Strangest places around the world where Aussie rules football has been played
AFL clubs have played footy all over the world, in some of the most obscure venues. From Shanghai to Wellington, we look at some of the incredible locations to host Aussie rules footy. 28 DAYS TO GO.
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Today we look at some of the incredible locations AFL footy has been played around the world.
ABU DHABI
In 2008, Adelaide and Collingwood played each-other in a NAB Cup contest in Abu Dhabi. Yes, Abu Dhabi. In desert-like surrounds, the two sides battled it out at the Ghantoot Racing and Polo Club in front of 6102 people on a makeshift polo field turned into a football oval. The Crows demolished the Magpies by 81 points in the searing heat as now Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin kicked four goals including a nine pointer.
MELBOURNE MOTORDROME
A speedway on Olympic Boulevard? Yep, you guessed it. Where AAMI Park stands now, the Melbourne Motordrome stood, where it hosted many motor racing events including football games. In 1932, Melbourne played three VFL games there while the MCG was being resurfaced and three years later Richmond hosted North Melbourne in a pre-season outing under flood lights which was remembered for its visibility problems. Although the ground was demolished in 1951, the venue is perhaps best known for attempting to host ostrich racing in 1926 — which you can imagine was an extreme failure.
ENGLAND
Football has made its way to the United Kingdom for many decades. The first VFL side to venture to the UK was the reigning premiers, Carlton in their post-season world tour where they battled the All-Stars (a team composed of the best VFL/rest of nation players).
Since meeting at The Oval in 1972, the VFL/AFL have played another 16 games in London. The most famous contest was the ‘Battle of Britain’ in 1987 where Carlton took on North Melbourne and was marred by now Hawthorn coach, Alistair Clarkson breaking the jaw of Ian Aitken. The most recent meeting was in 2012 between the Bulldogs and the Power.
GREECE
On the aforementioned Carlton vs All-Stars journey, the teams travelled all around the world in their three-game series. The second meeting was in Athens after being moved from Lenin Stadium in the then-Soviet Union. The game against the All-Stars took place on a soccer-pitch where according to premiership Blue David McKay “people had to hold the goalposts up”. Due to the dimensions of the ground, both teams played with eleven-a-side and the Blues came up victors in a high scoring affair — 19.13 (127) to 19.10 (124). Robert Walls kicked ten goals.
SINGAPORE (POST WAR)
The final leg of the tour saw the Blues head to Singapore after their voyage on the Mediterranean. The game was moved from Stuttgart in West Germany to South-East Asia and around 8500 people attended the game. Due to the humidity, the game was a lot more low-scoring as the All-Stars came away with a 12-point win. However, in Singapore there were laws regarding hair length. David McKay told the Carlton website in 2016 “he had to get a special entry permit as a result.”
SINGAPORE/GERMANY (WW2)
During World War II, the VFL was thrown into a tailspin with many players enlisting for the army. In 1942/43, prisoners of war inside the Changi Prison in Singapore formed teams ‘Melbourne’, ‘Richmond’, ‘Essendon’ and ‘Carlton’ while another league was set up near Nuremberg in Germany. The Changi Football League, as it was known, even had their own Brownlow, with former St Kilda player Peter Chitty being its sole winner.
JAPAN
In 1986, Carlton and Hawthorn ventured to the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’ and had an exhibition bout in Yokohama in front of up to 25,000 people. The crowd was lured over the fact it was billed as ‘the roughest game in the world’ and was almost advertised as more of a match you would see in a wrestling ring instead of a football oval. The ‘Aussie Bowl’ as it was known back then saw the Hawks demolish Carlton in a Grand-Final rematch by 53 points with Robert DiPierdomenico winning the most valuable player award — a Nissan car. Incredibly players had to wear knee and elbow pads due to the game being taken place on artificial turf. The next year, Hawthorn returned to take on Essendon in the final meeting in Japan.
USA
Oh yes, before Mason Cox and there were ideas to take a GWS game to the USA, footy had ventured across the Pacific. In 1963, Geelong and Melbourne played the first Australian Rules football match between two VFL teams in Honolulu before venturing to San Francisco. The Dees won by two goals in Hawaii but apparently the relationship between the two clubs soured upon heading to California as spotfires erupted with players, officials and trainers. Melbourne won again on a ground which apparently was a third bigger than the MCG. Since then, games have taken place another three times in Miami and Portland — the last time in 1990.
CANADA
Canadians have the bragging rights of the largest attendance at a football game outside Australia. A total of 32,789 people jammed into B.C Place in 1987 to see Melbourne defeat Sydney in Vancouver as part of the Fosters World Challenge. Since then, another four games have been played in Canada with more than 24,000 people attending a contest in Toronto between Geelong and Melbourne two years later.
SOUTH AFRICA
Two games of footy have been played in South Africa. In 1998, the first game in Cape Town was spectated by more than 10,000 fans as Brisbane and Fremantle locked horns. Not for another ten years would the game return — the Dockers hosted Carlton in 2008, a week before the Magpies took on the Crows in Dubai. Freo knocked off the Blues by 14 points with now 300 game-veteran David Mundy kicking two goals and Brisbane premiership player Des Headland among the best.
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