Head coach Reyhan Agoaglu Date founded 1987 Colors Orange, Blue, White | Team manager Claudio Bartolozzi Region Europe | |
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Association American Football Bond Nederland | ||
The Dutch Lions is the Dutch national American Football team. The team represents the Netherlands in international competition and is made up entirely of Dutch national players, typically but not exclusively playing in the AFBN and GFL competitions.
History
The Lions first competed internationally in 1986. After failing to progress further than the first qualification round in 1987 (in Finland) and 1989 (in Germany), they achieved a 3rd-place finish in the 1991 European Championship in Finland. However, after failing to qualify for the tournament in 1993, combined with upheaval at home within the Dutch governing bodies, the Dutch National Team was to face a long absence from international competition.
Nine years after their previous incarnation, the Dutch returned to the international American Football scene in 2002 under the name Dutch Lions, finishing 5th in the 2003 EFAF C Group European Championship in Denmark after losses to Russia and Italy. Two more losses, this time to Switzerland and Norway in the 2007 EFAF C Group European Championship, led to another 5th place. Five years later, the Lions improved on those results by finishing 3rd in the 2012 EFAF C Group Championship, this time in Austria, with a close loss to Serbia and a win over Russia.
In 2013 and 2014, the Lions played a series of practice games against Poland, Belgium, Czech Republic and Catalonia, losing only the game against Czech Republic in Prague.
As of late 2014, the Netherlands are preparing for the next EFAF C Group European Championship tournament to be held in 2015. The Dutch Lions have never qualified for the IFAF World Championship.