The GARFA (German Australian Rules Football Association) began in 1994 when expatriate Australians and other foreign nationals (including Germans), began meeting regularly for a kick in the Hirschgarten.
Members of GARFA organized an Australian Rules Football promotional table at the tenth anniversary celebration of the Deutsch-Australian Stammtisch, held in the Löwenbraukellar in May, 1995. More than 3000 people attended with many stopping to view video highlights of Australian Rules football, receive pamphlets, and ask questions about the sport. An exhibition game played that same month during the annual Spring Fair for the Munich International School also sparked further interest.
The increase in attendance at the training sessions, held weekly throughout spring and summer of 1995, made it possible to hold more formal games. Players were divided into two squads - the Munich Whites and the Bayern Blues (known as the Presidents) - and the teams played two organized games throughout the year. The result - one win each - forced a deciding 'Grand Final' held in September 1995.
At a December 1995 meeting, the 'German Australian Rules Football e.V.' was formed as a legally recognized German sporting organization with a formal constitution and elected board.
At the same time as the GARFA was being established in Munich, a group of Germans and Australian expatriates began training in Frankfurt in 1995. The force behind the group was (and still is) a German who lived in Australia for 2 years. He is a convert to the game and set about forming his own team with the aid of a number of Australian expatriates.
The Frankfurt group registered as a legally recognized sporting entity in November 1995 under the name of the Frankfurt Football Club.
The Munich Kangaroos and the Frankfurt Redbacks first played against each other in 1996 and regularly after that for the next few years, as the only 2 teams in Germany. In the early years, the highlight of the year was the Oktoberfest cup, held in Munich. Over the years it has attracted teams from Denmark, England, Sweden, France, as well as Germany
In 1999, the GARFA changed its name to the AFLG (Australian Football League Germany), which it is called to this day.
In June 2001, a few guys in Berlin who had heard that Frankfurt and Munich both had teams decided to establish a team in Berlin. They mobilised their friends, handed out flyers and even got the Australian embassy involved to the extent that only a few months later in September 2001, the Berlin Crocodiles made their debut against the Munich Kangaroos in the Oktoberfest cup.
Aussie Rules grew even over the next couple of years and the addition of the Hamburg Dockers to the landscape meant that with 4 teams in 2003, the first ever AFLG competition was played. It was a modest start and each team played the other twice without any finals. Munich won the premiership in this year, winning 5 out of 6 games.
2004 saw the emergence of a 5th team in the Düsseldorf Lions (since renamed the Rheinland Lions). In this year every team played each other only once, but importantly the top 3 played off in the finals. Frankfurt beat Munich in the first ever grand final in Berlin that year.
In 2005 the format reverted to each team playing each other twice, with finals at the end. Munich managed to avenge the 2004 defeat of Frankfurt with a decisive victory over their rivals.
And so we head into the 2006 season, due to start on Saturday 1 April. Another team has joined the fold - this time from France. The Strasbourg Black Devils. The format this year is that the 6 teams are divided into 2 groups of 3 based on geography. They play the 2 teams closest to them twice and the other teams once each. Finals this year will be held in Munich. The Munich team which was once almost all Australians now has players from a lot of other countries including England, the USA, Ireland, France and of course Germany.
You can get further information from the AFLG website (http://www.aflg.de) or the Munich Roos site (http://kangaroos.aflg.de). New players of any ability are welcome to play. Training is on Thursday nights starting at 6pm at the Hirschgarten most games are played there too:
The social aspect of footy should not be forgotten. For anyone new to Munich, it's a great way to meet people, see some of the rest of Germany (well the pubs at least!!) and maintain a bit of fitness.