Tokyo Goannas
The Tokyo Goannas Football Club was formed in 1991 and is the strongest and best known Australian sporting team in Japan. The Goannas are the premier team in the Japan AFL (JAFL) Competition – having won the Championship trophy a record ten times "(7 times in the Japan AFL Top League format)". The Tokyo Goannas F.C. is a non-profit organization created to advance Australian Football and Australian sporting culture in Japan. The Tokyo Goannas are continually contributing to the expansion of AFL in Japan and this is reflected in the JAFL’s Top League making considerable steps towards a consolidated and sustainable national competition for 2010 and beyond.
Football in Japan
Aside from the national cup, the Emperor's Cup established in 1921, there had been several attempts at creating a senior-level national championship. The first was the All Japan Works Football Championship (AJWFC), established in 1948 and open only to company teams. The second was the All Japan Inter-City Football Championship (AJICFC), established in 1955 and separating clubs by cities (any club, works, university or autonomous, could represent their home city and qualify) but the Emperor's Cup remained dominated by universities until the late 1950s. All these tournaments were cups following single-elimination formulas, similar to Serie A in Italy before 1929.