Prince Charles now the Patron of AFL Europe

[Swans4ever]

Prince of Wales becomes patron of AFL Europe

With all our regular RL posters continually telling us no one overseas is interested in AFL - it will come as a surprise to hear the next King of England will be the Patron for AFL Europe - yeah no one is interested in AFL outside Australia / Victoria.




24/10/2013

AFL Europe announced today that His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, has accepted an invitation to become Patron of the organisation for the next two years, lending his name and support to programs to develop the game, particularly for young people.

Prince Charles has a strong interest in developing young people and it is this passion, combined with his long held fondness for Australia, which led to his decision to support AFL Europe.

Chairman of the AFL Commission, Mike Fitzpatrick, who is in Ireland as part of the 2013 International Rules Series, warmly welcomed the support of the Prince of Wales.

“The AFL Commission is dedicated to the long-term growth of our game, not just in Australia, but internationally. To have the support of someone as highly regarded as the Prince is a fantastic opportunity for AFL Europe to develop the game,” Fitzpatrick said.

“Prince Charles spent a year studying in Australia in 1966 and has been here many times since. He clearly has a great affection for Australia so we know this is the beginning of a long and mutually rewarding relationship between the Prince and the AFL.”

Speaking about the new role today, AFL Europe CEO Ben MacCormack said “AFL Europe is thrilled to have The Prince of Wales as our Patron. It’s a huge honour and we believe his support will greatly assist us to reach new audiences as we introduce Australian Football into schools and communities across Europe.”

AFL Europe also hopes to stage another AFL Challenge Match in London in 2014 in which The Prince of Wales would be invited to attend.

The past year has been a very busy one for the young organisation, with the Challenge Match between the Western Bulldogs and Port Adelaide in November 2012 drawing a crowd of 10,000 people to the Oval, AFL Europe Combine – Dublin, followed by the Easter Series, to the AFL European Championship held in Ireland in August, the 2013 Axios Euro Cup in Bordeaux this September, and the upcoming 2013 AFL Combine also to be staged in Dublin in early December.

Participation across the 21 member nations has grown over the past three years to more than 5,000 players and the majority are nationals of their own countries rather than Australian expats. This figure also includes a small but growing number of school and junior participants who register for 6 week long programs.

There is also a growing pathway for talented athletes from Europe to test themselves in the elite AFL competitions. Daniel Flynn (Kildare) has just been listed with Port Adelaide as an AFL International Rookie and will move to Australia to join the AFL Club in coming weeks.

Image: Tony Woods (AFL International Development Manager) and Chris Dow (AFL Europe Chairman) present The Prince of Wales with a Sherrin at the pre-Australia tour reception at Clarence House on the 24th October 2012. Copyright Clarence House.

#PrinceofAFLEurope

[Raiderdave]

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" Im patron of what now " >

twas his reponse to the news

Camilla ..... why are they wearing basketball tops, they're supposed to be footballers aren't they .. I mean .. what the bloody hell is going on my dear ?

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tiniest sport on the planet

tis the fumbles n bumbles

[Raiderdave]

VFL Europe eh


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that organisation could hold its annual general meeting & fan day ........... in a phone booth

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fumbles n bumbles
tiniest sport on the planet

[NRLCrap1]

Like hell, Dave! I'll tell you why Prince Charles took it on. Because he knows about the game as he spent some time down here in school in the 60's!! Suck shit, Dave!

[adamj1300]

:_<> :_<>

" Im patron of what now " >

twas his reponse to the news

Camilla ..... why are they wearing basketball tops, they're supposed to be footballers aren't they .. I mean .. what the bloody hell is going on my dear ?

:_<> :_<>
tiniest sport on the planet

tis the fumbles n bumbles

singlet tops harder to tackel some on it.
the bigger concern is why to the NRL players where such loose shorts and take pointless scrums
Camilla would turn to charles, and commenting on the RL world cup. "why do the players keep sniffing each others bottoms? why is it called football, when they throw the ball side ways?, it should be called sideways throwball for dummys" this is an abomination of a game!

[Raiderdave]

:_<> :_<>

" Im patron of what now " >

twas his reponse to the news

Camilla ..... why are they wearing basketball tops, they're supposed to be footballers aren't they .. I mean .. what the bloody hell is going on my dear ?

:_<> :_<>
tiniest sport on the planet


why to the NRL players where such loose shorts

well unlike fumble bumbleball players

male RL players have external sexual organs :_<> :_<>

[pHyR3]

the uncontested scrums you refer to are for set plays, so the forwards are centred in one area and the team with the feed has a good opporunity to attack.

[pHyR3]

Like hell, Dave! I'll tell you why Prince Charles took it on. Because he knows about the game as he spent some time down here in school in the 60's!! Suck shit, Dave!

So what you're saying is that the only way someone outside of Australia would know about the sport is if they have actually visited the place. No chance other wise.

[Swans4ever]

Like hell, Dave! I'll tell you why Prince Charles took it on. Because he knows about the game as he spent some time down here in school in the 60's!! Suck shit, Dave!

So what you're saying is that the only way someone outside of Australia would know about the sport is if they have actually visited the place. No chance other wise.

No I think he means he's not some narrow minded peanut who can't appreciate the games skills and doesn't have to console himself with some fantasy that rugby league is the only sport people should play because of some massive insecurities about himself like RD! My point is that contrary to popular belief that people are laughing at Australia and the game is an embarrassment - it is actually the opposite - people that know of the sport who arn't paranoid insecure NUPHYs appreciate and respect that skill and athleticism that the sport displays!

[pHyR3]

No you're right. People aren't laughing at Australian Rules. No one knows about aussie rules internationally.

Least everyone knows about union/league. Sure a lot of international attention is for union, but I think league can channel that into league support like has been done in Australia, is being done in NZ, and will occur in France/UK after this world cup. I think the french games have all sold out, too bad they couldn't play at bigger stadiums. Despite union being more prominent internationally, league is not far behind. Definitely not as far behind as AFL.

[NRLCrap1]

More people know about AFL internationally in more countries than you think, Phy! You just WISH it wasn't true, just to support that closed mind of yours.

[Swans4ever]

No you're right. People aren't laughing at Australian Rules. No one knows about aussie rules internationally.

Least everyone knows about union/league. Sure a lot of international attention is for union, but I think league can channel that into league support like has been done in Australia, is being done in NZ, and will occur in France/UK after this world cup. I think the french games have all sold out, too bad they couldn't play at bigger stadiums. Despite union being more prominent internationally, league is not far behind. Definitely not as far behind as AFL.

No argument we are behind you - but unknown? Don't kid yourself with the event if pay TV - Internet - YouTube etc AFL is well known - as for Rugby League, most people in Melb call Union and League Rugby. The reason is because of the games similarities to one another - AFL like soccer can't be confused with any other sport! As much as you keep trying to promote RL and tell us it's the best game in the world - thats your main problem MOST people (with the exception of GB and NZ) wouldn't know the difference bwt Union and League. But they do know AFL!

[Swans4ever]

Oh and by the way - RL where is it the number one sport? Only PNG - isn't number one here as you were beaten in the ratings - half the crowds - half the membership - half the revenue and half the sponsorship - weren't number one in England where it was invented , thats Soccer, weren't number one in NZ, thats union! So the only place where it's number one is PNG - but is in danger now with the explosion of other sports now being shown into country of even losing that!

[pHyR3]

You beat us in ratings for the first time in a few years mate, with all our popular teams doing poorly. Nothing that amazing.... we beat you last year including all represntative games because that shows interest in RL. But you'll call foul since you can't include shit there

Half the revenue, half the sponsorship? source?

[NRLCrap1]

You denying Cronulla had big problems getting a major sponsor? And Canberra?