wight (15 March 1964 – 30 June 2011) was an Irish-Australian Australian rules footballer in the VFL/AFL. He is a member of the Melbourne Football Club Hall of Fame and was named as one of the 150 Heroes of the club durin ...

the most recent.

Earliest clubs and Establishment of the SARFL: 1990s-Present

During the 1990s the Caledonian Sharks were set up by John Boland, with the travelling restraints at the time club games lessened over the years until a period of inactivity until being adopted and rebranded as the Glasgow Sharks by Andrew Butler in 2003. The Edinburgh Puffins and modern SARFL came about through the work of Andrew Butler and Richard Prentice, former players with BARFL side,

North London Lions AFL London is one of the largest organised Australian rules football leagues outside Australia. The league organises multiple grades of full 18-a-side games across London, United Kingdom. The competition provides a competitive and fun game of fo ...

. Butler and Prentice began plans for the SARFL in the winter of 2003. Intra city friendlies began in early 2003 and a combined rules match against Edinburgh Gaelic side

Dunedin Connolleys Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. The Puffins made their debut in the 2003 Northern Cup tournament staged in St Helens. The side remained unbeaten against the then St Helens Miners and Wandsworth Demons. Later in 2003, the Puffins staged a home and away series against Oxford University winning both hard-fought games. The inaugural SARFL season was held in 2004 with a league consisting of two sides in Edinburgh and one in Glasgow. The Puffins name, originally conceived by inaugural Edinburgh Puffins coach Gavin England was subsequently conferred upon the Scottish national team. Later in 2010 the Scottish Puffins were rebranded as the

Scottish Clansmen The Scottish Puffins were founded in 2003, later re-branded as the Scottish Clansmen in 2010. International Friendlies * 10 May 2014 - Spain 26 - Scotland 77 (Madrid) See also * Australian rules football in Scotland Australian rules fo ...

. In 2006, Glasgow and Edinburgh considered competing in the BARFL Regional competition, though travel problems saw them continue an expanded SARFL local competition with the Glasgow Redbacks and

Middlesbrough Hawks Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the are ...

from northern England joining the league. The Hawks left the league in 2007 to join the northern division of

Aussie Rules UK Australian rules football in England is a team sport and spectator sport with a long history. The current competitions originated in 1989 and have grown to a number of local and regional leagues coordinated by AFL England. In 2018, these regiona ...

, and the Scottish league had difficulty in operating on more than a social match level in 2008. The league was relaunched in 2009, with the Glasgow and Edinburgh playing bases consolidated to one club in each city. They were joined by a new club in Aberdeen, named the "Aberdingoes".

Current clubs

The following teams are active in Scotland: * Edinburgh Bloods 2003–present *

2003–present * Aberdeen Eagles 2009–2013 (known as the ''Dingoes'' until 2011) * Kingdom Kangaroos 2013–present *

Glasgow Giants ARFC The Greater Glasgow Giants ARFC is an Australian rules football club based in Glasgow, Scotland. History The club was formed in 2015 and consists of a men's and women's team. They are named after the GWS Giants of the AFL AFL may refer to: ...

2015–present * Falkirk Silverbacks 2015–2016 * West Lothian Eagles 2016–present *

Tyne Tees Tigers The Tyne Tees Tigers are an Australian rules football club in North East England,
– Active N ...

(based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle but plays in Scottish leagues) 2018- present

Haggis Cup

Scottish National Team

The Scottish national team, The Clansmen, compete in 1–3 events per calendar year. These events are typically the Tri-Nations Championship, the AFL Europe Euro Cup and an additional challenge match or friendly tournament across the European continent. Euro Cup Participation Formally known as the

, for which Scotland participated the inaugural event in London 2005, again in Prague 2008 and also in Zagreb 2009. Since becoming the Euro Cup in 2010 Scotland has participated in a further 6 of the 8 AFL Europe Euro Cup competitions to date, these were; Milan 2010; Belfast 2011; Edinburgh 2012; London 2014; Lisbon 2016 and; Bordeaux 2017. The Scottish Clansmens strongest Euro Cup performance was in Belfast 2011, winning their group with wins over Spain and Finland and finishing 6th over all in the tournament. Scotland in Euro Cup Edinburgh 2012 _{Pool Stage:} * Scotland (45) d. Norway (2) * England (49) d. Scotland (17) * Denmark (40) d. Scotland (16) ''^{Scotland progress to the Bowl Semi-Finals}'' * France (36) d. Scotland (21) Bordeaux 2017 _{Pool Stage:} * Ireland (79) d. Scotland (8) * Netherlands (37) d. Scotland (36) ''^{Scotland progress to the Plate Quarter-Finals}'' * Scotland (63) d. Russia (5) ''^{Scotland progress to the Plate Semi-Finals}'' * Scotland (33) d. Jerusalem (19) ''^{Scotland progress to the Plate Final}'' * Czech Republic (36) d. Scotland (6)

Audience

Television

ESPN (UK) BT Sport 4 is a British sports television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA and the BT Group. It is part of the BT Sport group of channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and is predominantly focused on sports from North America. ...

and

British Eurosport Eurosport 1 is a French television sports network channel which is a division of Eurosport and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Discovery took a 20% minority interest share in December 2012, and became majority shareholder in the Eurospo ...

are the current holders of the British rights to the Australian Football League (AFL). ESPN shows three live games each round of the season including the playoffs and the

AFL Grand Final The AFL Grand Final is an Australian rules football match to determine the premiers for the Australian Football League (AFL) season. From its inception until 1989, it was known as the VFL Grand Final, as the league at that time was the Victori ...

. Eurosport shows one game a week but the coverage is delayed.

Players with Connections to Scotland

File:Sam_Docherty_2017.2.jpg,

Sam Docherty Sam Docherty (born 17 October 1993) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for and is a former co-captain for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited from the Gippsland Power in the TAC Cup with ...

playing for Carlton in 2017 File:Luke_McGuane_(cropped).jpg,

Luke McGuane Luke McGuane (born 12 February 1987) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club and Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). McGuane is a key position player. He was drafted by ...

playing for Richmond in 2009 File:Thomas Leather.png,

playing cricket in 1936 File:Roy_Cazaly_mark.jpg,

Roy Cazaly Roy Cazaly (13 January 1893 – 10 October 1963) was an Australian rules footballer who played for South Melbourne and St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He also represented Victoria and Tasmania in interstate football, and afte ...

taking a one handed mark for South Melbourne in 1920 File:Bruce Sloss 1912.jpg, Bruce Sloss of South Melboune in 1912 File:Ramsay_Anderson_1911.jpg, Ramsay Anderson of Essendon in 1911 File:Doug_Fraser_1910.jpg, Doug Fraser in 1910 File:Charlie_Norris_1910.jpg,

Charlie Norris Charles Norris (born October 21, 1965) is a retired American professional wrestler, best known for his tenure in the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1993. He spent the majority of his career in Minnesota-based Pro Wrestling America (PWA), w ...

of Collingwood in 1910 File:Alick_Ogilvie_1910_(cropped).jpg,

Alick Ogilvie Thomas Alexander Ogilvie (7 January 1887 – 18 August 1915) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the University Football Club and Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Family Alick Ogilvie was born in ...

of Melbourne in 1908 File:Bill_Proudfoot_1892-1906.jpg,

Bill Proudfoot William Henry Proudfoot (11 June 1868 – 11 January 1931) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and Victorian Football Association (VFA). Family Bill is the uncle ...

of Collingwood in 1906 File:Firth_McCallum.png,

Firth McCallum Firth William McCallum (27 December 1872 – 11 July 1910) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the Victorian Football League (VFL). At the end of the 1899 season, in the process of naming his own "champion player" ...

of Geelong in 1899 File:Stan_Reid_(Fitzroy_1898).jpeg,

Stan Reid Stanley Spencer Reid (12 July 1872 – 23 June 1901) was an Australian rules footballer with the Fitzroy Football Club from 1894 to 1898. Soon after his retirement from VFL football, he became an ordained minister of the Presbyterianism, Presb ...

of Fitzroy in 1898 *

(Scottish born) * Bill Morris (Scottish father) *

(Scottish father) * James Aitken (Scottish father) * James Duncan Gordon (Scottish father) *

Ewan Thompson Ewan Thompson (born 29 March 1977) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Richmond in the Australian Football League (AFL) in 1997. He was recruited from the Northern Knights in the TAC Cup The NAB League Boys (also referred ...

(Scottish born) *

(Scottish mother) *

Alex Lang Alex Lang (12 March 1888 – 9 July 1943) was an Australian rules footballer who played with the Carlton Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Despite being a three-time premiership player, Lang will be remembered by history as t ...

(Scottish father) *

Rhys Palmer Rhys Palmer (born 13 February 1989) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club, Greater Western Sydney Giants and Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He won the ...

(Scottish father) *

(Scottish father) * Paul Stewart (Scottish father) *

(Scottish father) * John Bell (Scottish parents) * Doug Fraser (Scottish parents) *

(Scottish parents) * Andy Dougall (Scottish parents) *

(Scottish father) *

Ted McLean Edward Finlay McLean (12 October 1893 – 29 May 1915) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He was killed in action in World War I. Football career He played two league games for Gee ...

(Scottish father) *

Colin Campbell Colin may refer to: * Colin (given name) * Colin (surname) * ''Colin'' (film), a 2008 Cannes film festival zombie movie * Colin (horse) (1905–1932), thoroughbred racehorse * Colin (humpback whale), a humpback whale calf abandoned north of Sydney, ...

(Scottish father) * Les MacPherson (Scottish father) *

(Scottish father) * Grant Lawrie (Scottish parents) * Alexander John Fraser (Scottish parents) * Alex Barlow (Scottish born) * Matthew Dick (Scottish born) * Bob Edmond (Scottish born) * Brian Cook (Scottish born) * Henry McPetrie (Scottish born) * William Marshall (Scottish born) *

Jim Edmond Jim Edmond (born 3 September 1958 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a former Australian rules footballer. Originally from Bairnsdale Football Club, Edmond made his senior debut for Footscray Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1977 ...

(Scottish born) * Bruce Sloss (Scottish father) * Stanley McKenzie (Scottish mother) * Hugh Plowman (Scottish father) * Ramsay Anderson (Scottish born) *

George Sutherland George Alexander Sutherland (March 25, 1862July 18, 1942) was an English-born American jurist and politician. He served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court between 1922 and 1938. As a member of the Republican Party, he also repre ...

(Scottish born) * Norman Doig (Scottish parents) * Bob Cameron (Scottish parents) *

Stewart Geddes Stewart Drummond "Nip" Geddes (6 March 1879 – 6 May 1952) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club and St Kilda Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Family The youngest of the seven child ...

(Scottish parents) *

Jordan Schroder Jordan Schroder (born 5 December 1992) is an Australian rules footballer who played for in the Australian Football League (AFL). Drafted from the Calder Cannons in the TAC Cup with the 54th selection in the 2010 AFL Draft, Schroder made his ...

(Scottish mother) * Brodie Smith (Scottish father) * Aaron Young (Scottish father)

References

External links

AFL Scotland official site
(seems to be no longer maintained, viewed June 2019)
AFL Scotland official Facebook page
(is updated, viewed June 2019) {{Sport in Scotland