In October 2018, The Denmark Vikings became European champions in Australian football for the third time, beating Ireland, the host country.

The AFL is one of the most popular sports in Australia; in fact, it is one of the most consistent sports for Australian sports betting operators. Rugby League is slowly beginning to drop, as opposed to let’s say, casino sites and online pokies in Australia. Australian football is a growing sport, in Denmark, especially in Odense. And now the club, which goes under the name of Odense Lions Australian Football Club even boasts that it has three European champions in the team.

These three key players are Kasper Høegh, Morten Merhøj and Peter Petrolo. All three play in the Odense Lions team. But before their victory last year, there was already respect for the Danish footy league. Kaspar Bruus, who is a player in the Odense Lions Australian Football squad, and also the club’s spokesman, believes that the Danish league is the strongest non-speaking English AFL league in the world. “We have grown very much considering that the club was formed in 2012. We now have over 50 members, and the club is still growing”, says Kaspar Bruus. Footy is not just a sport for men. The Odense club also has a women’s team of over 15 individuals.

Unprotected Contact Sport for Gentleman

Australian Football (AFL) is a contact sport where you play without any protection, which is quite different for Denmark. Also, the Danish play 12 against 12. In the Euro Championships, they play 9 on 9. But as you may be aware, AFL is traditionally played 18 against 18. For the Danes, American football is a set-play sport yet, on the other hand, regular football (soccer) is an example of a technical and tactical sport. AFL reminds the Danes more of football, where even more tactics are necessary. Goals should be scored with the feet as opposed to American football. However, as you know, there is no protection. There are lots of bumps and bruises, says Kaspar Bruus, but, “We have made an agreement that we all must be able to stand up and go to work the next day, so we do not tackle or make contact above the shoulders.

There might be a bit more bruises than ordinary football, but it’s not any more dangerous. In both codes of sport, the body has three joints that continuously cop a beating – the ankles, shoulders and knees. AFL players receive slightly more shoulder injuries than football players, and this can affect a team’s performance. For example, although in continuous bad form, this terrible season for the Melbourne Demons can be associated with a number of injuries too.

The Danish Australian Football League (DAFL)

As of 2019, there are currently seven clubs in the Danish Australian Football League, from both Denmark and Sweden. Who are these clubs, and where are they based?

  • Aalborg Kangaroos (Jutland)
  • Odense Lions & Lionesses (Funen)
  • Copenhagen Barracudas (Zealand) – Partnered with Adelaide Crows
  • Copenhagen Giants (Zealand) – Partnered with Greater Western Sydney Giants
  • Farum Cats (Zealand) – Partnered with Geelong Cats

In addition to these five clubs, there are another two from Sweden, due to the other Swedish clubs being geographically too far:

  • Port Malmö Maulers (Scania, Southern Sweden)
  • Helsingborg Saints (Scania, Southern Sweden)

There are also talks of another team being formed again in Aarhus. As of writing, Aarhus does not play in the DAFL yet, but they have begun playing matches against Odense.

With Denmark’s comfortable victory over Ireland (28-14) at last year’s European Championship, which was hosted in Cork, Ireland. This was the third Euro Cup title for the Vikings. On the 29th of June 2019, the England Dragonslayers defeated the Ireland Vixens in the 2019 European Championship. Ireland have been runners up for four years in a row now. However, the Vikings still remain the most crowned European Champions of AFL.