Amsterdam Admirals

History

The Admirals were formed in 1995 as part of the NFL's plan to restart the World League of American Football, to be based entirely in Europe. The Admirals were one of three new teams, the others being the Scottish Claymores based in Edinburgh and the Rhein Fire based in Düsseldorf, Germany, to join the old World League's European Division teams: the Barcelona Dragons, the Frankfurt Galaxy, and the London Monarchs.

The Admirals began playing their home games at the old Olympisch Stadion, built in 1928 for the Summer Games. They played there for two years until the Amsterdam ArenA was completed in 1996. When the Admirals were forced to schedule their last home game of the 2000 season against the Claymores away from the ArenA as Euro 2000 preparations were finalized, they made a return to the Olympisch Stadion in what turned out to be one of the most unusual games in American football history. The end zone at the north end of the stadium was ruled unsafe by the officials as the surface was in poor condition, so it was decided that the teams would change ends at every change of possession and play towards the other end zone.

They qualified for the 1995 World Bowl with a 9–1 regular season record, but lost to the Frankfurt Galaxy by a score of 26–22. Ten years later, in their eleventh year of existence, the Admirals won their first World Bowl by defeating the defending champion Berlin Thunder 27–21 in the championship game's 13th edition. The next season, they failed to defend their title against the Frankfurt Galaxy 22–7 in World Bowl XIV.

Under the "Player Continuity Program", the Admirals contracted linebacker Derrick Ballard and running back Jonathan Smith for the 2007 season.

Season-by-season

Head coaches

Attendance

Source: Kenn.com

Ring of Honor

• USA Mike Evans – DE (1995–1997)
• USA Adam Vinatieri – K (1995)
• USA Jonathan Kirksey – DT (1995, 1998–2001)
• Netherlands Frank Temming – RB (1995–2000)
• Netherlands Silvio Diliberto – K (1997–2004)
• USA Kurt Warner – QB (1998)
• USA Derrick Levake – OL (1999–2000)
• USA Rafael Cooper – RB (2002)

Notable players

• USA Mike Evans – DE (1995–1997)
• USA Jamie Martin – QB (1995)
• USA Brad Lebo – QB (1995)
• Australia Darren Bennett – P (1995)
• USA Adam Vinatieri –K (1996)
• USA Will Furrer – QB (1995–1996)
• USA Mario Cristobal – OG (1995–1996)
• USA Jay Fiedler – QB (1997)
• USA Ta'ase Faumui – DE (1998)
• USA Kurt Warner – QB (1998)
• USA Jake Delhomme – QB (1998)
• USA Tom Nütten – OG (1998)
• USA Joe Douglass – WR (1998–1999)
• USA Dan Gonzalez – QB (1999)
• USA Jim Kubiak – QB (1999–2000)
• USA Ron Powlus – QB (2000)
• El_Salvador José Cortéz – K (2000)
• Italy Francesco Biancamano – P/K (1999–2000)
• USA Spergon Wynn – QB (2001)
• USA Kevin Daft – QB (2002)
• USA Shaun Hill – QB (2003)
• USA Clint Stoerner – QB (2004)
• USA Gibran Hamdan – QB (2004–2006)
• USA Kurt Kittner – QB (2005)
• USA Jarrett Payton – RB (2005)
• USA Ruvell Martin – WR (2005)
• USA Cory Peoples – S (2005)
• USA Norman LeJeune – S (2005)
• USA Jeff Roehl – OL (2006)
• USA Jared Allen – QB (2006)
• USA Glenn Pakulak – P (2006–2007)
• USA Shawn Morgan – LB (2006)
• USA Derrick Ballard – LB (2005–2007) 2007 contract player
• USA Jonathan Smith – RB (2005 & 2007) 2007 contract player
• USA Chris Wing – DE/LB (1999)
• Sweden Carl-Johan Björk – LB (2005–2007)

League records (1995–2007)

Individual records

• Note: NFLE had a 10-game season.

Team records

Source: NFLEurope.com