Australian rules football in Canada
Australian rules football in Canada (commonly known as "Aussie Rules" or simply "footy") is played in seven provinces - Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. The Ontario league, centred on Toronto is a nine-team league, including sides from cities as far afield as Guelph, Hamilton and Ottawa. In western Canada, there are clubs in Edmonton, Calgary and a six-team league in the Vancouver area. There is also a number of junior and women's clubs across Canada. The sport was first introduced in 1905 in Vancouver, and despite tours involving American and Australian sides in 1912 and 1913, the sport went into permanent recess prior to World War I as a result of Australia's refusal to recognise Canada as a playing nation. Three quarters of a decade later, the then VFL (now Australian Football League), having briefly gained then lost lucrative North American television broadcasts in the 1980s, attempted to rebuild its audience with a series of exhibition matches between 1987 and 1989. These matches generated significant interest and Canada retains the attendance record for the sport outside of Australia, 32,789 set in 1987 at B.C. Place, Vancouver. As a result of the interest generated