Jump to content

Australian Football International Cup

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Davo499 (talk | contribs) at 07:21, 7 June 2011 (→Competing Teams , Nicknames & Placings). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Australian Football International Cup
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2011 Australian Football International Cup
File:AFL International Cup 2011 Logo.jpg
2011 Tournament Logo
SportAustralian rules football
Founded2002
No. of teams16
ContinentInternational (AFL)
Most recent
champion(s)		 Papua New Guinea

The Australian Football International Cup (also known as the AFL International Cup) is an International sport competition in Australian rules football. It is currently co-ordinated by the Australian Football League's game development arm and run every 3 years since 2002.

The tournament is the largest international Australian rules football event and the only one that is open to worldwide senior competition, although Australia (the home and world's strongest nation in the game) does not participate (as it would most likely dominate the competition). Melbourne, Australia has hosted both the 2002 and 2005 tournaments, along with some games in Wangaratta in 2005 and Geelong in 2002. Matches in the 2008 tournament were played in Melbourne, Geelong and Warrnambool.

The inaugural tournament was the 2002 Australian Football International Cup run by the International Australian Football Council under the auspices of the Australian Football League, which then assumed full control with the winding up of the IAFC.

The most recent tournament, the 2008 Australian Football International Cup was held in Melbourne, Geelong and Warrnambool in September 2008 with 16 nations competing. After some suggestions it would be run every 4 years, the AFL is currently maintaining the 3 year cycle.

The next tournament will be played in both Sydney and Melbourne from Friday August 12 to Saturday August 27, 2011. It will include a female division for the first time. [1]

The Grand Final of each tournament has been held as a curtain raiser to a home-and-away match of the AFL Premiership Season.

Australia is not represented in the tournament; as the only nation where the sport is played professionally, the difference in skill level between an Australian national team and the nearest competitor is currently far too large for any contest to be worthwhile. As such, the tournament is geared towards development of the sport outside Australia and expatriate Australians may not compete.

History of the Cup

When the International Australian Football Council was formed in 1995 one of its aims was to 'establish and promote an official World Cup of Australian Football.' At the time it was thought that 2008, being the 150th anniversary of the game, was the appropriate date.

However, in 1999 a proposal was received from the New Zealand Australian Football League (NZAFL), suggesting that the World Cup be brought forward to 2002. This was accepted by the Council and, following visits to many countries, IAFC public relations officer Brian Clarke drafted a discussion paper and draft regulations for circulation to the various national bodies.

An approach was then made to the AFL, asking for their support in staging the event. The AFL agreed on the basis that the event was renamed the "International Cup". An Organising Committee, chaired by Ed Biggs and including AFL and IAFC representatives, was then appointed.

The inaugural competition was held between August 14 and August 23, 2002 (in conjunction with the International Australian Football Council), with 11 countries competing including Canada, Great Britain, Denmark, Ireland, South Africa, Japan, New Zealand, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and the United States. Ireland defeated Papua New Guinea in the final.

The second Cup was held between August 3 and August 13, 2005 in Australia. Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Japan, Samoa, South Africa, Spain and the United States competed. Denmark and Nauru competed in 2002 but withdrew from the 2005 tournament for financial reasons. Papua New Guinea were again runners up, this time defeated by New Zealand by 7.8 (50) to 5.2 (32).

The third Cup was held in August and September, 2008. Sixteen nations competed; all teams from the 2002 competition returned, joined by debutants China, India, Sweden, Finland and the Peres Peace Team (Israel-Palestine). Tonga competed as a seventeenth team, but as they were unable to commit to the full draw they played a series of matches against Team Asia and Team Africa, sides drawn from Melbourne's migrant communities.

Results

Year Host Final Third place match
Winner Score Runner-up 3rd place Score 4th place
2002
Details 		Melbourne
Ireland 		7.9 (51) - 2.7 (19)
Papua New Guinea
New Zealand 		3.7 (25) - 2.4 (16)
Denmark
2005
Details 		Melbourne, Wangaratta
New Zealand 		7.8 (50) - 5.2 (32)
Papua New Guinea
United States 		10.5 (65) - 4.6 (30)
Ireland
2008
Details 		Melbourne, Warrnambool
Papua New Guinea 		7.12 (54) - 7.4 (46)
New Zealand
South Africa 		4.9 (33) - 5.2 (32)
Ireland
2011
Details 		Melbourne, Sydney TBD - TBD TBD - TBD

Competing Teams , Nicknames & Placings

Flag Nation Rep team 2002 (11) 2005 (10) 2008 (16) 2011 (16)
Canada Canada Northwind 9th 7th 6th TBC
China China Red Demons - - 15th
Denmark Denmark Vikings 4th - 11th TBC
Finland Finland Icebreakers - - 14th
United Kingdom Great Britain Bulldogs 6th 6th 9th TBC
India India Tigers - - 16th
Republic of Ireland Ireland Warriors 1st 4th 4th
IsraelState of Palestine Israel-Palestinian Territories Peres Team for Peace - - 13th
Japan Japan Samurais 10th 9th 8th
New Zealand New Zealand Falcons 3rd 1st 2nd TBC
Nauru Nauru Chiefs 8th - 5th
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea Mosquitos 2nd 2nd 1st
Samoa Samoa Kangaroos 7th 5th 10th
South Africa South Africa Lions 11th 8th 3rd
Spain Spain Bulls - 10th -
Sweden Sweden Elks - - 12th
Switzerland Switzerland TBC - - - TBC
United States United States Revolution 5th 3rd 7th

Overall Tournament Ranking & Statistics

Ranking Country #Played #Won %Won #Lost %Lost #Drawn %Drawn
1 New Zealand New Zealand 17 15 88 2 12 0 0%
2 Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea 16 14 88 2 12 0 0%
3 Republic of Ireland Ireland 17 12 71 5 29 0 0%
4 United States United States of America 17 11 65 6 35 0 0%
5 Samoa Samoa 17 9 53 8 47 0 0%
6 United Kingdom Great Britain 16 7 44 9 56 0 0%
7 Canada Canada 16 6 38 10 62 0 0%
7 South Africa South Africa 16 6 38 10 62 0 0%
9 Nauru Nauru 10 5 50 5 50 0 0%
9 Denmark Denmark 10 5 50 5 50 0 0%
11 Japan Japan 16 4 25 12 75 0 0%
12 IsraelState of Palestine Israel-Palestinian Territories 5 2 40 3 60 0 0%
13 Sweden Sweden 5 1 20 4 80 0 0%
13 Finland Finland 5 1 20 4 80 0 0%
13 China China 5 1 20 4 80 0 0%
16 Spain Spain 5 0 0 5 100 0 0%
16 India India 5 0 0 5 100 0 0%

Placing Rankings

Pos. Team  Gold  Silver  Bronze Fourth
1st Papua New Guinea 1 (2008) 2 (2002, 2005)
2nd New Zealand 1 (2005) 1 (2008) 1 (2002)
3rd Ireland 1 (2002) 2 (2005, 2008)
4th United States 1 (2005)
5th South Africa 1 (2008)
6th Denmark 1 (2002)

See also

References

  1. ^ International Cup 2011
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Australian Football International Cup.

Video Content

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Australian_Football_International_Cup&oldid=432991705"