A promotional match was played in March 2006 between English club Reading Kangaroos and a French national side in front of between 500 and 700 spectators in Perpignan, including a sizeable media presence. Owing to the long distances between clubs, there was no national league as such prior to the inaugural 2009 season. Strasbourg competed in the Australian Football League Germany for 2006, with the Saint Esteve Saints considering joining the Catalan AFL for their 2007 season before going into recess. The first French Cup was held in Paris in 2008, with Paris, Strasbourg, Montpellier and Bordeaux taking part. Further expansion saw the first French National Championship held in 2009 formed by the same 4 teams, and continued growth with the introduction of the Perpignan Tigers and Andorra Crows to the league in 2009/2010 alongside a change to the winter season format with the season generally lasting from October to June with a winter break over Christmas that continues today. Montpellier fell out of the league after the 2009/2010 season and were replaced by the Marseille Dockers. In order to reduce travelling costs and challenges, the league was split into a North and South division and for the first time a final series was held to determine the league champion. With an aim to increasing the competitiveness of the competition the league format was changed again for the 2011/2012 season with the introduction of a developmental league and a super league. The development league contained Perpignan alongside Montpellier and the re-branded Aix-Marseille Dockers, whilst the Paris Cockerels, Bordeaux Bombers, Toulouse Hawks and Strasbourg Kangaroos competed in the super league. Perpignan left the development league the following season (2012/2013), replaced by the newly formed Cergy-Pontoise Coyotes. A period of structural change occurred in advance of the 2013/2014 season. Due to lack of numbers the Perpignan Tigers and Aix-Marseille Dockers left the league however the first team from Lyon, the ALFA Lions, were created and entered the league. The league also returned to its original format, with all teams competing against each-other in one league, a structure that continues today. Currently, the league is experiencing strong growth and can lay claims to being one of the largest competitions in mainland Europe. Growth and participation are strongly focused on local players, given there are few Australian expatriates playing in the league outside of the Paris-based teams. Strong local participation has seen the introduction