Aussie Rules had arrived in Ireland almost exactly a year previously when Australian Football clubs were simultaneously formed in Dublin and Belfast.
The Demons then travelled to London in April 2000, where they took part in the FSS Cup - BARFL’s (British Australian Rules Football League) pre-season competition.
The Dublin lads finished third out of twelve teams in their first real competitive games and people sat up and took notice that Aussie Rules had arrived in the Emerald Isle.
After this game, Michael Currane (originally from Kilmihil in West Clare), ARFLI Chief Executive Officer, and Ciaran O hEeadhra from the Gaeilteacht area of Mayo, who had both been actively involved with the Dublin club from the start, decided that it was time to take the sport of Aussie Rules on a step in Ireland, and working in close collaboration with the existing clubs in Dublin and Belfast, set up the Australian Rules Football League of Ireland.
From the early days, ARFLI’s co-founders Currane and O ‘Headhra were also heavily involved with developing relations with other leagues and promoting the sport internationally.
The EARFC is currently liaising with existing footy leagues/clubs in the following nations: Great Britain, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, Greece, Turkey and Poland.
The use of the GAA pitches also made it easier on the clubs in that it is extremely difficult to find space to have a full size Aussie rules oval.
The competition saw two of the new teams, the Leeside Lions and the Midland Tigers, making it through to the final which was played at O Rathailligh Park (Louth’s county GAA Grounds) in Drogheda towards the end of May.
The Leeside Lions made ARFLI history in 2016, completing a first ever unbeaten championship after winning all nine games of the Home and Away Season and the Grand Final.