AFL Europe

AFL Europe is the regional governing body for Australian rules football in Europe. It organises the AFL Europe Championship and the Euro Cup, as well as the European Legion representative team.

Australian football has been played regularly in Europe since the late 1980s when leagues formed in England and Denmark. These first leagues led to the first international game between two European teams was played in 1994 between Great Britain and Denmark.

As more leagues were formed, more international games began to be organised. Historical international competitions played by European teams include the Atlantic Alliance Cup, Central European Australian Football League Championships and the European Australian Football Tri-nations Tournament.

The growth of Australian football in Europe led to the need for a central body that was accountable to the member organisations. At the 2005 EU Cup a conference was held which formed the body Aussie Rules Europe as a promotional body. ARE was superseded after a conference at the 2009 EU Cup the decision was made to form such a body at another conference the following January. The January conference was held in Frankfurt, Germany and the European Australian Football Association was founded. At an October, 2010 conference in Parabiago, Italy the members of the EAFA voted to change the organisations's name to AFL Europe, to fall in line with the Australian Football League.