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 and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. 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 or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

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

NOC*NSF The Dutch Olympic Committee*Dutch Sports Federation, () generally abbreviated NOC*NSF, is the overall coordinating Dutch sports organisation that also functions as the Dutch National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee. NOC*NSF, ...

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

European Federation of American Football IFAF Europe was 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 begun in 1976 as the America ...

(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 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 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 Tulip Bowl) are the official national champions of the Netherlands.

Premier League

In 2024, the AFBN Premier League (Eredivisie) has 5 teams: *

Amsterdam Crusaders The Amsterdam Crusaders are an American football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands founded in 1984. Together with the Rotterdam Trojans and Alphen Eagles, the Amsterdam Crusaders are the oldest surviving Dutch American Football club. Beginnings ...

* Lightning Leiden * Maastricht Wildcats * Utrecht Dominators * Groningen Giants

First Division

In 2024, the AFBN First Division has 7 teams, and a combination team made up of members from multiple of those teams. *

Arnhem Falcons Arnhem ( ; ; Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of the rivers Nederrijn and Sint-Jansb ...

* Alphen Eagles * Den Haag Raiders * Eindhoven Raptors * Hilversum Hurricanes * West Frisian Outlaws * Enschede Broncos * Nijmegen Pirates

Combination teams

*Gladiators (Broncos + 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