Amsterdam Crusaders
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Year founded: 1984 | |
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| City | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Other nicknames | Crusaders, Cru |
| Team colors | Red, White, and Black |
| Head Coach Seniors | Marcus Muler |
| Head Coach Youth | Robert von Gerhardt |
| Head Coach Flag | Robert von Gerhardt |
| Chairman | John Mahnen |
| League/Conference affiliations | |
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AFBN (2001–present)
NAFF (1984–2000)
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| Team history | |
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| Championships | |
| Tulip Bowl National Championships (13)
1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 |
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| Tulip Bowl Runners-up (5)
1985, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2007 |
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| Div.2 Championships (1)
1996 |
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| Div.2 Runners-up(0) | |
| AFLN National Championships (0) | |
| AFLN Runners-up (0) | |
| Benelux Championships (0) | |
| Benelux Runners-up(0) | |
| Eurobowl Championships (2)
1991, 1992 |
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| Eurobowl Runners-up(0)
1988, 1989, 1993 |
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| EFAF Cup Championships (0) | |
| EFAF Cup Runners-up(0) | |
| Home field | |
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The Amsterdam Crusaders are an American Football club from Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Together with the Rotterdam Trojans and Alphen Eagles, Amsterdam Crusaders are the oldest surviving Dutch American Football club.
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[edit] History
The Crusaders were founded on 6th September 1984, when several players of the former Amsterdam Rams decided it was time to have another team in Amsterdam. In the years that followed they grew into a team capable of playing at both national and international levels.
The 1980s saw frequent battles with fierce rivals Amsterdam Rams, The Hague Raiders and Utrecht Vikings for places in the Tulip Bowl and Eurobowl.
The Crusaders joined the European elite by reaching the Eurobowl final in 1988, only to lose against the Helsinki Roosters who ran a power wishbone attack. The following year, Amsterdam again reach the final, unfortunately losing a thriller 27-23 to the Legnano Frogs (Italy). In 1990 the "third Crusade" ended in Manchester (UK) when the Manchester Spartans defended three drives from the Crusaders in the 4th quarter to progress on their way to a European title.
Finally, the Crusaders managed to claim the big prize. In 1991 the Amsterdam Crusaders won Eurobowl V with a 21-20 win over Berlin Adler in Offenbach, with safety Najib Nakad blocking a Berlin Adler PAT to secure a hard-fought win. Later that year the Amsterdam Crusaders played a regular season game against San Francisco State University. A year later, Eurobowl VI was added to the "Cru" trophy cabinet with a 42-21 win over Torino Giaguari. Incredibly, 1993 saw the Crusaders reach their 5th Eurobowl final in six years, this time in the illustrious setting of the Heysel Stadium, Brussels. In a fantastic game, the London Olympians proved too strong for the Crusaders.
1994 saw the Amsterdam Crusaders leave the Dutch competition to join the Football League of Europe. Regular games against Finnish, English, German, Italian and Swedish teams made for a fascinating competition. However, this league lasted only two seasons before folding due to large costs.
The "Cru" returned to Dutch competition in 1996 and set about building up the club to include flag, youth and senior teams.
During the lifetime of the NFL Europe, the Amsterdam Crusaders provided the Amsterdam Admirals with the bulk of national players coming out of the Netherlands. Current coaches Marcus Muler and Robert von Gerhardt were employed by the Amsterdam Admirals as national coaches, and defensive co-ordinator Reyhan Agaoglu and defensive line coach Arnold Galesloot are former Admirals players. Amsterdam Crusader coaches have often been involved in the coaching staff of the Dutch Lions - the Netherlands' national team.
In recent years Amsterdam Crusaders have dominated the American Football Bond Nederland competition, having won 5 of the last 6 national titles. In 2006 they posted their first undefeated season in many years, but were made to fight for the ultimate crown by the Delft Dragons, who were only defeated in overtime - the only time this has occurred in the Tulip Bowl's history.
Remarkably, the Amsterdam Crusaders have failed to reach the Tulip Bowl only three times (1986, 1992 and 2001) in the 21 seasons they have competed in the Dutch domestic league (did not compete in 1994 and 1995 due to participation in Football League of Europe).
In 2006 Amsterdam returned to European competition by entering the EFAF Cup. The Crusaders were given a tough draw and lost their group games 23-0 to 2005 finalists Templiers d'Elancourt and 38-14 to eventual semi-finalists Zurich Renegades.
In 2007 the Crusaders were handed a tough EFAF Cup draw, with an away trip to Oslo Vikings followed by a home matchup vs the German Football League's Berlin Adler. Amsterdam provided a surprise result in the opening game, defeating the Vikings 27-21 only two weeks after Oslo had defeated Berlin in Germany, but a 34-6 to the Adler in Amsterdam meant they failed to reach the semi-final.
On October 28th, 2007, Amsterdam Crusaders failed to make it 6 Dutch championships in a row, losing 25-16 to Maastricht Wildcats in the national championship game, Tulip Bowl XXIII.
The Amsterdam Crusaders are the only Dutch team that have produced an NFL player. Romeo Bandison played for the Cleveland Browns and Washington Redskins of the NFL and coached at Boise State University before taking his current role at Colorado University.
[edit] 2008 Season
On March 2nd, 2008, the "Cru" opened their 2008 campaign with a 53-0 home victory over Hilversum Hurricanes, followed by 13-0 and 18-17 victories over Lightning Leiden and Arnhem Falcons respectively, but lost yet again (21-0) to Maastricht Wildcats.
Another tough EFAF Cup draw saw the Crusaders perform admirably with some impressive defensive performances in a 26-12 loss to Berlin Adler of the German Football League in Berlin. Amsterdam hosted Danish champions Triangle Razorbacks on April 20th 2008 but slipped to a disappointing 3-0 loss to end their Euro season for 2008.
[edit] Notable former players
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Glenn Dennison (TE, 1989): | Played for New York Jets of NFL before joining Amsterdam. |
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Paul Troth (QB): | Head Coach of Missouri Valley College since 2002. |
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Romeo Bandison (DT): | Played for University of Oregon, Cleveland Browns, Washington Redskins and Amsterdam Admirals. Coached at Boise State University. Currently DL coach at Colorado University. |
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Jimmy Geduld: | Dutch Soap actor. |
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Hubert Bedford (LB): | Dutch sports presenter. |
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Ronald Buys (RB): | Became General Manager of Amsterdam Admirals between 1999 and 2005. |
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Arnold Galesloot (LB): | Played as TE for the Amsterdam Admirals and was the only Dutch player to score a touchdown for the Admirals on Dutch soil. |
[edit] Notable current players
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Niels Meijer (WR): | Played for Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe. |
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Akwasi Mensah (LB): | Played for Amsterdam Admirals in 2006 and 2007. |
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Amilcar Grot (DB): | Played for Amsterdam Admirals in 2005. |
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Haroen Goelabdien (QB): | Played for Amsterdam Admirals in 1999 . |
