The American Football Bond Nederland (AFBN) is the governing body for

American Football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The AFBN was founded 1984 and refounded in 2001 after the merger of the rival leagues Nederlandse American Football Federatie (NAFF) and American Football League Nederland (AFLN).

History

Nederlandse American Football Federatie (NAFF)

The Nederlandse American Football Federatie (NAFF) was initially founded on 4 November 1984 by a co-operation between Bob de Jong of the Dutch broadcasting organization Veronica, Peggy Kooper of The Hague Raiders, René Koningferander of the Amsterdam Rams and the governing body of

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

sport, the

Nederlandse Sport Federatie Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

(NSF). A year later, in 1985, the NAFF became a member of the

NOC*NSF The Dutch Olympic Committee*Dutch Sports Federation, ( nl, Nederlands Olympisch Comité*Nederlandse Sport Federatie) generally abbreviated NOC*NSF, is the overall coordinating Dutch sports organization that also functions as the Dutch National Ol ...

. The NAFF also became a member of the European Football League (EFL), later known as

European Federation of American Football IFAF Europe is the governing body of American football in Europe. It is a member of the International Federation of American Football. IFAF Europe replaced the European Federation of American Football (EFAF) which had began in 1976 as the American ...

(EFAF). In 1985 the first Dutch American football league competition took place. The 8 teams in the top (and in those days the only) division, would compete against each other for a place in the final of the Dutch American Football championship. The final, called the Super Bowl for one year only, was renamed to the

Tulip Bowl The Tulip Bowl is the final match in the season of the AFBN Division One, the top division of the American Football Bond Nederland (AFBN). The AFBN is the organisation responsible for American football in the Netherlands. The Tulip Bowl participa ...

in 1986 and has remained so to this day. On 1 May 1986 another organization was formed: the American Football Officials Nederland (AFON). This body was to function as an independent, neutral organization whose main tasks were to recruit, train and deliver officials for AFBN games. Initially, US servicemen based in the Netherlands were recruited to officiate games and train others to become officials.

American Football League Nederland (AFLN)

In 1997, four teams from the NAFF broke away and formed their own organization and league under the name American Football League Nederland (AFLN). The AFLN ran from 1998 until the creation of the AFBN in 2001, with the

Rotterdam Trojans The 010 Trojans (formerly known as Rotterdam Trojans are an American football team based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Founded in 1984, the Trojans are the second oldest surviving team in the Netherlands, behind the Amsterdam Crusaders. Upon fou ...

winning the first AFLN championship.

American Football Bond Nederland (AFBN)

After 1998, the sport began to grow again with more teams springing up in the Netherlands. In 2001 the NAFF and AFLN organizations agreed to merge under the name American Football Bond Nederland (AFBN). This made it possible to organize different levels of play and three divisions were created. In 2005 this was reduced to the current format of two divisions with a third developmental tier. The winners of the Premier League (Eredivisie) championship (the

) are the official national champions of the Netherlands.

Premier League

In 2021, the AFBN Premier League (Eredivisie) has eight teams split into two pools:

First Division

In 2021, the AFBN First Division has 10 teams, and 2 combination teams made up of members from multiple of those teams. *

Alphen Eagles Alphen may refer to: Places Netherlands *Alphen, Gelderland, a village in the municipality West Maas en Waal (province of Gelderland) *Alphen, North Brabant, a village in the municipality Alphen-Chaam (province of North Brabant) * Alphen, South Ho ...

Eindhoven Raptors Eindhoven () is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 ...

Den Haag Raiders Den may refer to: * Den (room), a small room in a house * Maternity den, a lair where an animal gives birth Media and entertainment * ''Den'' (album), 2012, by Kreidler * Den (''Battle Angel Alita''), a character in the ''Battle Angel Alita' ...

Spijkenisse Scouts Spijkenisse () is a city in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. Following an administrative reform in 2015, it is part of the municipality of Nissewaard, and has a population of 72,500. It covers an area of of which is water. It is part ...

Maastricht Wildcats The Maastricht Wildcats (formerly called the Limburg Wildcats) of the AFBN (American Football Bond Nederland) are an American Football League team from Maastricht. They play in the Dutch 1st division and are rivals to the Amsterdam Crusaders. They ...

Nijmegen Pirates Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about ...

Tilburg Wolves Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

Utrecht Dominators Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Neth ...

Leiden Lightning Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration with ...

West Frisian Outlawz West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

Combination teams

*Krakens (Raptors + Wolves + Scouts) *Parrots (Eagles + Pirates)

References

External links

Official website of the AFBN (in Dutch)AFBN Premier League Statistics
returns a blank page as of 2021-09-19)
AFBN scores and standingsAFON (in Dutch)Amersfoort Untouchables
{{International American football American football in the Netherlands Sports governing bodies in the Netherlands 2001 establishments in the Netherlands Sports organizations established in 2001