Eirball.Football – Australian Football in Ireland Archive

Australian Football in Ireland and Irish Players in Australia

Eirball.football is an All-Time Statistical Record of Australian Football (also known as Aussie Rules) in Ireland; the Irish in the Australian Football League (AFL); and other forms of World Football, such as Calcio Storico Fiorentino (Tuscany, Italy) and Lelo Burti (Georgia) in Europe; Footbag and East Asian and Australian forms of Footbag (Marn Grook in Australia; Cuju in China; Kemari in Japan); Footvolley and South East Asian Forms of Footvolley (Sepak Takraw in Malysia and Thailand); Native American Forms of Football (Ulama – Pok-Ta-Pok in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras and One Foot High Kick in North America).

The Eirball.football Archive of Australian Rules Football is an Ongoing Project and is part of the Eirball.ie – Irish, North American and World Sports Archives

Australian Football League Ireland

Australian Rules has been played in Ireland since 2000, when the first clubs were formed in Dublin and Belfast. There are currently the full 21-a-side Men’s Premiership, Super 9s/10s and a Women’s Super 7s.

Ireland also enters the European Championship and International Cup. the Leprechaun Cup, an International Cup is also hosted in Belfast, and Irish Universities enter the Fitzpatrick Cup for the European University Title.

There are also International Rules matches between Ireland and Australia which has been played since 1984 with the first touring sides visiting Ireland in the 1960s.

Below you will find links to the Results and Tables of various Competitions involving Irish Teams.

Australian Football League Ireland Women

Australian Football League Ireland Teams

Leeside AFL

Leeside Australian Football League is a Super AFL League based in and around the Cork County-Munster Province of Ireland. The League grew out of a response to the COVID-virus lockdown in 2020.

Australian Rules has been played in Ireland since 2000, when the first clubs were formed in Dublin and Belfast. There are currently the full 21-a-side Men’s Premiership, Super 9s/10s and a Women’s Super 7s.

This is the Eirball.football Archive of Australian Rules Football. It is an Ongoing Project and is part of the Eirball.ie – Irish, North American and World Sports Archives

AFL Ireland Women’s Super 7s

Australian Football League Ireland Super 9s and Super 10s

Australian Rules has been played in Ireland since 2000, when the first clubs were formed in Dublin and Belfast. There are currently the full 21-a-side Men’s Premiership, Super 9s/10s and a Women’s Super 7s.

The Results and Ladders of AFL Ireland Super 9s and 10s are below:

Australian Football League International

This is the Eirball.football Archive of Australian Rules Football. It is an Ongoing Project and is part of the Eirball.ie – Irish, North American and World Sports Archives

Australian Football League Europe

Australian Football League Ireland Competitions

There have been a number of International Australian Rules Competitions held in Ireland, including the Leprechaun Cup in Belfast, which is an annual men’s club preseason blitz.

AFL and AFL Womens – Irish Players in Australia

17 Irish Women played in the Australian Football League Womens in 2020.

Australian Rules has been played in Ireland since 2000, when the first clubs were formed in Dublin and Belfast. There are currently the full 21-a-side Men’s Premiership, Super 9s/10s and a Women’s Super 7s.

This is the Eirball.football Archive of Australian Rules Football. It is an Ongoing Project and is part of the Eirball.ie – Irish, North American and World Sports Archives

Other World Football

Other World Football on Eirball includes Football varieties played in East Asia, Aboriginal Australia, Africa and Old Europe. In Europe Calcio Storico Fiorentino has been played by workers in Florence, Tuscany in Italy since the Renaissance. Lelo Burti is a Georgian version of Football. Both display many features in common with Gaelic Football. British forms of football include the Eton Wall Game in the eponymous English Public School and the Ba’ Game in Scotland. Both of these games include features of a scrum as in Rugby Union. Pacific / Oceanian variations on Footbag are Kemari in Japan and Marn Grook among Australian Aboriginals. Cuju in China features kicking a ball through a hole in a frame, much like penalty practice in Soccer. Sepak Takraw in Malaysia and Thailand, and a version in Myanmar are original Southeast Asian forms of Footvolley. Chandimu in Tanzania, Africa and a version in India are World Street Football sports. In the Americas, Ulama and Pok-ta-Pok are Traditional Ancient forms of Football among the Mexica and Maya in Central America (Mesoamerica) where the hips are used to propel a rubber ball through vertical hoops on either side of the ball court. One Foot High Kick is a Native North American (First American) form of Football whereby players attempt to kick a ball that is being held on a string above the ground and then land on the same foot used to kick the ball. The highest kick off the ground wins. Cuju and One Foot High Kick are individual sports where players attempt to score higher than opponents, all other World Football Sports are team games pitting one team against another with the highest score winning with the exception of the Footbag variations (Marn Grook, Kemari) whereby teams attempt to keep the ball in the air as long as they can kicking amongst themselves in a circle.

Calcio Storico Fiorentino

This is the Eirball – World / Irish North American and World Sports Archive landing page for Calcio Storico Fiorentino, one of the earliest forms of organised football in the world, and which bears a striking resemblance in play to Gaelic Football, as well as a shared Atlantic heritage in a pre-Roman/pre-English, pre-Catholic Rennaisance or Revival. To view results of Calcio Fiorentino just click on the links in red/blue (purple) below the introduction.

This is the GAA World (Eirball) Landing page for the All-Time Results of Calcio Fiorentino.

Header Picture Credit: [1] MONACO – CIRCA 1963: A stamp printed by MONACO shows an illustration of the Calcio Fiorentino field and starting positions from a 1688 book by Pietro di Lorenzo Bini, Florence, circa 1963 By Sergey Goryachev / www.shutterstock.com

Calcio Storico Fiorentino is a Renaissance Football game first played in Florence (Fiorentina), Tuscany in the 1400s by workers on breaks from work in the city. It was the first organised football in the world, rather than the Medieval mob football which preceeded it and where there were no rules or restrictions on numbers playing. It could be seen as part of the wider Renaissance whereby Tuscany’s ancient pre-Roman, pre-Catholic past was brought back.

The earliest orgainsed Football matches anywhere in the world, as far as Eirball has discovered, although earlier reports in Ancient Europe, Greece, Rome, Italy and China mention similar games, though of what nature is hard to discern – they may just have been children’s catching games. [See articles on Medieval Football at: Medieval Celtic Sports for more information and references on this]

*The Tuscan language (Etruscan) is one which predates the Latin arrival in the Italian peninsula, and even though the letters and sounds are known there is no knowledge of the word meanings as no document translating Etruscan to Latin or Greek has ever been found. It does, however, sound similar to Basque, and therefore could be incuded in the Celtic sports section as part of the “Atlantic” or “Black Atlantic” family along with the Celtic languages, Basque and Berber (Tamashek) – half the words in the Gaelic language are of an Indo-European origin (Greek, Latin, Germanic, Slavic etc)and half of a North African Afro-Asiatic origin (Berber, Tuareg, Maltese, Hebrew, Arab etc).

[References: [4] Calcio Storico Fiorentino Sito Ufficiale (2020) CALCIO STORICO FIORENTINO [Internet] Available from: http://calciostoricofiorentino.it/?q=calcio-storico-fiorentino [Accessed 4 August 2020] and [5] Calcio Storico Fiorentino Sito Ufficiale (2020) Studies & Documentation [Internet] Available from: http://www.calciostoricofiorentino.it/?q=studi_e_documentazione [Accessed 4 August 2020]

Asian and Australasian Footbag

Footbag (hacky sack) is a modern version of Ancient East Asian and Australian Aboriginal Football games which are based around the concept of keepie-uppies – kicking the ball to each other in an attempt to keep it in the air as long as possible without the ball touching the ground.

Kemari (Japan)

Marn Grook (Australian Aboriginal)

Ancient Chinese Penalties

Cuju is an ancient Penalties Version of Football from China.

Cuju (China)

Southeast Asian Footvolley

Sepak Takraw is a version of Volleyball or Football played with every part of the body except the arms and is Native to Malaysia and Thailand, both of whom claim to have invented it and where the game is a National Sport. It is popular throughout South East and East Asia. Other versions of the sport are played in Myanmar and elsewhere.

Sepak Takraw

Sepak Takraw is a version of Volleyball played with every part of the body except the arms and is Native to Malaysia and Thailand, both of whom claim to have invented it and where the game is a National Sport. It is popular throughout South East and East Asia.

World Street Soccer

Chandimu is an African Street Football sport.

Chandimu (Tanzania)

Native American Football

A number of Football Sports are Native to the Americas: One Foot High Kick is an Inuit (Eskimo) sport whereby players compete to kick a ball held at the end of a string and attempt to land on the same foot as the one used to kick the ball. The highest successful kick and land is the winner.

In Mexico and Central America Ulama (as known to the Mexica-Aztecs) or Pok-ta-Pok (as known to the Maya) is a Native Mexican and Central American Sports using a rubber ball and the hips. It is played in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras.

Header Image Photo Credit: Bruno_Doinel MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – DECEMBER 25, 2021: Mexican indigenous descendants playing a prehispanic ball game called “Ulama” on the Plaza Tlaxcoaque. At the background, a baroque chapel. [Internet] Available from: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mexico-city-december-25-2021-mexican-2259141971 [Accessed 20 December 2023][Edited for Eirball by Enda Mulcahy]

Ulama – Pok ta Pok (Mesoamerica)

Ulama (as known to the Mexica-Aztecs) or Pok-ta-Pok (as known to the Maya) is a Native Mexican and Central American Sports using a rubber ball and the hips. It is played in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras.

Ulama is the ancient sport of the Native Aztec (Mexica) and Maya of Central America (Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras). It is played with the hips, with two teams trying to propel the ball past the opposing team and has been played since 1400 BC. It is known as “Pok Ta Pok” to the Maya and “Ulama” to the Mexica.

The Juego de Pelota Mesoamerican Ulamaztli Championship is an Annual Regional Competition in Teotihuacan, Mexico City, the seat of the ancient religious / ritual centre, and where the most impressive ancient Ball Court is to be seen.

The Ulama Mesoamerican Ball Game Tournament is the Annual World Cup basically, bringing together teams from Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras.