AFL London

AFL London
Formerly	British Australian Rules Football League (BARFL)
Sport	Australian rules football
Founded	1989
First season	1990
President	Sarah Howell and Marianna Graham
No. of teams	9
Country	England
Most recent; champion(s)	West London Wildcats (13th premiership flag)
Most titles	West London Wildcats (13 premiership flags)
International cup(s)	AFL Europe Champions League
Related; competitions	AFL England; AFL Europe
Official website	afllondon.com

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 football to the many Australians that live and work in London, as well as spreading the game to residents of non-AFL playing nations resident in the capital city including British, Irish, South African, American, Canadian, Italian and other Europeans.

The league is currently made up of eight clubs, across three levels of competition (Premiership, Conference and Social) that participate in a competition running from April to August.

History

First formed in 1989, AFL London was formerly known as the British Australian Rules Football League (BARFL). The inaugural season was held in 1990 and featured eight teams; the London Hawks, West London Wildcats, North London Lions, Earls Court Kangaroos, Lea Valley Saints, Thames Valley Magpies, Wandsworth Demons and the Leicester-based East Midland Eagles. Of these eight foundation teams, West London, North London, Wimbledon (formerly the London Hawks) and Wandsworth continue to compete in the league.^[1]

In 2001 AFL London was expanded to incorporate two levels of competition, known as the Premiership and Conference competitions. In addition, due to growing interest and numbers, a Social grade competition was added in 2007.

2008 saw an organisational restructure of Australian Rules Football in the UK, with the BARFL redeveloped to become AFL Britain. This change came about as a way of focusing the efforts of the organisation on supporting the growth of the game both in and outside the capital.^[2] It was at this time that the London competition was rebranded as AFL London.

In 2015 a women's competition ^[3]^[4] was introduced, including three of the foundation teams; Wandsworth Demons, North London Lions and Wimbledon Hawks, and the Peckham-based South East London Giants. This was expanded in 2017 into two divisions of four women's teams, with the addition of teams from the West London Wildcats, London Swans, Putney Magpies, and a second side from Wandsworth.

Teams

Wandsworth Demons

West London Wildcats

Wimbledon Hawks

North London Lions

London Swans

South East London Giants

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Greater London Australian Football Clubs

Reading Kangaroos

Portsmouth Pirates

London

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South East England, UK

Club	Competed	Ground	Premierships
North London Lions^a	1990-	Albert Road Recreation Ground	4
Wandsworth Demons^b	1990-	Clapham Common	9
West London Wildcats^c	1990-	Dukes Meadows	11
Wimbledon Hawks	1990-	Motspur Park	4
London Swans	1991-	Hackney Marshes	0
Reading Kangaroos	2003-	King's Meadow^d	0^e
South East London Giants	2008-	Peckham Rye	0^e
Sussex Swans	2020-	University of Brighton Sports Centre	0^e

^a North London Lions's 2nd and 3rd grade teams are known as the Regents Park Lions and Bounds Green Lions, respectively.
^b Wandsworth Demon's 2nd and 3rd grade teams are known as Clapham Demons and South London Demons, respectively.
^c West London Wildcats's 2nd and 3rd grade teams are known as the Shepherds Bush Raiders and Ealing Emus, respectively.
^d Club based in Reading, outside Greater London.
^e Club does not currently enter a Men's Premiership team.
^f Club based in Portsmouth, outside Greater London.

Sussex Swans began in 1991 , London Swans emerged from a split

Former Clubs

Colours	Club	Competed	Ground	Premierships
	Portsmouth Pirates	2019-	Warblington School^f	0^e
	Putney Magpies	1999-2020	Putney Vale	0^e

Premiership Winners

The following teams have won the competition:^[5]^[6]

Pre-divisional structure

1990 Wandsworth 10.10 (70) d. Earls Court 9.14 (68)
1991 Earls Court 18.15 (123) d. Wandsworth 12.15 (87)
1992 Wandsworth 12.5 (77) d. West London 11.9 (75)
1993 London Hawks 12.13 (85) d. Lea Valley 6.5 (41)
1994 London Hawks 15.8 (98) d. West London 8.11 (59)
1995 Wandsworth d. West London
1996 Wimbledon d. West London
1997 Wandsworth 7.11 (53) d. Wimbledon 7.10 (52)
1998 Wimbledon 11.8 (74) d. Wandsworth 7.2 (44)
1999 Wandsworth 14.10 (94) d. West London 14.5 (89)
2000 West London 11.12 (78) d. Wandsworth 5.2 (32)

Divisional structure

Year	London Premiership	London Conference	London Social	London Women's Premiership	London Women's Conference
2001	North London 10.7 (67) d. Wimbledon 6.9 (45)	Shepherds Bush 10.6 (66) d. Regents Park 8.10 (58)
2002	North London 18.11 (119) d. West London 8.5 (53)	Shepherds Bush 11.10 (76) d. Regents Park 11.8 (74)
2003	Wandsworth 11.11 (77) d. West London 9.8 (62)	Shepherds Bush 11.8 (74) d. Clapham Demons 7.6 (48)
2004	West London 14.12 (96) d. Wimbledon 5.2 (32)	Shepherds Bush 18.19 (127) d. Putney Magpies 9.4 (58)
2005	West London 9.14 (68) d. Wimbledon 9.7 (61)	Shepherds Bush 11.12 (78) d. Clapham Demons 11.9 (75)
2006	West London 18.11 (119) d. Wimbledon 2.6 (18)	Shepherds Bush 5.11 (41) d. Clapham 4.3 (27)
2007	West London Wildcats 16.17 (113) d. Wandsworth Demons 3.2 (20)	Shepherds Bush Raiders 10.13 (73) d. Clapham Demons 4.2 (26)
2008	West London Wildcats 13.8 (86) def Putney Magpies 4.3 (27)	Shepherds Bush Raiders d. Clapham Demons	Ealing Emus d. Nottingham
2009	West London Wildcats 11.8 (74) d. Wandsworth Demons 10.7 (67)	Clapham Demons 8.5 (53) d. Shepherds Bush Raiders 5.7 (37)	South London Demons d. Ealing Emus
2010	Wandsworth Demons 15.15 (105) d. Putney Magpies 4.7 (31)	Shepherds Bush Raiders 12.9 (81) d. Clapham Demons 7.3 (45)	Ealing Emus d. South London Demons
2011	West London Wildcats 13.11 (89) d. Wandsworth Demons 8.9 (57)	Shepherds Bush Raiders 17.4 (106) d. Clapham Demons 9.13 (67)	South London Demons 3.11 (29) d. Ealing Emus 3.4 (22)
2012	North London Lions 8.8 (56) d. Wandsworth Demons 8.7 (55)	Shepherds Bush Raiders 11.11 (77) d. Regents Park Lions 12.3 (75)	Reading Roos 8.9 (57) d. Balham Hawks 3.4 (22)
2013	West London Wildcats 10.10 (70) d. North London Lions 9.6 (60)	Shepherds Bush Raiders 9.5 (59) d. Regents Park Lions 5.12 (42)	Reading Roos 6.5 (41) d. Ealing Emus 3.6 (24)
2014	West London Wildcats 14.13 (97) d. Wandsworth Demons 8.10 (58)	Shepherds Bush Raiders 14.9 (93) d. Clapham Demons 2.4 (16)	Ealing Emus 4.7 (31) d. South East London Giants 4.6 (30)
2015	North London Lions 8.9 (57) d. West London Wildcats 8.8 (56)	Shepherds Bush Raiders 8.20 (68) d. Bounds Green Lions 5.5 (35)	South London Demons 7.4 (46) d. Ealing Emus 1.9 (14)	Wandsworth Demons 5.3 (33) d. Wimbledon Hawks 1.2 (8)
2016	West London Wildcats 14.10 (94) d. Wandsworth Demons 7.3 (43)	Clapham Demons 8.2 (50) d. Shepherds Bush Raiders 7.5 (47)	South London Demons 8.10 (58) d. Reading Roos 3.2 (20)	Wimbledon Hawks 10.5 (65) d. North London Lions 0.0 (0)
2017	Wandsworth Demons 4.14 (38) d. North London Lions 5.5 (35)	Shepherds Bush Raiders 7.8 (50) d. Clapham Demons 4.5 (29)	South London Demons 6.5 (41) d. Bounds Green Lions 1.3 (9)	Wandsworth Demons 6.2 (38) d. South East London Giants 0.1 (1)	West London Wildcats 4.8 (32) d. Clapham Demons 0.1 (1)
2018	Wandsworth Demons 8.13 (61) d. West London Wildcats 9.6 (60)	Shepherds Bush Raiders 7.9 (51) d. Clapham Demons 4.5 (29)	South London Demons 7.5 (47) d. Bounds Green Lions 1.4 (10)	Wandsworth Demons 5.3 (33) d. North London Lions 1.5 (11)	Clapham Demons 1.3 (9) d. London Swans 1.2 (8)
2019	West London Wildcats d. Wandsworth Demons	Shepherds Bush Raiders d. Wimbledon Hawks	South London Demons d. Ealing Emus	North London Lions d. Wandsworth Demons	London Swans d. Clapham Demons
2021	North London	London Swans	Ealing Emus
2022	West london Wildcats 7.6 (48) d. North london 6.11 (47)	London Swans 9.7 (61) d. Shepherds Bush Raiders 7.7 (49)	Sussex Swans 2.6 (18) d. Wandsworth Demons 0.8 (8)

Best and Fairest

The Best & Fairest awards in each division celebrate outstanding players each season, as voted on by umpires at the conclusion of each game.^[7]

Year	Premiership	Conference	Social	Women's Prem.	Women's Conf.
2019	David Allitt (West London Wildcats)	Ian Ash (London Swans)	Nick Bucovaz (Reading Roos)	Stephanie Filby (North London Lions)	Dee Kelly (Putney Magpies)
2018	Paul Fry (North London Lions)	Harrison Pearce (Clapham Demons)	Simon Kenny (Bounds Green Lions)	Kyle Russo (North London Lions)	Dee Kelly (Putney Magpies)
2017	Andy Challis (West London Wildcats)	Harrison Pearce (Clapham Demons)	Matt Pike (Ealing Emus)	Lisa Wilson (Wimbledon Hawks)	Jessie Humble (West London Wildcats)
2016	Andy Challis (West London Wildcats), Cameron Perry (Wandsworth Demons) & Nik Schoenmakers (North London Lions)	Tim Kear (Shepherds Bush Raiders)
2015	Lloyd Williams (West London Wildcats)	Chad Sellenger (Shepherds Bush Raiders)	Trav White (Reading Roos)	Jess Edwards (Wandsworth Demons)
2014	Trent Georgiou (Wandsworth Demons)	Jimmy Gottschalk (Shepherds Bush Raiders) & Jimmy Boot (Regents Park Lions)	Nathan Grindall (Reading Roos)
2013	Joel Moloney (Putney Magpies)	Matt Halacas (Regents Park Lions)