Go Left

Go Right

Netherlands

American Football was introduced into The Netherlands in the start of the 1980s and the first official Game was played in 1983 in the Amsterdam Region.  In 1984 the first Federation was founded and named the Netherlands American Football Federation (NAFF).


The sport was growing very fast, but one of the problems was facilities, so the sport could not keep up with the growth.  At the end of the 80s, NAFF had about 2,000 members playing in 30 clubs.  On a Pro level in 1995, the World League, later rebranded NFL Europe and NFL Europa, placed a team in Amsterdam, the Amsterdam Admirals, and they won World Bowl XIII in 2006 at the LTU Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany.

In 1998 some clubs teams decided to step out of the NAFF organization and went on their own, by organizing competitions under the name American Football League Netherlands (AFLN).  By the end of 2001 there were 1,342 members spread over NAFF and AFLN.

In The Netherlands, the National Olympia Committee (NOC) and National Sports Federation (NSF) merged under the name NOC*NSF and received funding from LOTTO, which is run by the country’s government.  NOC*NSF took action in 2001 and both federations came together from January 1, 2002, to form the organization that is now responsible for American Football in the Netherlands.

Since 2002 most of the effort to grow the sport was done through Youth Football, particularly Flag Football and Youth Tackle from under-15 up to under-18.  This resulted in promising national teams under the names Dutch Junior Lions and flag programs that won several European Championships from 2002 to 2008.

In 2008 the Dutch Junior Lions Flag U-13 and the Dutch Junior Lions Flag U-15 became European Champions at Bondouffle in France after also both teams had also won the European Championships in 2006 at the games in England.

The Netherlands currently has 21 active clubs and a study at the end of 2008 showed that AFBN boasts 1,638 members: 

- Club board/Medic/Ref/Coach, 235 members 

- Youth players in Flag and Tackle, 606 members 

- Senior players in Tackle Football , 797 members

- In Senior competitions 2008: 5 Senior Flag teams, 16 Senior Tackle teams in 2 Divisions 

- In Junior Competitions 2008, 16 Junior Tackle Teams and 23 Junior Flag Teams.

In July every year the Netherlands hosts its National Championship game the Tulip Bowl, which was won by the Amsterdam Crusaders in 2008.

In March 2009 AFBN Members elected Mr. Roy Smith as their Chairman and the AFBN Board predicts a bright future in The Netherlands for American Football.

Federation: American Football Bond Nederland (AFBN)

Address:
AFBN
Postbus 6713
3002 AS Rotterdam
The Netherlands

Website:           www.afbn.org

Quick Facts

  • There are 1,180 windmills in the Netherlands
  • The KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines, is the longest running national airline in the world, having been founded in 1919
  • Keukenhof Park is the largest flower garden in the world

Contacts