Swedish Australian Football League
The
Swedish Australian Football League is an
Australian rules football league created in early 2006, as a possible governing body for the sport in
Sweden.
Australian rules football began in Sweden in late 1993 with the creation of the
Helsingborg Saints for play in the
Danish Australian Football League. They continued as the only Aussie Rules club in Sweden (excepting the short-lived
Lund Bulldogs in 1995) until 2002, when the DAFL was restructured and the Saints were divided into three new clubs, the
Port Malmö Maulers,
Helsingborg West Raptors and
Lund Magpies. After 2005, the three
Scania teams became feeders for the
South Sweden Saints, who competed in the DAFL Premier League and reached the 2005 Grand Final.
In 2003 a new club was formed, the
Göteborg Beserkers, followed by the
Stockholm Dynamite in 2004. The three centres for footy in Sweden continued to operate largely independently of each other, with the Dynamite creating its own three team local league, the
Stockholm Australian Football Federation.
A loose federation calling itself the
Swedish Australian Football Association was created, but no real governing body has been created to date. The announcement of the creation of the
Swedish Australian Football League in 2006 comprises the
Scania and
Gothenburg clubs, it is unclear whether the Stockholm club are part of this structure at this stage.
The
Stockholm Dynamite has competed against the
South Sweden Saints (aka Scania Griffins) at least once a year to date since 2004. The Southerners won the first cup in 2004 (surprisingly considering they were thrashed in a practice game earlier in the year) and defended it successfully in 2005. The E4 Cup is named for the E4 motorway connecting the capital with the country's south.
The
Swedish National team is nicknamed the Elks. They have competed mainly against the
Denmark Vikings, although they also played and defeated the
North London Lions in a 2004 tour match.
Southern Sweden (Scania - Gothenburg)
* Representative side
South Sweden Saints* Scania League (Skåneligan)
**
Malmö Red Eyes**
Helsingborg West Raptors **
Lund Magpies **
GV Rebels*Regional League
**
Port Malmö Maulers**
Landskrona Bulldozers (combined representative side of
Lund and
Helsingborg West)
**
Göteborg Berserkers Official SiteStockholm
* Representative side
Stockholm Dynamite*
Stockholm region Australian Football Federation**Central
**South
**North
*
Danish Australian Football League*
Australian rules football*
Swedish Australian Football League*
Video - Sweden vs Denmark
