List of overseas-born AFL players
Encyclopedia
This is a list of players who have played at least one senior game in the Australian Football League
(AFL), previously known as the Victorian Football League (VFL), who were born outside of Australia. The first non-Australian-born players were Ivan Astruc
, George Hastings
and Henry McPetrie , who each played for their respective clubs in round one of the inaugural VFL season
in 1897. There are currently 13 AFL-listed players who have played at least one game for their clubs. Peter Bell ( and the ; born in South Korea) holds the games record for a non-Australian-born player, having played 286 games between 1995 and 2008. Jim Stynes
is the only non-Australian-born player to win a Brownlow Medal
, and Alex Jesaulenko
( and ; born in Austria) was the only non-Australian-born player named in the VFL/AFL Team of the Century.
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
(AFL), previously known as the Victorian Football League (VFL), who were born outside of Australia. The first non-Australian-born players were Ivan Astruc
Ivan Astruc
Ivan Astruc is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Fitzroy.-Sources:*Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim . The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 8th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing....
, George Hastings
George Hastings (footballer)
George Hastings was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the early years of the VFL.Hastings usually played on the wing but was also a centreman at times. A member of Essendon's inaugural premiership team in 1897 and again in 1901, Hasting also played in losing Grand Final...
and Henry McPetrie , who each played for their respective clubs in round one of the inaugural VFL season
1897 VFL season
Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1897, the inaugural season of the VFL.-Premiership season:In 1897, the VFL competition consisted of eight teams of 20 on-the-field players each, with no "reserves" Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of...
in 1897. There are currently 13 AFL-listed players who have played at least one game for their clubs. Peter Bell ( and the ; born in South Korea) holds the games record for a non-Australian-born player, having played 286 games between 1995 and 2008. Jim Stynes
Jim Stynes
James "Jim" Stynes OAM is an Irish former professional Australian rules footballer who is currently a businessman, philanthropist, writer, youth worker, qualified teacher and chairman of Melbourne Football Club since 2008....
is the only non-Australian-born player to win a Brownlow Medal
Brownlow Medal
The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...
, and Alex Jesaulenko
Alex Jesaulenko
Alex 'Jezza' Jesaulenko MBE is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. He is regarded as one of the game's greatest-ever players and is an official Legend of the Australian Football Hall of Fame...
( and ; born in Austria) was the only non-Australian-born player named in the VFL/AFL Team of the Century.
List
Players currently on an AFL list are listed in bold:Name | Country of birth | Club(s) | First | Last | Games | Goals |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kingdom of England | |
1989 | 1993 | 29 | 30 | |
Kingdom of Scotland | |
1910 | 1912 | 31 | 0 | |
Mauritius Mauritius Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar... |
1897 | 1897 | 6 | 1 | ||
Natal Colony of Natal The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on May 4, 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa, as one of its... |
|
1927 | 1937 | 138 | 140 | |
Kingdom of Scotland | 1901 | 1903 | 14 | 0 | ||
Kingdom of England | 1989 | 1989 | 4 | 6 | ||
Republic of Ireland | |
2006 | 2009 | 30 | 7 | |
South Korea | / |
1995 | 2008 | 286 | 250 | |
New Zealand | |
1976 | 1981 | 80 | 27 | |
Italy | 1953 | 1953 | 1 | 0 | ||
Kingdom of England | |
1989 | 1993 | 25 | 0 | |
Kingdom of England | 1984 | 1990 | 110 | 80 | ||
Israel | 1978 | 1981 | 34 | 11 | ||
Kingdom of England | |
1980 | 1988 | 117 | 35 | |
New Zealand | 2006 | 2009 | 13 | 13 | ||
Fiji | 2006 | 2011 | 89 | 4 | ||
Northern Ireland | 2007 | 2009 | 46 | 16 | ||
Thailand | 1998 | 1998 | 7 | 2 | ||
New Zealand | |
1998 | 2008 | 222 | 189 | |
South Africa | |
2000 | 2005 | 53 | 66 | |
Kingdom of England | |
1989 | 1991 | 11 | 1 | |
Kingdom of England | |
1924 | 1928 | 58 | 186 | |
Wales | 1949 | 1950 | 16 | 1 | ||
New Zealand | 1997 | 2000 | 55 | 19 | ||
Republic of Ireland | 1984 | 1984 | 1 | 1 | ||
Kingdom of Scotland | 1967 | 1968 | 10 | 0 | ||
Kingdom of Scotland | |
1977 | 1988 | 188 | 287 | |
Samoa | / |
2005 | 2011 | 73 | 107 | |
Kingdom of England | 1944 | 1946 | 54 | 14 | ||
West Germany | 1973 | 1973 | 6 | 0 | ||
Kingdom of England | |
1987 | 1993 | 73 | 9 | |
Republic of Ireland | 2008 | 2011 | 34 | 6 | ||
Lebanon | 1986 | 1997 | 190 | 83 | ||
Kingdom of England | |
1987 | 1994 | 116 | 14 | |
Ireland Ireland Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth... |
1897 | 1904 | 107 | 25 | ||
New Zealand | 1912 | 1919 | 113 | 49 | ||
New Zealand | 2011 | 2011 | 15 | 1 | ||
Ukraine Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia... |
|
1987 | 1995 | 142 | 37 | |
Germany | 1973 | 1975 | 67 | 3 | ||
Switzerland | |
1898 | 1904 | 113 | 49 | |
Austria | |
1967 | 1981 | 279 | 444 | |
New Zealand | |
1978 | 1988 | 123 | 36 | |
Republic of Ireland | 2001 | 2011 | 197 | 30 | ||
Netherlands | |
1979 | 1984 | 93 | 20 | |
Early Modern France | 1934 | 1945 | 171 | 77 | ||
South Africa | 1988 | 1998 | 146 | 30 | ||
Kingdom of Scotland | 1932 | 1933 | 16 | 11 | ||
Kingdom of England | 1932 | 1932 | 12 | 17 | ||
Natal Colony of Natal The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on May 4, 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa, as one of its... |
|
1914 | 1924 | 12 | 17 | |
Republic of Ireland | |
1962 | 1975 | 216 | 149 | |
Kingdom of England | 1901 | 1903 | 27 | 1 | ||
Sweden | |
1998 | 2008 | 131 | 23 | |
New Zealand | 1997 | 2002 | 6 | 0 | ||
Wales | |
1986 | 1996 | 163 | 178 | |
New Zealand | 1939 | 1950 | 92 | 2 | ||
Kingdom of Scotland | 1951 | 1952 | 8 | 0 | ||
Northern Ireland | 1990 | 1990 | 3 | 0 | ||
Kingdom of Scotland | 1897 | 1897 | 5 | 2 | ||
Papua New Guinea | |
1997 | 2008 | 238 | 33 | |
Fiji Colonial Fiji The United Kingdom declined its first opportunity to annex Fiji in 1852. Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau had offered to cede the islands, subject to being allowed to retain his Tui Viti title, a condition unacceptable to both the British and to many of his fellow chiefs, who regarded him only as first... |
1897 | 1899 | 30 | 34 | ||
Kingdom of England | |
2006 | 2011 | 21 | 8 | |
South Africa | |
1984 | 1991 | 27 | 2 | |
Kingdom of England | 1971 | 1972 | 24 | 25 | ||
Kingdom of England | 1964 | 1975 | 210 | 75 | ||
Kingdom of England | 1987 | 1990 | 37 | 3 | ||
Brazil | 2005 | 2011 | 133 | 15 | ||
New Zealand | 1925 | 1934 | 142 | 120 | ||
Northern Ireland | 2010 | 2011 | 4 | 0 | ||
Kingdom of England | 1940 | 1949 | 148 | 0 | ||
Rhodesia | 1998 | 2007 | 115 | 133 | ||
India British Raj British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion... |
1923 | 1924 | 22 | 7 | ||
United States | 1989 | 1996 | 132 | 97 | ||
Canada | 2009 | 2011 | 28 | 5 | ||
Republic of Ireland | 2009 | 2011 | 8 | 2 | ||
New Zealand | 2008 | 2011 | 52 | 9 | ||
Kingdom of England | 1898 | 1900 | 14 | 1 | ||
Fiji | |
2002 | 2011 | 166 | 127 | |
Chile | / |
1988 | 2001 | 211 | 169 | |
Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
|
1966 | 1974 | 117 | 209 | |
New Zealand | 2009 | 2011 | 20 | 16 | ||
Kingdom of England | |
1967 | 1979 | 212 | 44 | |
New Zealand | |
1988 | 2002 | 282 | 154 | |
New Zealand | 1930 | 1945 | 180 | 97 | ||
Singapore | |
1986 | 1990 | 25 | 10 | |
Papua New Guinea Territory of Papua and New Guinea The Territory of Papua and New Guinea was established by an administrative union between the Australian-administered territories of Papua and New Guinea in 1949... |
|
1991 | 1996 | 43 | 33 | |
Republic of Ireland | 1992 | 1992 | 2 | 0 | ||
Republic of Ireland | 1987 | 1998 | 264 | 130 | ||
Kingdom of Scotland | 1997 | 1997 | 4 | 1 | ||
Germany | 1947 | 1947 | 6 | 2 | ||
Kingdom of England | 2005 | 2011 | 77 | 0 | ||
Republic of Ireland | 2010 | 2011 | 11 | 3 | ||
Czechoslovakia | 1959 | 1966 | 132 | 45 | ||
Kingdom of England | 1996 | 2004 | 106 | 178 | ||
Kingdom of England | |
2004 | 2007 | 6 | 3 | |
United States | 1989 | 1994 | 43 | 7 | ||
Kingdom of Scotland | 1985 | 1995 | 150 | 63 | ||
New Zealand | 1928 | 1928 | 5 | 0 |
See also
- List of VFL/AFL players by ethnicity
- Australian rules football around the worldAustralian rules football around the worldAustralian Rules football is a sport played in various countries around the world. In 2006, about 16,000 people played in structured competitions outside of Australia and at least 20 leagues that are recognised by the game's governing body, exist outside Australia. This figure had grown to a...