The Fire Sharks of Montpellier are a French Australian Rules Football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

 club based in Montpellier

Montpellier

-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....

. They're the 7th Australian football club in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, after the Tasmania Montivilliers, Paris Cockerels

Paris Cockerels

The Paris Cockerels are the oldest French Australian football club still in activity. Created by a community of Australians living in Paris, it is composed from 50/50 French and Australian players...

, Strasbourg Kangourous, Senlis Razorbacks, Saint-Estève Saints and the Bordeaux Bombers

Bordeaux Bombers

The Bordeaux Bombers are an Australian Football club based in Bordeaux, France. It is the 6th club in France to play Australian Rules Football, after the Tasmania Montivilliers, Paris Cockerels, Strasbourg Kangaroos, Senlis Razorbacks and Saint-Estève Saints....

. The Fire Sharks are the 4th oldest active club from the Mediterranean Coast in France, seeing that the clubs of Montivilliers, Senlis and Saint-Estève have all since folded.

History

The Australian football club of Montpellier was founded in April 2008 by Benjamin Hamon, 2 months after he had discovered the sport on the Internet. The primary goal of the club is very ambitious : to take part in the first Coupe de France of Australian football, which took place at the end of June, 2008 in Paris. However, the very young President (18 years old at the time) succeeded in assembling a team and thus confirming the presence of the Montpellier Fire Sharks at the first French Championship in history.

The first Coupe de France was played between the Paris Cockerels

Paris Cockerels

The Paris Cockerels are the oldest French Australian football club still in activity. Created by a community of Australians living in Paris, it is composed from 50/50 French and Australian players...

, Strasbourg Kangaroos

Strasbourg Kangaroos

The Strasbourg Kangaroos are a French Australian Football Club based in the north of France in Strasbourg. They are touted as being the biggest Aussie Rules club in France and have appeared in the French Championship twice....

, Bordeaux Bombers

Bordeaux Bombers

The Bordeaux Bombers are an Australian Football club based in Bordeaux, France. It is the 6th club in France to play Australian Rules Football, after the Tasmania Montivilliers, Paris Cockerels, Strasbourg Kangaroos, Senlis Razorbacks and Saint-Estève Saints....

 and the Montpellier Fire Sharks at stadium Polygon, in the woods of Vincennes

Vincennes

Vincennes is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe.-History:...

, Paris. The opening match was between Bordeaux

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...

 and Montpellier

Montpellier

-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....

, and showcased the first match of the French championship. Montpellier lost the game 67 to 13. The team found the following matches difficult against Strasbourg (77 to 18) and against Paris (70 to 8). However, this first run proved to be a valuable test and was very encouraging for their continuation.