American football in the Netherlands

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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 Koningferander 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.