Amsterdam Gaelic Athletic Football Club

Amsterdam Gaelic Athletic Football Club was founded on 17th March 2003. We have mens and ladies Gaelic Football teams and both teams play in the Gaelic Gear European Gaelic Football Championship. The club was recently featured in The Holland Times, you can get the article here.

The club trains every week at the Amstelveen Rugby Club and is always looking for new players to join.
We are an international GAA club and new players of any nationality and ability are welcome to join the club and try out Gaelic Football.

We are currently in training for the 2009 season, which kicked off here in Amsterdam on April 4th, when we hosted the first round of the Benelux region tournament. After a slow start against The Hague and a narrow defeat against Luxembourg the men rallied well in their final match against current European champions Belgium to claim 3rd spot. The ladies played Belgium in two challenge games, losing the first but emerging victorious in the second.

The The Hague tournament was played on May 2nd. The men, after beating Belgium B but losing to The Hague in the group stages, beat Belgium A in a tough encounter to claim a place in the final, where they again succumbed to The Hague. Recent arrival Mickey was voted Player of the Tournament. The women made their competitive debut for the season. While results may not have gone their way, they put in solid performances and showed the potential is there.

The last weekend in May saw the club travel to Luxembourg. A poor losing performance against Belgium A in the opening game, followed by two solid victories against the Liberty Lads (a guest team from Ireland) and Luxembourg B, meant the men had to play The Hague for a place in the final. Everyone rose to the challenge to achieve a great win and a second succesive final appearance. Unfortunately, despite leading at half time, we ended up losing by 3 points to Luxembourg A. The ladies opened with a strong win against Belgium B which, coupled with a defeat to Paris, meant they met Belgium A in the semis. They gave the eventual overall winners arguably their sternest test, but unfortunately had to make do with a place in the 3rd/4th play-off where they were again beaten by Paris.

The last regional tournament for the men was held in Maastricht on June 27th and it was another case of so near, but yet so far. Two comfortable wins against The Hague and Belgium B in the first round, followed by a close fought, controversial, extra-time victory against Belgium A in the semis, meant a place in the final against Luxembourg. Unfortunately, the men from the Grand Duchy ran out winners, but only after being taken to extra-time. For the 2nd time this season an Amsterdammer was voted Player of the Tournament, with Meathman Gerry Murray taking the honours. On the same day, the ladies were competing in Paris where, against some tough competition, they claimed 5th spot.

There was disappointment for the men in the first round of the European Shield in Munich on July 25th, where they were only able to finish 4th. The women however performed much better, ending up runners-up.
Both teams travelled to Copenhagen at the end of the August. The men came away with a 3rd place finish, while the ladies matched their Munich performance losing in the final to Belgium.

The next tournament will be in Rennes on October 3rd.