The Trench Crew F.A.Q.


By: Teflon and Velcro
The Trench Crew tries to be a point of contact for traveling fans and in that capacity we thought it a good idea to put together a list of the questions we are often asked. Don’t hesitate to contact us through the website ( www.trenchcrew.com ) if you have suggestions on how to improve this list!

Please note that we take no responsibility for the accuracy of the information! We do our best, but occasionally slip up.

  1. The Trench Crew
    1. What is the Trench Crew?
    2. Why "Trench" Crew?
    3. Why "Ugly is good"?
    4. Why "Velcro"?
    5. Why "TonV"?
    6. What’s with this "offense, what do we live for!" chant you keep bothering us with?
  2. Amsterdam
    1. What and where is the Globe?
    2. Where is the ArenA?
    3. What is up with these ArenA cards? I just want a beer!
    4. Where is Teasers?
    5. How do those strippenkaart things for the metro and trams work?
    6. How do I get around Amsterdam after midnight?
    7. What kind of touristy things can you recommend?
  3. The Admirals
    1. How do I get tickets?
    2. What are good sections to sit in?
    3. Where can I get a hooter?
  4. Away games
    1. What away games does the Trench Crew go to?
    2. What are the best away games to go to?
    3. Where to go in Dusseldorf?
    4. Where to go in Frankfurt?
    5. Where to go in Scotland?
    6. Where to go in Barcelona?
    7. Where to go in Berlin?

  1. The Trench Crew
    1. What is the Trench Crew?
      The Trench Crew is the first small Admirals fanclub and consists of Ton and Ross as well as a handful of honorary members. Read all about the Trench Crew at our website www.trenchcrew.com or take the direct link http://www.tonv.demon.nl/TC/Crew/Thecrew.html

    2. Why "Trench" Crew?
      Because we are fans of the offensive line, the big boys in the trenches.

    3. Why "Ugly is good"?
      This is from a scene that was cut from the football movie Any Given Sunday (it is on the DVD version). It is part of Madman’s pregame psych-up ritual (he is an offensive lineman of course). The full ritual goes as follows:

      Do not Divulge your Strategy to the Opposition.
      Be as Subtle as you are Dangerous,
      Be as Mysterious as you are Organised,
      Be the Director of your Opponents Fate,
      NO Intensity, NO Victory,
      Whatever it takes.
      I am the King of the Jungle,
      Ugly is Good!

    4. Why "Velcro"?
      Don’t ask. Trust us on this one. Get him drunk and he will probably tell you.

    5. Why "TonV"?
      Because so far I have not managed to attract a really cool and appropriate nickname! One will present itself in time, but until that time I am going with the first letter of my last name tacked onto my first name. I am currently experimenting with the nickname Teflon, because until now, nothing has stuck... Velcro and Teflon: one sticks, the other doesn’t. Hey, like you have a better idea?

    6. What’s with this "offense, what do we live for!" chant you keep bothering us with?
      Like "Ugly is good" (see 1.3 above) this is from the movie Any Given Sunday. In one scence, the assistant coach (played by Hall of Fame Running Back, Jim Brown) is psyching up the team in the locker room before a match.

      Assistant coach: "I said offense! What do we live for?"
      Offensive players: "Touchdowns, touchdowns, touchdowns!"
      Assistant coach: "I said defense! What do we live for?"
      Defensive players: "Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers!"
      Assistant coach: "I said team! What do we live and die for?"
      All players: "Win, win, win!"

      So whenever a turnover or a touchdown happens we usually do this little chant. However, being the Trench Crew, we decided that "Beer, beer, beer!" was a more appropriate finish...  

  2. Amsterdam.
    1. What and where is the Globe?
      The Globe is a backpackers hostel with a sports bar attached. It is located right in the center of Amsterdam, five minutes walk from the central station and Teasers. Because it is one of only two places that show live NFL matches in Amsterdam (on a big screen in fact), we quickly adopteded it as our home base quite a few years ago. Unless there is a big sporting event on, the Globe is usually fairly quiet. It has become more and more popular as a place to watch NFL matches and even on a regular season Sunday night it is now usually quite packed with a pretty good atmosphere. On Superbowl night Ross and I show up 6 hours in advance to claim our personal seats. It is also a great place to start off an NFL-Europe party evening, since spending an entire night at Teasers is somewhat expensive! Better to start off quietly with a few drinks at the Globe, have a meal there if you want (decent, but nothing fancy) and then head on to better things.

      Directions and a little map for the Globe can be found at the trench crew website, under Amsterdam Info and Gameday Pubs or use this direct link: http://www.tonv.demon.nl/TC/Amsterdam/Pubs.html .

    2. Where is the ArenA?
      The ArenA is out of the center of Amsterdam, right next to two metro stations and close to train station Duivendrecht that has direct trains to Schiphol airport. The trip by metro from central station takes less than 20 minutes and metros run every ten minutes. Easiest is to check out the link ‘Amsterdam Info’ at www.trenchcrew.com and then select ‘The ArenA’ for instructions and even a little map.

    3. What is up with these ArenA cards? I just want a beer!
      As anyone who has ever been to the ArenA will tell you: there is no cash used within the ArenA. Instead you have to buy a Phone Card type thing from a machine (pay with cash, credit card of bank pass) or from one of the wandering vendors which you can then use to purchase beer, food and that sort of thing. Its a real pain in the arse - even for the Admirals fans. Of course you can't bring drinks into the stadium so you have a captive market. My advice is that if you want beer / food is to gang up together with a couple of friends and buy a small value card and use it until it has run out. I have been told that once purchased they are always valid but I have no official confirmation of this. There is in fact a buy back scheme for unused cards, but you'd have to walk around to one end of the first ring promenade to find the office.

      Prices are high, a € 25 ArenA card will run out quickly after a few rounds. Get your food after the game in town, it's cheaper, better and you won't risk missing a touchdown.

    4. Where is Teasers?
      I am going out on a limb here and assume that you already know what Teasers is. If not, check out our Gameday pubs info first (link at 2.1 above). It also has a little map that shows where Teasers is. In a nutshell: Teasers is a fun place to hang out and drink beer while being served by attractive women dressed somewhat like cheerleaders. They are sexy, but nothing more. For that, go to places in the red light district across the canal. So women visitors are certainly not rare in Teasers. Be warned, drinks are not cheap! Especially the famous body shot ( € 25 ), but it is certainly worth trying.

      Teasers is ridiculously easy to find. When you are in front of the central station, you look down a wide and very busy street with shops and pedestrians along the right side and a canal along the left. Go down that street and after about ten minutes you end up at Dam square. You have now gone too far... So start again from central station, down the big busy street and after about three minutes a bar on your right will have the big Teasers logo. You can’t miss it, it’s the place with the scantily clad waitresses.

    5. How do those strippenkaart things for the metro and trams work?
      By far the easiest way to use public transport in Amsterdam is easiest when you buy a day ticket, which costs about € 4.50 and can be purchased from the ticket machines at all the metro stations. It allows you to use all public transport in Amsterdam for an entire day. Please note that the night buses (after midnight) charge an extra fee of about € 2, payable in the bus.

      In buses and trams you can buy trips for single journeys (but no strip tickets), which is easy as you just tell the driver or ticket person where you want to go and they will sort it out. If you only want to go from the Globe or Teasers to the ArenA and back again, especially with a group, then a strippenkaart is cheapest and very easy. You can buy these at tobacco stores, from manned booths at metro and train stations and at the ticket machines at both metro stations and train stations. The version for adults (which is blue) costs € 5,90. It is a long ticket with 15 ‘strips’. There are bigger ones sold in the tobacco shops with 45 strips, which are useful for a large group.

      Depending on how many public transport zones you need to travel in, you use more or less strips. What zone some place is in can be found on maps and things at the stations, but often its easiest just to ask someone.

      Example of use: you are at central station and want to go to the ArenA. That means travel through 2 zones (NB: that is if you get out at station Strandvliet/ArenA. It is 3 zones if you get out at station Bijlmer). You then fold the stripticket and stick it in the yellow stamping machine (at the entrance of the platforms right in front of the stairs) so that it pings the third strip. 1 zone = stamp on the second strip, 2 zones = stamp on the third strip, etc. If you are with more people, repeat this process: count off two empty strips and stamp on the third. So with three people, you’d stamp the third, sixth and ninth strips. There is a time limit of about an hour in which your journey should be complete, but that’s not a problem. Just don’t forget to stamp again after the game when you head back. When a strip ticket is full, continue on a new one. Say you need four strips and there is only two left on one ticket, stamp the last one and then stamp the second one on a different ticket, for a total of four strips.

      The center of Amsterdam is a single zone, so you can travel on several trams, say from central station to dam square and then to the Rijksmuseum on a strip ticket pinged at the second strip, as long as your journey doesn’t take more than an hour or so. If you get caught without a valid ticket, the fine is about € 27 and if you cannot pay in cash and have no valid identification, you will be taken down town to check your details, so don’t risk it. Especially if you plan to do a bit of travelling through Amsterdam and don’t want any hassle, just buy a day ticket and avoid all the stripticket work.

    6. How do I get around Amsterdam after midnight?
      This can be an issue as metros and trams stop running just after midnight! From then on, there are night buses, but these don’t run more than twice an hour and certainly not to everywhere in Amsterdam. They are also often quite packed and you need to pay an extra fare of about € 2. Since the center is so compact, you should be able to just walk from the pub back to your hotel. If you absolutely must use transport, get a taxi. These are not very cheap, but they get you where you need to go.

    7. What kind of touristy things can you recommend?
      This is always a difficult one, it really depends on what you interests are. Amsterdam has really quite a lot to offer for such a small city (small when compared to London or Paris for example). I recommend you read our Trench Crew Guide to Amsterdam (on the website, under Amsterdam Info) which also provides some links to tourist websites.

  3. The Admirals
    1. How do I get tickets?
      Tickets can always be bought just before the game at the ticket booths. You might need to walk to the other side of the stadium for these; in 2001 they were on the opposite side of where the power party was. There will always be good seats available, but you might not be able to get one in the really popular sections (119, 120 and 121 basically).

      You can also buy them at most tobacco shops, since the ArenA ticket selling system is linked to the national lottery system (don’t ask) and it is just a matter of printing out a ticket.

      Finally, they can be ordered through the ticket hotline, 0900-9393 ( € 35 cents a minute ) and also directly through the Admirals office by calling their customer service 00 31 (0)20-4654545. You can then pick up and pay for your tickets on game day at the ticket booths. I would advise foreign fans to use this last option as the office should be able to seat you with the other away fans.

    2. What are good sections to sit in?
      On the Admirals side 119 – 122 are the main sections. Basically look at the stadium map and try to get as near to the half way line as possible. When you can try to sit at least 1/3 of the way up the stand so you can see what is going on.

    3. Where can I get a hooter?
      The infamous Admirals hooters can be bought at the merchandise stalls at the stadium before the games. They cost € 6.75 last time I checked.

  4. Away games
    1. What away games does the Trench Crew go to?
      Easy: all of them! The Trench Crew is dedicated to doing ‘all ten’ seasons (the five homegames, the five away matches and of course the World Bowl). We also do any double headers that are humanly possible. Usually this means one day in Amsterdam, the next in Dusseldorf for the Fire match. In 2002 there is a possibility for a triple header (Amsterdam – Dusseldorf – Edinburgh) and we will perform this amazing feat as well.

    2. What are the best away games to go to?
      So far, we have never been to an away game that sucked although the actual matches have often been horrendous (I have done ten away matches and only seen one Admirals victory), but the fans, the partying and the beer are usually excellent.

      It is hard to pick my personal favorite. I absolutely loved Sitges: staying in Spain for a long weekend near the beach was great. Dusseldorf is always good with their fantastic fans and the late night Knoten experience. I also enjoy Frankfurt as they have some good tailgating going on. Scotland is always good because of the fans. Berlin I have only done once so far and even that was cool: training down there on the Trench Crew Intercity with enough beer to last the journey, grabbing the first hotel we could find and then on to the power party (where pretty women gave us Berlin Thunder condoms. No really, I’m serious.). The power party was a bit small though and the after party at the ‘official’ bar was rather boring with pretty bad service.

    3. Where to go in Dusseldorf?
      That’s easy, there is a pub in the Altstadt run by a Fire Fan called the Knoten. If you want to hang around with players then try the Louisiana just around the corner.

    4. Where to go in Frankfurt?
      We are still searching. The most fun in Frankfurt has always been the pre-game BBQ. But according to sources this will not be permitted this year for safety reasons.

    5. Where to go in Scotland?
      I guess it depends if the game is in Glasgow and Edinburgh. In Glasgow we base ourselves in the Centre of town and there are about 1,000,000 pubs to chose from. Sporto near Central Station is a good meeting point however we do tend to move around a lot. In Edinburgh the bar of choice usually appears to be the Three-Quarters on the Grass Market.

    6. Where to go in Barcelona?
      Quite simply, you want to stay in Sitges outside of Barcelona itself and then it becomes fairly obvious.

    7. Where to go in Berlin?
      Axel Kruse, the Thunder kicker owns his own bar and this seems to be the favoured watering hole.