Compared to clubs in Australia, the Dees would seem to be a young club. Clubs back in Oz have run for over 100 years, and we aren't anywhere near that yet. But London is a different place and things change far more rapidly here. With two year visas the norm, the turnover at the club is significant, and if you can measure it as such, the Demons are in their sixth or seventh generation of players.

The regularity of the changing of the guard has created a richness in history which belies our shortage of years. Current clubmen don't know the players of just a few years back, nor how things were done then. We didn't always wear red and blue, our song was different at the start, and the Alex wasn't always our home.

This section of the site should help not only to store information about the club's past, but also to give those interested (or maybe just bored at work) some material to get a feel for the people and times which have built the club into its proud standing in British Aussie Rules.

It will hopefully also bring back some memories for those who have left now, and maybe prompt them to write in and help clear up the early years for us.

And that's obviously where it all began.

We are a founding member of the league. In 1989, John Jelley felt there was interest enough in Aussie Rules in London and collected names of interested parties at an exhibition match at The Oval.

Sean Angle and Craig Stephens, friends sharing a flat in Clapham South at the time, sourced the list of interested players in the Wandsworth area, and organised the first training session for the Wandsworth Demons on February 14th, 1990.

As the league was formed on the basis of promoting Australian Rules Football overseas, not just as a recreational outlet for itinerant travellers, the rules stipulated that 50% of the team had to be British. Teams were to consist of 22 players. The season would run through the summer, most importantly as grounds would not be available in the winter months when they are used for soccer and rugby.

The Dees won the first season as underdogs in the Grand Final, and the club has never looked back. Winning five flags in the first ten years was no mean feat, and despite a strong Australian contingent, it is perhaps the other half of the club which provided the basis for these victories.

With half the players in the squad being British, it was always going to be important to take the sport to the locals. Sean and Craig scoured the local rugby and soccer clubs to find Brits interested in playing Aussie Rules. Conveniently we provided an activity to help them keep fit in their summer break, and many took the challenge. Some were even converted, perhaps using their soccer or rugby as a means to keep fit in between BARFL seasons!

The rules have changed over the years, and notably the British stipulation was loosened to allow all European players the opportunity to compete for the spots. We have had Irish, Belgian, French, Italian, and Dutch players amongst our numbers.

The EEC players also outlive the 'short generation' effect, none more so than Micky Whiles who played over 100 matches from the Dees from the very start and not retiring until June 2003.

Unlike some of our opposition clubs, the Dees didn't have any star players in the earlier years. Harry Dunstall, brother of the very famous Jason, was part of our 1990 premiership side, and Glen Tanner played for us in 1995, again a premiership year, having played Collingwood reserves, shoulder reconstructions preventing a possible league career.

In the late 90s and into this decade, more senior players became common, with most clubs having players with WAFL, SANFL, or VFL experience. The Dees' first player with AFL experience was Andrew Bomford in 2003, who had played senior football with Essendon and Sydney, and was our B&F that year having helped us to our sixth flag.

By then the league had evolved into a larger and more organised outfit, with the clubs playing teams in two different divisions.

In 1998 Martin Tunley and Sam Percy devised the idea of starting a second team. Our strength in numbers was evident and the problems of fitting just 11 non-Europeans into the team each week was becoming a strain, and the Clapham Demons were born. The team had limited success and often played short due to a lack of European players, but the goal of giving more guys a game of football each week was achieved.

The West London Wildcats followed suit with the in 2000, and the year after that, Sam and a senior wildcat player had forged the rules for the London Conference, allowing for fewer European players to be required. North London, Wimbledon and the Gryphons were talked into attempting second sides as well.

The Demons and Wildcats fielded three teams for the 2001 season. The 'Stockwell Demons' however placed too much strain on our player lists, and the decision was taken to remove them at the midway point of the season.

The league also changed the requirements in the first division, now called the BARFL Premiership, to require nine European players on the field, up from the seven previously required. Benches were increased to six players as well.

In 2003 the club, like many of the others, grew into a multi-sports outfit. The Demonettes began playing netball, and a basketball team started as well. The netball club has grown into a reasonably self-sufficient outfit with its own committee.

The whole club is together for most events though, and would be nowhere without its sponsors. From the start there has always been a pub which served to give the Dees a home. The Windmill on the Common was the original venue, supporting the Dees until 1996. After that a move up the road was required and the Alexandra provided the perfect venue for a football team, with a large function area upstairs perfect for allowing perhaps rowdy footballers to enjoy their drinks without disturbing the general public.

The Wandsworth Demons are now a large sporting and social club with over 100 players in various sports, organising drinking occasions and trips throughout the year. It is a family away from home for many Australians each year, and certainly a place to meet new friends and get advice on anything to do with living in London and travelling in Europe. The club has brought together numerous couples many of whom are now married and have children. It is no wonder that so many Dees who have moved on still get in touch each year to offer encouragement.

- Sammy, with thanks to Tunnels and Schuey.