Modern Era
During the 1990s the Caledonian Sharks were set up by John Boland, but eventually folded. The first lasting Scottish club of the modern era was known as the Edinburgh Puffins in 2003 with informal matches held, and invitiationals of clubs from the British Australian Rules Football League. The Edinburgh Puffins and modern SARFL came about through the work of Andrew Butler and Richard Prentice, former players with BARFL side, North London Lions. Butler and Prentice began plans for the SARFL in the winter of 2002/2003. Intra city friendlies began in early 2003 and a combined rules match against Edinburgh Gaelic side Dunedin Connolleys. The Puffins made their debut in the 2003 Northern Cup tournament staged in St Helens. The side remained unbeaten against the then St Helens Miners and Wandsworth Demons. Later in 2003, the Puffins staged a home and away series against Oxford University winning both hard fought games. The inaugural SARFL season was held in 2004 with a league consisting of two sides in Edinburgh and one in Glasgow. The Puffins name, originally conceived by inaugural Edinburgh Puffins coach Gavin England was subsequently conferred upon the Scottish national team.
In 2006, Glasgow and Edinburgh considered competing in the BARFL Regional competition, though travel problems saw them continue an expanded SARFL local competition with the Glasgow Redbacks and Middlesbrough Hawks from northern England joining the league. The Hawks left the league in 2007 to join the northern division of Aussie Rules UK, and the Scottish league had difficulty in operating on more than a social match level in 2008.
The league was relaunched in 2009, with the Glasgow and Edinburgh playing bases consolidated to one club in each city. They were joined by a new club in Aberdeen, named the "Aberdingoes".
The Scottish Puffins have competed at some tournaments as a stand-alone team, but are currently officially represented by the Great Britain Bulldogs. There has been speculation that they may compete as a separate team at the Australian Football International Cup in future, but this has not been confirmed at any official level.
Read more about this topic: Australian Rules Football In Scotland
Famous quotes containing the words modern and/or era:
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