American football in the Netherlands has been on the map both nationally and internationally since the 1980s. However, it took almost 40 years before the first

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 wi ...

game played in the

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was followed up. In 1946 two American University teams played an exhibition game in the

Olympic Stadium (Amsterdam) The Olympic Stadium (Dutch: ''Olympisch Stadion'', ) is a sporting venue which was used as the main stadium for the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. The venue is currently used mostly for athletics, other sports events and concerts. When co ...

. Not until 1980 did the following step appear, when René Koningsferander issued a request on the TV sports programme 'Sprekershoek' for people who were interested in the sport. Koningferander had been introduced to the sport by his gymnastics teacher Guus Annokkee who would go on to be the founder and inaugural chairman of the NAFF (Nederlandse American Football Federatie). Koningferander's TV plea instigated the founding of the Netherlands' first domestic club: the Amsterdam Rams.

History

1981–1984: Growth of interest

The first game played by an American football team from the Netherlands was on

Easter Sunday Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the ''Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel P ...

in 1981 when the Amsterdam Rams faced the Herne Tigers from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. A lack of any Dutch opponents forced the Rams to compete in the German Oberliga in the 1983 and 1984 season. This successful German adventure led the Rams to a 1984 victory in the Oberliga West Division. Meanwhile, initiatives were springing up all over the Netherlands via exhibition games and the broadcasting of college football by the fledgling SkyChannel. From these flames a number of Dutch clubs emerged including The Hague Raiders,

Delft Dragons Delft Dragons are an American football team based in Delft, Netherlands. History *Foundations Sometime in 1981 the Chairman of the Amsterdam Rams (the only Dutch American Football team at the time), Rene Koningferander, appeared in the TV prog ...

, Rotterdam Trojans, Zwolle Bulldogs,

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 ...

and

Utrecht Vikings 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 Nethe ...

. Toward the end of 1984 a number of players from the Amsterdam Rams broke off to form a second team from the nation's capital city: the

Amsterdam Crusaders The Amsterdam Crusaders are an American Football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands. Together with the Rotterdam Trojans and Alphen Eagles, Amsterdam Crusaders are the oldest surviving Dutch American Football club. Beginnings The Crusaders start ...

. The Rams returned to the Netherlands and, along with the new teams, formed the Nederlandse American Football Federatie (NAFF).

1985–1989: Dutch competition

The first Dutch American Football season took place in 1985. Eight teams in a single division would compete against each other for a place in the Dutch championship game initially called the "Super Bowl". The first championship game saw the Amsterdam Rams face their former teammates the

. The Rams won the only Super Bowl - from 1986 the championship game was renamed 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 ...

. Many factors combined to produce explosive growth in this new sport which had been imported from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The number of teams grew from 8 in 1985 to around 40 by the end of the 1980s. In addition, the teams from larger cities were able to professionalise further by obtaining large sponsors, attracted by the freshness of the sport and the considerable media attention both in the TV and press, which enabled them to hire American players and coaches. In 1986 the Netherlands organised

Eurobowl The Eurobowl was the championship final game of a tournament style playoff to determine the champion of all of the American football leagues in Europe. The tournament featured the top or champion clubs from each countries top league that was cal ...

I - the final of the European championship for national champions. The Amsterdam Rams achieved a respectable 3rd place in the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam, with the Finnish

Taft Vantaa Taft most commonly refers to William Howard Taft (1857–1930), 27th president of the United States. Taft may also refer to: People * Taft (surname), including a list of people with the name * Taft family, a political dynasty that includes Pr ...

claiming 1st place. 1987 saw the NAFF run a full Dutch competition with no less than 3 divisions. This season also saw the debut of Dutch officiating crews, supported by officials from the US airbase in

Soesterberg Soesterberg is a town in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Soest, and lies about 5 km northeast of Zeist, on the road between Amersfoort and Utrecht. It was the location of Soesterberg Air Base History The ...

Early 1990s: Dutch Dynasty?

The early 1990s saw the growth of American Football in the Netherlands settle down. The obvious next step was to look to the future. Youth teams and a youth competition were formed, and flag teams for the youngest participants. The top division of senior competition saw an enormous increase of quality, aided by the import of US players and coaches. By this time the Dutch competition was considered one of the strongest in the whole of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. In 1993, two Dutch teams made it to the semi-finals of the Eurobowl: The

and The Hague Raiders. The

(who had dominated the NAFF competition between 1987 and 1991) showed their class at European level by reaching 5

finals and winning the European championship in 1991 and 1992, sparking talk of a "Dutch dynasty". The Dutch National team, the Dutch Lions, won the bronze medal in the European Championships in Helsinki, Finland, in 1991. Head coach at the time was coach John Ralston.

Late 1990s: Challenging Times

The mid-nineties saw the growth of the sport stagnate in the Netherlands, bringing about the demise of several clubs. The novelty of the sport wore off and it was evident in the diminishing interest of sponsors. Television exposure was no longer to be taken for granted and the growth of the youth competition was suffering. Conversely the sport was undergoing a renaissance in the rest of Europe, with media interest and crowds growing. This situation forced the decision by the

to pull out of the Dutch competition and instead compete in the ill-fated

Football League of Europe The Football League of Europe (FLE) was a Europe American football league. It was founded in 1994, renamed 1995 in American Football League of Europe (AFLE) and dissolved after the 1995 season because of the ongoing financial problems. The trophy g ...

in 1994 and 1995 While the sport was struggling in the Netherlands, bigger thing were afoot for American Football on a global scale. 1991 saw the birth of the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally ...

(WLAF). This precursor to NFL Europa was a professional competition founded and funded by the US league: the NFL. The intentions of the WLAF were two-fold: to increase the popularity of the sport in Europe and to act as a feeder league to the NFL, testing out young players who were on the brink of breaking into the NFL. These developments had a large influence on Dutch American Football. By the end of the 1990s

as a sport in the Netherlands was in crisis. Only a third of teams had survived, no sponsors were involved in the sport, and the level had suffered as a result. At the same time, the

Amsterdam Admirals The Amsterdam Admirals were a professional American football team based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, playing in the NFL Europe. History The Admirals were formed in 1995 as part of the NFL's plan to restart the World League of American Football, to ...

of NFL Europa were pulling in crowds of 12,000 for home games - many of them spectators who ten years earlier would have been supporting the teams in the Dutch competitions.

References