An Australian Football Club in Budapest

It’s a mild Saturday in mid-May in Nysa, southern Poland. We’re nearly 550 km from our home ground in Budapest—a distance that’s become routine for footy here. As the umpire blows the whistle and the Sherrin is tossed up, the scene is instantly familiar yet unmistakably foreign for anyone who’s played footy back in Australia. The ruck contest is as fierce as any, but here, a quick clearance could mean chasing the ball down a riverbank if the kick goes astray. The field has only just recovered from a recent flood, still pockmarked with stones—a constant reminder to watch your footing, not just your opponent. Instructions to ease up on tackles are heeded, but every contest is still desperate. Around us, Hungarian, English, and Polish calls overlap in a chaotic blend of sound. This is Aussie rules in Central Europe, driven by pure passion far from home.

            There have been long-established Aussie Rules leagues across Europe, with countries such as Germany, France, and the United Kingdom having enough teams to support their own national competitions just to name a few. However, in Central Europe, AFL is in a much earlier stage of its development. My first experience with the Budapest Bats was before I started a gap year in Budapest, when I searched for AFL teams in Europe and was surprised to find that a team did in fact existed in the Hungarian capital.

            The Budapest Bats were founded in 2019 by Zoltan Marosy and two other Aussie expats. Zoltan, an Australian-Hungarian dual citizen, spent the first nine years of his life in Melbourne, playing local club footy. What started as just a few enthusiasts kicking the ball around was soon affected by Covid, causing these expats to return home, leaving then 14-year-old Zoltan in charge of the footy club. A public call-out for training by Zoltan was met with no attendees at his first session in charge of the club, this was to be a low point for the Bats. However, having had a taste of Footy in Hungary, Zoltan was determined to develop the club. Budapest itself experienced shorter lockdowns than other cities, which meant that once restrictions eased, it didn’t take long for new members to join. Regular Facebook posts in various expat groups helped draw in the first members, perhaps spurred on by the willingness to try a new sport post covid.

            The initial members being expats created a challenge in securing long-term players, as these expats would eventually leave due to visa expirations or changing work commitments. About 15 years ago, Australian Football was televised live on EuroSport, a Hungarian sports channel, but not since then. This lack of regular broadcasts limited Hungarians’ exposure to the sport through live matches, hindering awareness of Aussie Rules.

            Fortunately, Hungarians learned about the team through various means—some were dual citizens, others were curious about the sport or had visited Australia before. This led to the formation of a core group of permanent members. Initially training equipment was limited to two footballs and some training bibs. A grant from AFL Europe enabled the club to purchase cones, goal posts, more balls, and a bumping pad, paving the way for future development.

            Trainings take place at one of the parks on Margaret Island, located in the city centre- an oasis of greenery away from the busy streets. The island is situated in the middle of the mighty Danube River flowing through Budapest. The bridge linking Margaret Island between Buda and Pest offers spectacular views of two of Budapest’s most renowned landmarks: the Hungarian Parliament Building and Buda Castle. Every week, since I started training there, it has been the beginning of my walk from the tram stop to one of the parks on the island.  Makeshift cones mark the training area, and while it can some days be challenging to train without fear of a wayward ball landing on someone’s picnic, the atmosphere- both during training and among those enjoying the summer warmth in this beautiful setting- is unmatched.

            Games are usually played with 9 players on the field at any one time. There aren’t quite enough players here yet to field full teams of 18. Official AFL rules are followed but adjusted for the smaller numbers. For example, the six-six-six rule with starting positions is modified to three-three-three. Umpires are either trained by AFL Europe or are volunteers from one of the non-playing teams present on match day.

            To understand what all this means in practice, let’s return to that May afternoon in Nysa. We arrived the day before, feasting on Poland’s national treasure, pierogi. On game day, the whistle blows and the ball is tossed up. Benji wins the ruck tap, directing it to Zoltan, who bursts forward. I’m locked in a contest with Anthony—a greying but fit local pushing fifty—each of us jostling for position as the Sherrin skids across the stone-strewn ground. Every disposal comes with an extra layer of risk; a wayward kick could see the ball hurtling into the river, swept away by the current, as costly as a turnover in the defensive fifty.

            I charge after the ball and manage to gather it, but almost instantly feel the crunch of a tackle from my side. The ball pops free, scooped up by a Nysa player who quickly rebounds it back into the centre. Benji seizes the loose ball and, throwing it onto his boot, launches a monster kick towards our goals. It lands short but bounces through, putting the Bats on the scoreboard with our first major. The team swarms Benji in celebration before we reset into our three-three-three formation.

            This is not just a match; it’s an improvisation, a celebration, and a reminder of how far footy has migrated—and how at home it can make me feel, even 17,000 kilometres from Melbourne.

           

Some teams, such as Nysa, have purpose-built AFL grounds complete with permanent goal and behind posts. These grounds aren’t immune to challenges; a recent flood from the nearby river caused Nysa’s footy oval to be submerged until the water receded. The aftermath left the normally flat pitch needing to be painstakingly levelled, and despite the club’s best efforts, stray stones still pockmark the surface. In most other cases, rugby or soccer pitches are used for competitive matches. Rugby is more favourable due to the existing tall goal posts, but rugby pitches can often be uneven because of the sport’s contact nature. Soccer pitches are less likely to be uneven, though ingenuity is needed when setting up the goal posts—often, additional poles are secured to the sides of the soccer goal to better replicate an AFL goal. In either case, collapsible behind posts are installed into the ground. The field is finished with cones to shape the rectangular area into an oval and to segment the field into each team’s forward arc and the centre square. Much like the AFL, there’s no rule requiring the pitch to be a specific size, so AFL in Europe maintains that bizarre aspect of the Australian rulebook.

            Training with the Bats, the most significant thing I discovered is that this is a team in development. The sessions are focused on improving essential skills – kicking, handballing, tackling. Unlike a Melbourne-based club, where most players joining the club would have a high degree of familiarity with the sport’s fundamental skills. Within this the Bat’s training environment is supportive and light-hearted. Others are quick to point out when someone does a nice handball or kick, and they’ll laugh and remind Gergő not to slam his teammates into the ground before starting a tackling drill. Game scenarios and practice matches provide opportunities to practice these skills, often with breaks to discuss how to handle similar situations in a competitive match in the best way. Often after training, especially in the warmer months, a cold drink at nearby Champs bar goes without saying.

            Starting a team where 90% of the players have never previously played Aussie Rules provides a fascinating insight. There are less than a handful of expats with previous club-level Aussie Rules experience. Some players have joined with backgrounds in Rugby or American Football and are working on transferring their existing skills to the game. However, most players in the team have picked up Aussie Rules as their first sport of this kind.

            Zoltan often points out a subtle but important difference that comes up when introducing Aussie rules to Hungarian recruits. In soccer, which most locals have played since childhood, players are used to kicking around their bodies—approaching the ball from an angle and curving it across their bodies to direct it. In contrast, Australian football demands that you kick straight through the ball in the direction you’re facing. New players instinctively fall back on their soccer habits, swinging their leg across their body, which can send the Sherrin off target or make it harder to execute effective disposals. Teaching newcomers to kick “the way you face” rather than curving the ball is one of the first technical hurdles in turning soccer players into Aussie rules footballers.

            It’s interesting to see adult men and women pick up a sport in their mid-20s or 30s. In comparison, back in Melbourne, while there are exceptions, most people learn to be part of an Aussie Rules team during childhood or early adolescence. This can create the impression that it’s too late to participate in Australian Football unless you played as a kid, and a fear of failure among peers who are already established in the sport wouldn’t be uncommon.

            The majority of Bats players being new to the sport demonstrates the power of how word of mouth spreads. Several early team members recruited their close friends from school or work to train, leading to a growing group of newcomers captivated by the sport’s uniqueness. Only by talking with these players about their origin stories does one understand how far they have come as Zoltan notes how rewarding it is to see the progress of players who joined several years ago how far their skills and development have grown into being genuinely competitive.

            Given the stage Australian Football is at in Hungary and more broadly in Central Europe, there aren’t enough teams to sustain a national league. As a result, the Bats compete as part of a larger Central European league known as the ‘Empire Cup’ against two teams in Austria (Vienna and Graz), Prague (Czech Republic), and Nysa (Poland). Recently, a second team in Budapest, the Kőbánya Crows, has formed. This means that away games often involve travelling hundreds of kilometres to opponent cities, making for day trips where the car ride is as much a part of the experience as the match itself. The bond between players showing when there’s rarely a moment when someone doesn’t have something to contribute to the conversation as we hurtle along the motorway at 130 kph.

            For further cities like Prague and Nysa, the matches often turn into a weekend away; a feed of local cuisine is essential, as is the afterparty. Influences from Australian sporting clubs make their way into immediate post-match activities, with a BBQ and the local equivalent of snags being a display of Australian Football culture mixed with European cuisine. From an Australian standpoint, traveling itself is one of the most unreal elements of playing Aussie Rules in Europe—who would have imagined traveling from Budapest to Prague for a game? Crossing four countries in one day highlights the proximity of nations in Europe, which would be hard to grasp in a sporting context back home.

            I’d never played Australian Football in my native Melbourne; however, some of the trade-offs of having a smaller team mean that the amount of running each player does is significantly higher than the already high level of running in Aussie rules. The ball is also rarely in congestion; ball ups do happen, but there is more often a situation where the ball will spill free or be collected by a player who can break free of the small pack around the Sherin and advance the ball forward.

            That said, the intensity with which those in the league play is still fervent, players are committed to winning and the hard running is seen as a necessity to win, not a necessary evil. Teams are physical, and there are many hard tacklers, but underlying that is the general understanding that beyond the football match, all players need the use of their bodies to pay rent. Post-match, players from both teams will stand around chatting about the game, and curiosity about how each person found their way into Aussie rules is ever present.

            Even after a year with the club, I’m continually amazed by the diversity on the field. You’ll spot a father lining up alongside his 18-year-old son, two high school mates still in their teens, and newcomers drawn from rugby, American football, and beyond. Among us are Hungarian twins who’ve never set foot in Australia but are obsessed with its culture, expats who followed partners to Budapest, and Europeans on working visas. Just to name a few. This mix of ages, backgrounds, and physical abilities creates an environment where anyone can belong—and it just works. Looking around at training, the notion that Aussie rules is exclusively for young, strong athletes is quickly dissolved. It’s a game for everyone willing to give it a go.

            Aussie Rules in Hungary isn’t just limited to the men’s competition; in recent years, a women’s team has formed, stemming from the growing interest of women who regularly attended Bats training sessions. The Bats have benefitted from Hungary’s participation in the Erasmus program, which brings university students from across Europe to spend a semester abroad.

            Chris Endrey, an established Bats member and coach of the women’s team, recalls how the team came together. The catalyst was Hannah Ryan, an Irish Erasmus student with connections to the Gaelic football community in Budapest. She persuaded many of her peers to try out Aussie Rules training, and before long, there were enough players to field a women’s team. A standout moment came when the Bats women came heartbreakingly close to defeating a strong Nysa team, conceding a goal in the dying seconds to lose by a narrow margin. Despite the loss, Chris takes immense pride in how every individual contributed to the team’s effort. He believes that the sense of accomplishment they achieved in such a short time mattered more than the victory itself.

            Unfortunately, due to the temporary nature of the Erasmus program, many players eventually returned to their home countries, making it difficult to consistently field a women’s team. Nevertheless, there are still women in Budapest who are discovering Aussie Rules as their first sport. With time and continued interest, Chris is hopeful that the women’s team will continue to grow and thrive in the future.

            One of the great things Footy builds in Australia is the sense of community around the club. This is no exception here in Budapest as well. Not long after joining the club, I found myself being invited to play social futsal with other teammates, or we’d catch up for a round of darts at one of Budapest’s famous ruin bars. And of course, during AFL finals watch parties are organised where those passionate enough to brave the 6am start for the grand final find themselves sitting around a projector at a local pub, shouting like they’re at the MCG themselves.

            Given the club is run mostly by volunteers, the post-competitive-match BBQ offers an opportunity to raise funds through the sale of food and drinks, and often club members, if they can, will donate items from home for a raffle. Prizes in the raffle can range all the way from a novelty bottle of Hungary’s iconic herbal liqueur Unicum to an old cricket bat. These turn into lively events, often with a charismatic MC drawing the raffle tickets and talking up the items with the sharp sales skills of a used car salesman mixed with the quick wit of a stand-up comedian. It’s in moments like these that the sense of community truly solidifies the reason why one goes to the effort of establishing such a sporting club here.

            The next frontier for Aussie rules in Budapest is advancing with the Hungarian National team. The national team was formed in March 2025 and played its first international friendly in May that year, hosting the Aussie rules teams from Croatia and Israel. Creating a national team made up entirely of Hungarians, along with two domestic teams, was a massive achievement for Aussie Rules in Hungary.

            While it will take time for the national team to develop and gel into a competitive unit, having the foundation in place acts as a springboard for the team to leap from. Zoltan’s next goal for the national team is to compete in the AFL Euro Cup held in Newcastle in July 2026. Securing full Hungarian team commitment for a week-long tournament off the European mainland will be challenging but hugely rewarding.

            Aussie Rules in central Europe is a growing league still in its early stages. The fact that anyone, regardless of ability, can join the team and give Australia’s most culturally distinct sport a go is a unique appeal for anyone in the region keen to try a new sport. The chance to travel abroad for matches offers an unmatched experience that wouldn’t be possible at this level back in Melbourne. As the team and league continue to expand across central Europe, their identity will likely evolve. However, for now, it can be said definitively that while their origins may be humble, the progress they’ve made is truly remarkable.