Netherlands
If you would like to play Aussie Rules in the Netherlands, please contact the Dutch Australian Football Association.
Aussie Rules was first played in the Netherlands around 2003, with the creation of the Dutch Australian Football Association (DAFA). This organisation later disappeared but was re-formed in 2007. In 2005 a new team representing the Netherlands appeared at the EU Cup in London, where they finished third. There was still no formal team or league in the Netherlands, but by late 2006 some steps had been taken with a group training and playing regularly in The Hague and the national team being nicknamed the Flying Dutchmen (de Vliegende Hollanders). In 2007, the Dutchmen played their first game in almost two years with a social match against the Rheinland Lions from Germany. In the 2007 EU Cup the Flying Dutchmen finished 10th, losing to Belgium in the plate final.
In 2008 the Flying Dutchmen established a home ground in Amstelveen, near Amsterdam and fielded a team in the 2008 EU Cup in Prague, finishing as bowl champions in 9th place overall.
2009 saw the beginning of rapid growth for the DAFA, with 6 scheduled home and away international games, plus plans for the establishment of 4 domestic teams, in Utrecht, Den Haag, Eindhoven and Amsterdam. At the EU Cup in Croatia, the national team performed sensationally, reaching the final and bringing home the silver medal.
AFL footballers with a Dutch background include Robbert Klomp (Carlton/Footscray), Paul van der Haar (Essendon), Richard Vandenberg (Hawthorn), Nathan Van Berlo (Adelaide) and Jay van Berlo (Fremantle).
