American football in the Netherlands

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 game played in the Netherlands was followed up. In 1946 two American University teams played an exhibition game in the Olympic Stadium (Amsterdam). 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 doing something with American Football in the Netherlands.

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.

The first game played by a Dutch American Football team was on Easter Sunday in 1981 when the Amsterdam Rams faced the Herne Tigers from Germany. 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, Rotterdam Trojans, Zwolle Bulldogs, Alphen Eagles and Utrecht Vikings. 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 Rams returned to the Netherlands and, along with the new teams, formed the Nederlandse American Football Federatie (NAFF).

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 team-mates the Amsterdam Crusaders. The Rams won the only Super Bowl - from 1986 the championship game was renamed the Tulip Bowl.

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Wikipedia