2015 was a bombshell of a year for Belgium’s FAFL Conference

Next week the 2016 Belgian football league starts up again. A game between the Antwerp American Football Club (AAFC) and the Leuven Lions will mark the beginning of a new season in Belgium. Before that, we want to look back to last year.

The 2015 season was one of the best years ever for American football in Belgium. The Belgian Final had a new record attendance and the game between Belgium and the Netherlands attracted more than 4,000 spectators. It’s safe to say that football is growing these countries.

For the FAFL (the Flemish American Football League), last year was also great in terms of members. In 2015, the FAFL had 608 licensed members. That’s a hundred more than the year before. This explosive growth had much to do with the expansion of the U19 competition. FAFL chairman Ben Machiels is looking forward to the future. Although he does not expect the U19 program to grow as much in future years, he still sees a lot of margin for progression in the U16 and Senior categories.

“With the start of tackle football for the u16 we created another group of players. We notice now that the demand for football in this age-category is huge.”

Machiels hopes to continue down this path and to grow just as much in 2016.

Photo credits: Kenny Desweigh, GD Sportspics