# Amsterdam Admirals

The Amsterdam Admirals was a professional American football team based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, playing in the NFL Europe.

## 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

| Season | League | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Postseason | Postseason | Postseason | Postseason |
| Season | League | Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result |
| 1995 | WLAF | 9 | 1 | 0 | .900 | 1st (League) | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost to Frankfurt Galaxy in World Bowl III |
| 1996 | WLAF | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 3rd (League) | – | – | — | Out of playoffs. |
| 1997 | WLAF | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 4th (League) | – | – | — | No playoffs. |
| 1998 | NFLE | 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 | 3rd (League) | – | – | — | Out of playoffs. |
| 1999 | NFLE | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 4th (League) | – | – | — | No playoffs. |
| 2000 | NFLE | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 4th (League) | – | – | — | No playoffs. |
| 2001 | NFLE | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 5th (League) | – | – | — | No playoffs. |
| 2002 | NFLE | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 5th (League) | – | – | — | No playoffs. |
| 2003 | NFLE | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 5th (League) | – | – | — | No playoffs. |
| 2004 | NFLE | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 3rd (League) | – | – | — | No playoffs. |
| 2005 | NFLE | 6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | 2nd (League) | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | World Bowl XIII champions |
| 2006 | NFLE | 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 | 1st (League) | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost to Frankfurt Galaxy in World Bowl XIV |
| 2007 | NFLE | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 5th (League) | – | – | — | No playoffs. |
| Total | Total | 68 | 62 | 0 | .523 | | 1 | 2 | .333 | |

## Head coaches

| # | Name | Term | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Postseason | Postseason | Postseason | Postseason | Achievements |
| # | Name | Term | GC | Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | GC | Won | Lost | Win % | Achievements |
| 1 | Al Luginbill | 1995–2000 | 60 | 34 | 26 | 0 | .567 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | — |
| 2 | Bart Andrus | 2001–2007 | 70 | 34 | 36 | 0 | .486 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | World Bowl XIII championship NFL Europe Coach of the Year (2005) |

## Attendance

Source: Kenn.com
| Year | Games | Total | Average |
| Amsterdam Admirals (World League) ||||
| 1995 | 5 | 72,767 | 14,553 |
| 1996 | 5 | 50,094 | 10,019 |
| 1997 | 5 | 73,425 | 14,685 |
| Amsterdam Admirals (NFL Europe) ||||
| 1998 | 5 | 79,263 | 15,853 |
| 1999 | 5 | 61,444 | 12,289 |
| 2000 | 5 | 54,985 | 10,997 |
| 2001 | 5 | 66,292 | 13,258 |
| 2002 | 5 | 58,322 | 11,664 |
| 2003 | 5 | 57,208 | 11,442 |
| 2004 | 5 | 62,496 | 12,499 |
| 2005 | 5 | 64,386 | 12,877 |
| 2006 | 5 | 67,106 | 13,421 |
| Amsterdam Admirals (NFL Europa) ||||
| 2007 | 5 | 58,390 | 11,678 |
| 13 | 65 | 826,178 | 12,710 |

## Ring of Honor

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

## Notable players

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

## League records (1995–2007)
### Individual records

* Note: NFLE had a 10-game season.
| Highest pass rating, season (qualifiers) | Highest pass rating, season (qualifiers) | Highest pass rating, season (qualifiers) | Most passes attempted, season | Most passes attempted, season | Most passes attempted, season |
| Player | Year | Rating | Player | Year | Attempted |
| Gibran Hamdan | 2006 | 113.4 | Will Furrer | 1996 | 368 |
| Most passes completed, season | Most passes completed, season | Most passes completed, season | Highest average gain, season (qualifiers) | Highest average gain, season (qualifiers) | Highest average gain, season (qualifiers) |
| Player | Year | Completed | Player | Year | Average |
| Shaun Hill | 2003 | 220 | Gibran Hamdan | 2006 | 10.06 |
| Most consecutive passes attempted, none intercepted | Most consecutive passes attempted, none intercepted | Most consecutive passes attempted, none intercepted | Most games, 100 or more yards pass receiving, season | Most games, 100 or more yards pass receiving, season | Most games, 100 or more yards pass receiving, season |
| Player | Year | Attempted | Player | Year | Games |
| Ron Powlus | 2000 | 156 | Skyler Fulton | 2006 | 6 |
| Most consecutive games, 100 or more yards pass receiving | Most consecutive games, 100 or more yards pass receiving | Most consecutive games, 100 or more yards pass receiving | Most yards gained, career | Most yards gained, career | Most yards gained, career |
| Player | Year | Games | Player | Year | Yards |
| Matthew Hatchette | 2003 | 4 | Joe Douglass | 1998–1999 | 624 |
| Longest punt return | Longest punt return | Longest punt return | Most Opponents' Fumbles Recovered, season | Most Opponents' Fumbles Recovered, season | Most Opponents' Fumbles Recovered, season |
| Player | Year | Yards | Player | Year | Fumbles |
| Matthew Hatchette | Amsterdam vs. Berlin, 5/31/03 | 101 | Karmeeleyah McGill | 1995 | 4 |
| Longest Fumble Return |||
| Player | Year | Yards |
| Derrick Ballard | Amsterdam vs. Berlin, 3/18/06 | 95 |

### Team records

| Most passes completed, season | Most passes completed, season | Fewest Passes Completed, season | Fewest Passes Completed, season |
| Year | Completed | Year | Completed |
| 2003 | 271 | 1997 | 116 |
| Fewest Yards Gained, season | Fewest Yards Gained, season | Fewest rushing touchdowns, season | Fewest rushing touchdowns, season |
| Year | Yards | Year | Touchdowns |
| 1997 | 1208 | 2000 | 1 |
| Most Points, Both Teams, game | Most Points, Both Teams, game | Most punt returns, season | Most punt returns, season |
| Year | Points | Year | Yards |
| 5/31/03 (vs. Berlin) | 94 (51–43) | 1998 | 39 |
| Most yards gained on Punt Return, game | Most yards gained on Punt Return, game | Most yards gained on Punt Return, Both Teams, game | Most yards gained on Punt Return, Both Teams, game |
| Year | Yards | Year | Yards |
| 5/11/96 (vs. London) | 175 | 5/11/96 (vs. London) | 201 |
| Fewest Yards Gained on Kickoff Return, game | Fewest Yards Gained on Kickoff Return, game | Most yards gained on Kickoff Return, Both Teams, game | Most yards gained on Kickoff Return, Both Teams, game |
| Year | Yards | Year | Yards |
| 5/28/00 (vs. Frankfurt) | 2 | 5/31/03 (vs. Berlin) | 451 (188–263) |
| Fewest Fumbles, season | Fewest Fumbles, season | Fewest Fumbles Lost, season | Fewest Fumbles Lost, season |
| Year | Fumbles | Year | Fumbles |
| 2003 | 7 | 2003 | 2 |
| Most Fumbles Lost, Both Teams, game | Most Fumbles Lost, Both Teams, game | Most Opponents' Fumbles Recovered, season | Most Opponents' Fumbles Recovered, season |
| Year | Fumbles | Year | Fumbles |
| 5/13/95 (vs. Barcelona) | 8 (4–4) | 1995 | 20 |
| Most Opponents' Fumbles Recovered, Both Teams, game | Most Opponents' Fumbles Recovered, Both Teams, game | Fewest Yards Penalized, Both Teams, game | Fewest Yards Penalized, Both Teams, game |
| Year | Fumbles | Year | Yards |
| 5/13/95 (vs. Barcelona) | 8 (4–4) | 5/18/97 (vs. Scotland) | 25 (15–10) |
| Most Yards Penalized, Both Teams, game | Most Yards Penalized, Both Teams, game | Fewest yards allowed by Defense, rushing, season | Fewest yards allowed by Defense, rushing, season |
| Year | Yards | Year | Yards |
| 6/1/02 (vs. Frankfurt) | 294 (116–178) | 2000 | 654 |
Source: NFLEurope.com