WHEN Prime Minister Alfred Deakin referred to the “Australasian game of football” in a 1908 speech at the Melbourne Carnival, he could not have imagined that an event involving six Australian states and New Zealand would grow into a global game encompassing leagues in more than 20 countries.

Australian Football had crossed the Tasman but nearly 100 years would pass before its popularity would lead to the establishment of 13 governing bodies throughout Asia, Europe, the Americas, Africa and Oceania.

Players from around the world have converged to showcase their talents for more than a decade, with the first international competition attracting Asia Pacific nations at the 1995 Arafura Games in Darwin.

The meet prompted the formation of the International Australian Football Council, which in turn conceived the idea for the International Cup.

Originally known as the World Cup of Australian Football, the event was scheduled to commence in 2008 to mark the 150^th anniversary of the game. When the IAFC sought the support of the AFL to bring the inaugural event forward to 2002, it was renamed the International Cup and the AFL became the governing body.

Eleven nations competed in that first carnival in Melbourne, with Ireland taking the flag after beating Papua New Guinea in the Grand Final at the MCG.

Papua New Guinea was tipped as hot favourite over New Zealand in 2005, but again the cup was snatched during a tight grand final which came down to just 18 points.

The third International Cup hosted Papua New Guinea, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, India, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Nauru, Samoa, South Africa, Sweden, United States and an unprecedented Peres Peace Team combining Israeli and Palestinian players.

The Peace Team is just one example of the curious ways that International Cup contenders have been introduced to Australian football – from the formation of a team which forges unlikely friendships between players from warring nations, to the colourful arrival of AFL to Spain in 2002.

The impetus for establishing a local team in Madrid stemmed from a broadcast of the AFL Grand Final between Collingwood and the Brisbane Lions, when an Adelaide Crows supporter who had become a Lion for a day arrived decked out in full Lions’ kit – including boots. The lasting impression prompted the formation of the Madrid Bears, and inclusion of a Spanish team in the 2005 International Cup.

Regardless of the path taken to embrace Australian football, nations of the International Cup are united by their passion for the game.