| Australian rules football in England | |
|---|---|
 Englands two oldest clubs Cambridge and Oxford Universities contest centre bounce in 2008 | |
| Country | England |
| Governing body | AFL England |
| National team(s) | England |
| First played | 1888, London |
| Registered players | 3,600 (total) 600 (adult) 3,000 (junior) |
| Clubs | 49 |
Club competitions | |
Audience records | |
| Single match | 18,884 (2005). West Coast v. Fremantle (The Oval, London) |
Australian rules football in England is a team sport and spectator sport with a long history. It is home to the longest running Australian rules fixture outside Australia, the match between Oxford and Cambridge Universities which has been contested annually since 1923. All other current competitions originated in 1989 with the founding of what is now AFL London, the longest running Australian rules football league in Europe. The current governing body, AFL England, was formed in 2012 and expanded the game in 2018 to include the additional regional divisions: AFL Central & Northern England and AFL Southern England.
The sport's origins are said to be in England, specifically public school football games. Several of the sport's founders were born and educated there including J. B. Thompson, William Hammersley and James Bryant while Tom Wills held by many as the sport's founder, was educated at and played rugby with the Rugby School. However it struggled for decades to establish roots given the dominance of traditional football codes in rugby football and the growing popularity of soccer. Nevertheless, it was one of the first countries outside of Australia where the game was played in the 1880s and to host regular competition.
Australian Football League (AFL) exhibition matches were held at The Oval in London semi-annually between 1986 and 2006 (the last standalone event was held in 2012) and were well attended with attendances ranging from 4,500 to a record of 18,884 in 2005.
England rarely competes in a standalone team, and is typically represented along with Scotland and Wales as the Great Britain team at the Australian Football International Cup (best result 6th) and AFL Europe Championship (2 titles). However, an English side has competed in several standalone tests and has been successful at the Euro Cup with 5 titles. Nevertheless, London has hosted several internationals, including the 2001 Atlantic Alliance Cup, 2005 and 2015 EU Cups and the 2016 and 2019 AFL Europe Championships.
English born players have been successful at the sport's highest level. In the AFL Bill Eason has the most games with 220 and most goals with 187. AFL Women's player Sabrina Frederick has the most with 59 games and 26 goals.