Sydney University Australian National Football Club (SUANFC) is one of New South Wales’s oldest and largest Australian Rules Football clubs. Based on Sydney University’s Camperdown campus, the club proudly offers players of all abilities the opportunity to play AFL in Sydney’s Inner West. SUANFC fields teams across all levels (from amateur to semi-professional) and is highly active in the development and mentoring of local area youth groups and wider community engagement. In 2021, the club fielded 13 teams in the AFL Sydney Competition:

Men’s Premier Division

Men’s Premier Division Reserves

Men’s Division 1

Men’s Division 2

2 x Men’s Division 3

Under 19’s Division 1

Under 19’s Division 2

Masters

Women’s Premier Division

Women’s Division 1

Women’s Division 4

SUANFC is committed to fostering an inclusive community highly values. We are proud of our members, past and present, who contribute to this strong sense community and are committed to providing an environment that makes people from all walks of life feel welcome. The club often becomes a ‘home away from home’ for many interstate players coming to Sydney to study or for work. The club welcomes enquiries from all potential players, supporters, volunteers or sponsors.

Our partnership with Sydney University Sport & Fitness (SUSF) allows our club to provide young people the opportunity to develop as sportsmen and women within a world class high performance sporting environment and at the same time study with the support of elite athlete scholarships. SUSF has over 400 student athletes on sports scholarships, many made possible with the support of corporate and philanthropic partners. Although based at Sydney University, our club welcomes community members to play at all levels through the club, as we understand that we have a responsibility to grow and develop the game of AFL in our own backyard.

2020 marked a historic year for SUANFC with the merging of the Sydney Uni Womens AFL club and SUANFC. For the first time in its history, the club fielded both Mens and Womens teams in the 2020 Sydney AFL Season. The merging of the two clubs is an exciting step forward for SUANFC, and the club is excited to continue to promote female participation in sport, particularly AFL. Both men’s and women’s sides of the club have storied histories prior to the merger.

Established in 1887, SUANFC has enjoyed a great deal of success on and off the field. The club is proud to have fielded a team in the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL) from 2012 up until 2019. Until it’s cancellation in 2020, the NEAFL was a multi-state competition involving reserve grade sides from professional AFL clubs, providing players exposure to reserve sides from: Sydney Swans, Greater Western Sydney Giants, Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast Suns and teams from the AFL Canberra, AFL Queensland and the Northern Territory. As AFL NSW’s only NEAFL team (outside of professional clubs- the Swans and Giants) since 2015, SUANFC was NSW’s key vehicle for mature age draftees into the AFL, and SUANFC intends to explore every option to continue to provide this pathway. SUANFC consolidated its position as one of the premier teams in the NEAFL competition, reaching the finals series for five consecutive years.

Sydney University was one of the founding clubs of the Sydney Women Australian Football League in 2000. Since the inaugural year Sydney University has experienced great success on the field, winning the premiership in 2001, 2007, 2013 and 2014 and making to the grand final on several other occasions.

The full results of the board election held at the 2021 Annual General Meeting are as follows:

President: Jim Beard

Chairperson: Sam Power

Secretary: Singha Lane

Treasurer: Andrew Holmes

Vice President Women’s Football: Megan Asquith

Vice President Men’s Football: Jon Dyster

Vice President Commercial: Erin Doyle

Vice President University: Jason McLennan

General Board Member: Ben Fitzpatrick

General Board Member: Abbey Hindle

General Board Member: Sophie Clarke

General Board Member: Holly Kovac

General Board Member: Evangeline Douglas

General Board Member: Tim Spehr

General Board Member: Peter Hastings

General Board Member: Roger Down

General Board Member: Oscar Gibbins

General Board Member: Michael Murray

General Board Member: James Mason

General Board Member: Gabriel Orr

SUANFC congratulates all those who have been appointed and re-appointed to the board. A particular congratulations to new President Jim Beard, and thank you to outgoing President and new Chairperson, Sam Power. We are extremely excited to see what the club can achieve as we head into 2022 and beyond.