In September 2003, (a week before AFL Grand Final) Baguley organised a scratch match for whoever turned up. The turn out was better than expected, when 36 males arrived to play and two umpires. Due to lack of land in Beijing, the match was played on a Rugby pitch, with 12 a side.
Since this first match, the Beijing Bombers have mainly been involved in scratch matches against each other and had up to 50 participants in total. Recently the Bombers sent a team to compete against the China-Shanghai Blues in early November. The result didn’t go the Bombers’ way – they were defeated by 19-points
The Beijing Bombers’ team comprised mainly of Australian expatriates and also Americans, Canadians and Brits. The team is looking to get some locals involved this year.
Although it is winter now, and below freezing most of the time, numbers for this year are looking very strong. The Bombers have commitment from up to 60-80 people wanting to participate in 2004. The team has established a committee and also has secured a major sponsor.
The Beijing Bombers will re-commence playing when the weather warms up in March and play through to November, with a break for summer in July-August.
In that time they have planned four matches against Shanghai, (two in each city), two matches against Hong Kong (one in each city) and matches against some Japanese teams, maybe Malaysia and any other team willing to travel to Beijing.
