The Maastricht Wildcats (formerly called the Limburg Wildcats) of the AFBN (

American Football Bond Nederland The American Football Bond Nederland (AFBN) is the governing body for American Football in the Netherlands. The AFBN was founded 1984 and refounded in 2001 after the merger of the rival leagues Nederlandse American Football Federatie (NAFF) and A ...

) are an

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 ...

League team from

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

. They play in the

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 ...

1st division and are rivals to the

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 ...

. They won the 2007 Dutch National Championship by defeating the

25–16 in 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 participan ...

. In 2004, the Wildcats, coached by Mel Crandall, won the 3rd Division Championship and advanced to the 2nd division. Then, in the 2005 season, they won the 2nd division championship and advanced to the 1st division. In 2007, their player/Head Coach was Jon Horton, formerly of the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

. Many of the current and past players of the Maastricht Wildcats are U.S. Military members, former American high school and collegiate players now stationed in the neighboring areas, and former

German Football League The German Football League (GFL) is a professional American football league in Germany. The league was formed in 1979. In 1999, the league changed to its current name from American-Football-Bundesliga.

players. The Maastricht Wildcats won the Dutch National Championships on October 28, 2007, by defeating the Amsterdam Crusaders, who had won the national title five times in a row, with a score of 25–16. However, on July 13, 2008, the

exacted revenge and regained the

with a score of 20–8. Despite posting a 9–1 regular season record and losing only to

, Maastricht's 2009 season fell flat as they were shocked 10–7 in the semi-final game by

Lightning Leiden Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

. Another strong regular season in 2010 saw the Wildcats post an 8–2 record, losing only to

and Alphen Eagles. This time, Maastricht took care of business in the playoff game, dismissing the Amsterdam Panthers 44–20. Despite coming back strongly in the

, the Wildcats were not quite able to overturn a 22-point first-half deficit, eventually losing the championship game 28–22 to rivals the

External links

* {{Maastricht American football teams in the Netherlands Sport in Maastricht