Australian rules football in France

As of the 2017/2018 season there are eight clubs based in Paris (2 teams), Bordeaux, Perpignan, Toulouse, Blagnac, Lyon, and Cergy-Pontoise that compete in the national league.

[3] On 20 November 1916 the French newspaper, "The Excelsior" [fr], published a version of a photograph that had been taken during the 1916 Pioneer Exhibition Game in London of a large pack of players contesting for a mark, under the title "Les Australiens guerriers et sportifs" ('The Australian Warriors and Sportsmen').

it wasn't until 2003-04 when the first stable teams began to appear, the first two being the primarily Australian-expat based Paris Cockerels and the mainly French Strasbourg Kangaroos.

The first footy match on record between two 100% French teams was played in Strasbourg on 3 December 2005, with the hometown Kangaroos defeating the Senlis Razorbacks 91–17.

A promotional match was played in March 2006 between English club Reading Kangaroos and a France national side in front of between 500 and 700 spectators in Perpignan, including a sizeable media presence.

Further expansion saw the first French National Championship held in 2009 formed by the same 4 teams, and continued growth with the introduction of the Perpignan Tigers and Andorra Crows to the league in 2009/2010[6] alongside a change to the winter season format with the season generally lasting from October to June with a winter break over Christmas that continues today.

Currently, the league is experiencing strong growth and can lay claims to being one of the largest competitions in mainland Europe.

Growth and participation are strongly focused on local players, given there are few Australian expatriates playing in the league outside of the Paris-based teams.

[12] Each year since 2009 a match has been played at Villers-Bretonneux between an Australian and French football side to commemorate ANZAC Day.

This event has increased in stature every year with approximately 8,000 people attending the Dawn service at the Australian memorial.

In 2013, the Paris Cockerels officially launched their women's team: the Cockerelles and in 2015 they won their third Premiership to become the French club with the most titles.

France's first all-French Australian football club, were founded in Strasbourg in 2003 by Marc Jund with some friends, calling themselves the Kangaroos.

Thanks to high participation rates, Toulouse aims to introduce a second team in the city in 2016, the Blagnac Aviators.

2013 saw the return of Australian Football to the Parisian suburbs of Cergy and Pontoise in the North West of Paris.

Lyon's first local footy team, the ALFA Lions (Association Lyonnaise de Football Australien), was founded in mid-2013.

They made their début in the 2013/2014 French League by taking the spot of the Aix-Marseille Dockers who were unable to provide a team for the season.

The Andorran national team, known as the Andorra Crows, competed in the French league during the 2009/2010 season before withdrawing to focus on international competitions.

The highly fancied Paris Cockerels were defeated Bordeaux in the final giving the Bombers their first title.