Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football
club
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea''
Brands and enterprises ...
based in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the legendary Greek hero) is the most successful club in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, with 36 and 20 KNVB Cups. It has continuously played in the , since the league's inception in 1956 and, along with and , it is one of the country's " big three" clubs that have dominated that competition.
Ajax was one of the most successful clubs in the world in the 20th century. According to the
International Federation of Football History & Statistics
The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...
, Ajax were the seventh-most successful European club of the 20th century and ''The World's Club Team of the Year'' in 1992. According to German magazine ''
Kicker
Kicker or The Kicker may refer to:
Sports
* Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football
* ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany
* Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player
* Kicker, the word used i ...
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
in the final; they lost the 1996 Champions Leaguefinal on penalties to Juventus. In 1995, Ajax was crowned as ''World Team of the Year'' by '' World Soccer'' magazine.
Ajax is also one of four teams to win the continental treble and the Intercontinental Cup or Club World Cup in the same season/calendar year; this was achieved in the 1971–72 season.UEFA sanctioned the UEFA Supercup for the first time in 1973. In 1972 was an unofficial edition and the I Centenary of Rangers (se History of the UEFA Supercup in uefa.com). Ajax are one of five clubs to have won all three major UEFA club competitions. They have also won the Intercontinental Cup twice, the 1991–92 UEFA Cup, as well as the Karl Rappan Cup, a predecessor of the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1962.UEFA sanctioned the UEFA Intertoto Cup for the first time in 1995. In the 1960s, it was unofficial. Se History of UEFA Intertoto Cup in uefa.com. Ajax plays at the Johan Cruyff Arena, which opened as the Amsterdam ArenA in 1996 and was renamed in 2018. They previously played at and the
Amsterdam Olympic Stadium
The Olympic Stadium (Dutch: ''Olympisch Stadion'', ) is a sporting venue which was used as the main stadium for the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. The venue is currently used mostly for athletics, other sports events and concerts.
When comp ...
(for international matches). Throughout their history, Ajax have cultivated a reputation for scouting, spotting and developing young talent, and have remained focused on developing a
youth system
In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...
.
History
Ajax was founded in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
on 18 March 1900. The club achieved promotion to the highest level of Dutch football in 1911 and had its first major success in 1917, winning the KNVB Beker, the Netherlands' national cup. The following season, Ajax became national champion for the first time. The club defended its title in 1918–19, becoming the only team to achieve an unbeaten season in the Netherlands Football League Championship.
Throughout the 1920s, Ajax was a strong regional power, winning the Eerste Klasse West division in 1921, 1927 and 1928, but could not maintain its success at the national level. This changed in the 1930s, with the club winning five national championships (
1931
Events
January
* January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics.
* January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa.
* January 22 – Sir I ...
1934
Events
January–February
* January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established.
* January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...
, 1937, 1939), making it the most successful Dutch team of the decade. Ajax won its second KNVB Cup in 1942–43, and an eighth Dutch title in 1946–47, the last season the club was managed by Englishman Jack Reynolds, who, up to this point, had overseen all of its national championship successes as well as its 1917 KNVB Cup win.
In 1956, the first season of the Netherlands' new professional league, the , was played with Ajax participating as a founding member. The Amsterdam club became the first national champions under the new format and made its debut in the European Champion Clubs' Cup the following year, losing to Hungarian champions 6–2 on aggregate at the quarter-final stage. The team were again champions in 1960 and won a third KNVB Cup in 1961.
In 1965,
Rinus Michels
Marinus Jacobus Hendricus Michels (; 9 February 1928 – 3 March 2005) was a Dutch football player and coach. He played his entire career for AFC Ajax, which he later managed, and played for and later managed the Netherlands national team ...
, who had played for the club between 1946 and 1958, was appointed manager of Ajax, implementing his philosophy of Total Football which was to become synonymous with both Ajax and the Netherlands national team. A year earlier, Johan Cruyff, who would go on to become widely regarded as the greatest Dutch footballer of all-time, made his debut. Between them, Michels and Cruyff led Ajax through the most successful period in its history, winning seven titles, four KNVB Cups and three European Cups.
Ajax won the Dutch championship in 1966,
1967
Events
January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 5
** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
. During the 1966–67 season, Ajax scored a record 122 goals in an season and also won the KNVB Cup to achieve its first league and cup double. In 1969–70, Ajax won a fourth Dutch league championship and second league and cup double in five seasons, winning 27 out of 34 league matches and scoring 100 goals.
The 1970–71 season saw Ajax retain the KNVB Cup and reach the
1971 European Cup final
The 1971 European Cup Final was a football match between Ajax of the Netherlands and Panathinaikos of Greece on 2 June 1971 at Wembley Stadium. It was the final match of the 1970–71 season of Europe's premier cup competition, the European Cu ...
, where they defeated 2–0 with goals from Dick van Dijk and
Arie Haan
Arend "Arie" Haan (; born 16 November 1948) is a Dutch football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He scored 6 goals in 35 matches for the Netherlands national team of the 1970s. At club level, he enjoyed a successful career ...
to become continental champions for the first time, with Cruyff being named European Footballer of the Year. After this success, Michels departed to become manager of
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
and was replaced by the Romanian
Ștefan Kovács
Ștefan Kovács ( ro, Ştefan Covaci; hu, Kovács István; 2 October 1920 – 12 May 1995) was a Romanian football player and coach. By winning 15 major titles he is one of the most successful association football coaches in the history of th ...
. In Kovács' first season, Ajax completed a treble of the European Cup, the and a third consecutive KNVB Cup. The following season, the team beat Argentine to win the
1972 Intercontinental Cup
The 1972 Intercontinental Cup was an association football tie held over two legs in September 1972 between the winners of the 1971–72 European Cup, Ajax, and the winners of the 1972 Copa Libertadores, Independiente.
The first leg was held on 6 ...
and retained their and European Cup titles, becoming the first club to win three consecutive European Cups since Real Madrid in the 1950s.
In 1973, Michels' Barcelona broke the world transfer record to bring Cruyff to
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...
. Kovács also departed to become manager of the France national team, signalling the end of this period of international success.
In 1976–77, Ajax won its first domestic championship in four seasons and recorded a double of the and KNVB Cup two years later.
The early 1980s saw the return of Cruyff to the club, as well as the emergence of young players Marco van Basten and Frank Rijkaard. The team won back-to-back titles in 1982 and
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
, with all three playing a significant role in the latter. After Cruyff's sale to rivals in 1983, van Basten became Ajax's key player, top scoring in the for four seasons between 1983–84 and 1986–87.
In 1985, Cruyff returned to Ajax as manager and the team ended his first season in charge with 120 goals from 34 matches. However, Ajax still finished as runner-up to PSV by eight points. The following season, Ajax again lost out on the title to PSV, but won the
European Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...
, its first continental trophy in 14 years. After this, Cruyff left the club to become manager of Barcelona and Rijkaard and van Basten were sold to
Sporting CP
Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...
and Milan respectively. Despite these losses, Ajax reached a second consecutive Cup Winners' Cup final in
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
, where they lost to Belgian club .
The 1988–89 season saw Dennis Bergkamp, a young forward who had first appeared under Cruyff in 1986, establish himself as a regular goalscorer for Ajax. Bergkamp helped Ajax to the title and was the top scorer in the division in
1990–91
Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...
1992–93
Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...
. Under the management of
Louis van Gaal
Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former football player and manager. At club level, he served as manager of Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, as well as having three spe ...
, Ajax won the UEFA Cup in 1992 to become the second club, after , to have won all three major European club competitions.
After the sale of Bergkamp to in 1993, van Gaal re-signed the experienced Rijkaard to complement his young Ajax team featuring academy graduates
Frank
Frank or Franks may refer to:
People
* Frank (given name)
* Frank (surname)
* Franks (surname)
* Franks, a medieval Germanic people
* Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang
Curr ...
Edwin van der Sar
Edwin van der Sar (; born 29 October 1970) is a Dutch football executive and former professional player who is currently the chief executive of AFC Ajax, with whom he began his senior playing career in the early 1990s; he is considered to be a m ...
Michael Reiziger
Michael John Reiziger (, born 3 May 1973) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played mainly as a right back, currently the assistant manager of AFC Ajax.
After making a name for himself at Ajax, with whom he won one Champions League ...
Jari Litmanen
Jari Olavi Litmanen (; born 20 February 1971) is a Finnish former footballer. He was the first-choice captain of the Finland national team between 1996 and 2008 in an international career that ran from 1989 to 2010.
Litmanen is widely consider ...
, and veteran captain
Danny Blind
Dirk Franciscus "Danny" Blind (; born 1 August 1961) is a Dutch former football player and coach. He played as a defender for Sparta Rotterdam, Ajax and the Netherlands national team. As coach he has managed Ajax and the Netherlands national te ...
. The team regained the Dutch championship in 1993–94, and won it again in 1994–95 and 1995–96 to become the first Ajax side to win three back-to-back championships since 1968. The height of van Gaal's success came in 1994–95, where Ajax became the first, and to date only, team to complete an entire season unbeaten. The team also won its first European Cup since its 1970s era, defeating Milan in the 1995 UEFA Champions League final 1–0, with the winning goal scored by 18-year-old
Patrick Kluivert
Patrick Stephan Kluivert (; born 1 July 1976) is a Dutch former football player, coach and sporting director. He played as a striker, most notably for AFC Ajax, FC Barcelona and the Netherlands national team.
He was part of Ajax's Golden Gen ...
. Ajax again reached the final one year later, but were defeated on penalties by .
Ajax's return as a European force was short-lived, as van Gaal and several members of the squad soon departed to some of the continent's biggest clubs. The 2000s was a lean decade for the club, with only two championships won. However, Ajax's academy continued to produce star players such as
Wesley Sneijder
Wesley Sneijder (; born 9 June 1984) is a Dutch retired professional footballer. Due to his elite playmaking ability, Sneijder was considered one of the best midfielders in the world during his prime.
A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, he st ...
and Rafael van der Vaart.
In 2010, Frank de Boer was appointed manager of Ajax and led the club to its first league title in seven years, and record 30th title overall, in the 2010–11 season. This was followed by back-to-back wins in 2011–12 and
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
to match his three consecutive titles as a player in the 1990s. In 2013–14, Ajax were again champions, winning four consecutive league titles for the first time in club history. After finishing as runner-up to PSV in both 2014–15 and 2015–16, de Boer resigned as Ajax head coach in May 2016.
Peter Bosz
Peter Sylvester Bosz (, born 21 November 1963) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. Playing career
Club
A midfielder, Bosz started his professional career played with Vitesse in 1981; after a loan season with then amat ...
took over the club and led them to the
2017 UEFA Europa League final
The 2017 UEFA Europa League Final was the final match of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, the 46th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 8th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Euro ...
, their first European final in 21 years. They lost to Manchester United with a lineup that was the youngest ever in a European final, averaging an age of 22 years and 282 days. For the third consecutive season, they finished runner-up in the , this time to .
The 2018–19 season for Ajax involved a remarkable run in the
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
. Due to their runner-up finish in the
2017–18 Eredivisie
The 2017–18 Eredivisie was the 62nd season of the Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. The season began on 11 August 2017 and concluded on 6 May 2018; the Europa League and relegation play-offs took place later that month. Feyenoord wer ...
, Ajax entered the tournament in the second qualifying round. After successive victories against
Sturm Graz
Sportklub Sturm Graz is an Austrian association football club, based in Graz, Styria, playing in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. The club was founded in 1909. Its colours are black and white.
In its history, Sturm Graz has won the Austrian f ...
, and , they qualified for the group stage. Ajax was drawn in a group with German champions Bayern Munich, Portuguese side Benfica and Greek champions
AEK Athens
A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...
. Ajax finished runner-up in this group, qualifying for the knockout stages, where they were drawn against three-time defending champions Real Madrid. After losing 1–2 in the first leg, they defeated Real Madrid 4–1 in the away match, stunning the defending champions in their own stadium, the Santiago Bernabéu, with an aggregate score of 5–3.
Dušan Tadić
Dušan Tadić ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Тадић, ; born 20 November 1988) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a forward or attacking midfielder and captains both Eredivisie club Ajax and the Serbia national team.
Tadić spent his ...
was awarded a perfect score of 10 by following the match.
Thus, Ajax progressed to the quarter-finals and were drawn with Italian champions . In the first leg in the Johan Cruyff Arena, they drew 1–1. In the second leg at the
Juventus Stadium
Juventus Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as the Allianz Stadium since July 2017, sometimes simply known in Italy as the Stadium ( it, Lo Stadium), is an all-seater football stadium in the Vallette borough of Turin, Italy, and the home o ...
, Ajax came from behind to win 2–1 and 3–2 on aggregate.
Matthijs de Ligt
Matthijs de Ligt (born 12 August 1999) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Bayern Munich and the Netherlands national team.
De Ligt made his debut for Ajax's senior team in September 2016 in a cup game again ...
scored the winning goal for Ajax to help the team advance to its first Champions League semi-final since 1997. There, they would face English side Tottenham Hotspur.
In the first leg of the semi-final, Ajax beat Tottenham 1–0 away from home. In the second leg, Ajax scored twice in the first half to generate a 3–0 lead on aggregate. However, in the second half, Lucas Moura scored three times, including in the 6th minute of added time, resulting in Ajax losing via the away goals rule.
Ajax were in first place on goal difference when the was declared void, preventing them being Dutch champions for the 35th time, but still qualified for the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League.
UEFA ranking
Academies (Youth/Coaching)
The club is also particularly famous for its renowned youth programme that has produced many Dutch talents over the years – Johan Cruyff,
Edwin van der Sar
Edwin van der Sar (; born 29 October 1970) is a Dutch football executive and former professional player who is currently the chief executive of AFC Ajax, with whom he began his senior playing career in the early 1990s; he is considered to be a m ...
Patrick Kluivert
Patrick Stephan Kluivert (; born 1 July 1976) is a Dutch former football player, coach and sporting director. He played as a striker, most notably for AFC Ajax, FC Barcelona and the Netherlands national team.
He was part of Ajax's Golden Gen ...
Wesley Sneijder
Wesley Sneijder (; born 9 June 1984) is a Dutch retired professional footballer. Due to his elite playmaking ability, Sneijder was considered one of the best midfielders in the world during his prime.
A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, he st ...
,
Maarten Stekelenburg
Maarten Stekelenburg (; born 22 September 1982) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Eredivisie club Ajax.
Stekelenburg began his career at Ajax, playing 282 matches over nine seasons in his first spell there and win ...
,
Nigel de Jong
Nigel de Jong (born 30 November 1984) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He is currently the technical director of the KNVB, the national Dutch soccer federation. he has also worked as an English lang ...
,
Frenkie de Jong
Frenkie de Jong (born 12 May 1997) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Barcelona and the Netherlands national team. A versatile midfielder, he is known for his vision, passing, dribbling, technique, ...
, and
Matthijs de Ligt
Matthijs de Ligt (born 12 August 1999) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Bayern Munich and the Netherlands national team.
De Ligt made his debut for Ajax's senior team in September 2016 in a cup game again ...
have come through the ranks and are just some of the talents who have played for Ajax. Ajax also regularly supplies the Dutch national youth teams with local talent.
Due to mutual agreements with foreign clubs, the youth academy has also signed foreign players as teenagers before making first team debuts, such as Belgian defensive trio
Jan Vertonghen
Jan Bert Lieve Vertonghen (born 24 April 1987) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays for Belgian club Anderlecht and the Belgium national team. Mainly a central defender, he can also play as a left-back.
Vertonghen began his senior car ...
,
Toby Alderweireld
Toby Albertine Maurits Alderweireld (; born 2 March 1989) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or right-back for Belgian Pro League club Royal Antwerp.
Alderweireld began his professional career at Dutch club Ajax, whe ...
and
Thomas Vermaelen
Thomas Vermaelen (born 14 November 1985) is a retired Belgian professional footballer who is currently an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Being left-footed, he usually played as a left-sided centre-back and could play at left-bac ...
along with winger Tom De Mul, all of whom are full internationals, as well as Dutch international Vurnon Anita and Javier Martina, representing Curaçao.
Ajax has also expanded its talent searching programme to South Africa with
Ajax Cape Town
Cape Town Spurs F.C. (formerly known as Ajax Cape Town) is a South African professional football club based in Parow in the city of Cape Town that plays in the National First Division. Dutch Eredivisie club AFC Ajax was their parent club and ...
. Ajax Cape Town was set up with the help of Rob Moore. Ajax has also had a satellite club in the United States under the name Ajax America, until it filed for bankruptcy. There are some youth players from Ajax Cape Town that have been drafted into the squad, such as South African internationals
Steven Pienaar
Steven Jerome Pienaar (; born 17 March 1982) is a South African former professional footballer and current assistant coach of the U18 team of the Ajax Youth Academy.
He was a captain of the South African national team. He primarily played as ...
and
Thulani Serero
Thulani Caleb Serero (born 11 April 1990) is a South African soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Al Jazira and the South African national team. Prior to joining Al Jazira, he played for Ajax Cape Town in the South African Premier Soc ...
and Cameroonian international
Eyong Enoh
Eyong Tarkang Enoh (born 23 March 1986) is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who last played as a midfielder for Olympiakos Nicosia in the Cypriot First Division and for the Cameroon national team.
During the span of his career, En ...
.
In 1995, the year Ajax won the UEFA Champions League, the Netherlands national team was almost entirely composed of Ajax players, with van der Sar in goal; players such as Michael Reiziger, Frank de Boer and Danny Blind in defence; Ronald de Boer, Edgar Davids and Clarence Seedorf in midfield; and Patrick Kluivert and Marc Overmars in attack.
In 2011, Ajax opened its first youth academies outside the Netherlands when the club partnered up with George Kazianis and All Star Consultancy in Greece to open the Ajax Hellas Youth Academy. The offices are based in Nea Smyrni,
Attica
Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean S ...
, with the main training facility located on the island of Corfu, hosting a total of 15 football youth academies throughout Greece and Cyprus. Eddie van Schaik heads the organization as coach and consultant, introducing the Ajax football philosophy at the various Greek football training camps.
In 2016, Ajax launched the ACA (Ajax Coaching Academy) with the intention of sharing knowledge, and setting up a variety of camps and clinics for both players and coaches.
Stadiums
Ajax's first stadium was built in 1911 out of wood and was called Het Houten Stadion (English: The Wooden Stadium). Ajax later played in the
Olympic Stadium
''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
. This stadium, designed by Jan Wils, is known in Dutch as . In 1934, Ajax moved to De Meer Stadion in east Amsterdam, close to the location of Het Houten Stadion. It was designed by architect and Ajax-member Daan Roodenburgh, who had also designed the club's first stadium. It could accommodate 29,500 spectators and Ajax continued to play there until 1996. For big European and national fixtures, the club would often play at the Olympic Stadium, which could accommodate about twice the number of spectators.
In 1996, Ajax moved to a new home ground in the southeast of the city known as the Amsterdam Arena, since 2018 known as the Johan Cruyff Arena. This stadium was built by the Amsterdam city authority at a cost of $134 million. The stadium is capable of holding 55,865 spectators. The Arena has a retractable roof and set a trend for other modern stadiums built in Europe in the following years. In the Netherlands, the Arena earned a reputation for a terrible grass pitch caused by the removable roof that, even when open, takes away too much sunlight and fresh air. During the 2008–09 season, ground staff introduced an artificial lighting system that finally reduced this problem considerably.
The much-loved De Meer Stadion was torn down and the land was sold to the city council. A residential neighbourhood now occupies the area. The only thing left of the old stadium are the letters "AJAX", which nowadays is in place on the façade of the youth training grounds De Toekomst, near the Johan Cruyff Arena.
Crest and colours
Crest
In 1900, when the club was founded, the emblem of Ajax was just a picture of an Ajax player. The crest was slightly altered following the club's promotion to the top division in 1911 to match the club's new outfits. In 1928, the club logo was introduced with the head of the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
hero
Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...
. The logo was once again changed in 1990 into an abstract version of the previous one. The new logo still sports the portrait of Ajax, but drawn with just 11 lines, symbolizing the 11 players of a football team.
Colours
Ajax originally played in an all-black uniform with a red sash tied around the players' waists, but that uniform was soon replaced by a red/white striped shirt and black shorts. Red, black and white are the three colours of the flag of Amsterdam. When under manager Jack Kirwan, however, the club earned promotion to the top flight of Dutch football for the first time in 1911 (then the ''Eerste Klasse'' or 'First Class', later named the ), Ajax were forced to change their colours because Sparta Rotterdam already had exactly the same outfit. Special kits for away fixtures did not exist at the time and according to football association regulations the newcomers had to change their colours if two teams in the same league had identical uniforms. Ajax opted for white shorts and white shirt with a broad, vertical red stripe over chest and back, which still is Ajax's outfit.
Financial
AFC Ajax N.V.
AFC Ajax is the only Dutch club with an
initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...
(IPO). The club is registered as a Naamloze vennootschap (N.V.) listed on the stock exchange Euronext Amsterdam, since 17 May 1998. With a launch price of ƒ25,- (Guilders) the club managed to a bring their total revenue up to €54 million (converted) in their first year on the market. After short-lived success, however, the rate dropped, at one point as low as €3.50. Criticism was brought forth that the legal grid for a naamloze vennootschap would not be suitable for a Football club, and that the sports related ambitions would suffer from the new commercial interests of the now listed Ajax. Shares of the company in the year 2008 were valued at approximately €5.90 per share.
In 2008, a Commission under guidance of honorary member Uri Coronel concluded that the IPO was of no value to the club, and that measures should be taken to exit the stock exchange by purchasing back all public shares. Ajax remain on the stock exchange.
Sponsorship
Ajax's shirts have been sponsored by TDK from 1982 to 1991, and by ABN AMRO from 1991 to 2008. AEGON then replaced ABN AMRO as the new head sponsor for a period of seven years. On 1 April 2007, Ajax wore a different sponsor for the match against Heracles Almelo, ''Florius''. Florius is a banking programme launched by ABN AMRO who wanted it to be the shirt sponsor for one match.
The shirts have been manufactured by Le Coq Sportif (1973–1977), Puma (1977–1979), Cor du Buy (1979-1980), Le Coq Sportif (1980–1984), Kappa (1985–1989) and Umbro (1989–2000) in the past, and by Adidas since 2000 (until at least 2025).
At the conclusion of the 2013–14 season, Ajax won the Football shirt of the Year award for their black and rose colored away shirt by Adidas. The annual award was presented by Subside Sports, which had previously given the award to
Internazionale
Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is t ...
, Juventus and the Belgium national team. It was Ajax's first time winning the award.
On 7 November 2014, it was announced that Ajax had agreed to a four-and-a-half-year contract worth €8 million annually with Dutch cable operating company
Ziggo
Ziggo Holding B.V. () is the largest cable operator in the Netherlands, providing digital cable television, Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers.
History
The company is the result of the merger between ...
as the new shirt sponsor for the club. Having extended their contract with AEGON for half a season until December, the club featured ''Fonds Gehandicaptensport'', a charitable fund for handicapped sports on its away shirts for a six-month period before transitioning to Ziggo in 2015.
Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors
Kit deals
Other teams
Reserves team
Jong Ajax (''formerly more commonly known as Ajax 2'') is the reserve team of AFC Ajax. The team is composed mostly of professional footballers, who are often recent graduates from the highest youth level (Ajax A1) serving their first professional contract as a reserve, or players who are otherwise unable to play in the first team.
Since 1992, Jong Ajax competed in the Beloften Eredivisie, competing against other reserve teams such as Jong PSV, Jong FC Groningen or Jong AZ. They have won the Beloften title a record eight times, as well as the KNVB Reserve Cup three times, making them the most successful reserve squad in the Netherlands. By winning the Beloften Eredivisie title, Jong Ajax were able to qualify for the actual KNVB Cup, even advancing to the semi-finals on three occasions. Their best result in the Dutch Cup was under manager Jan Olde Riekerink in 2001–02, when a semi-final loss to Utrecht in a
Penalty shoot-out
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
after extra time, which saw Utrecht advance, and thus preventing an Ajax–Jong Ajax Dutch Cup final.
The 2013–14 season marked the Jupiler League debut of the Ajax reserves' squad, Jong Ajax. Previously playing in the Beloften Eredivisie (a separate league for reserve teams, not included in the Dutch professional or amateur league structure), players were allowed to move around freely between the reserve team and the first team during the season. This is no longer the case as Jong Ajax now registers and fields a separate squad from that of Ajax first team for the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of professional football in the Netherlands. Their home matches are played at Sportpark De Toekomst, except for the occasional match in the Johan Cruyff Arena. Now regarded a semi-professional team in their own respect, the only period in which players are able to move between squads are during the transfer windows, unless the player has made less than 15 appearances for the first team, then he is still eligible to appear in both first team and second team matches during the season. Furthermore, the team is not eligible for promotion to the or to participate in the KNVB Cup. Jong Ajax were joined in the Eerste Divisie by Jong Twente and Jong PSV, reserve teams who have also moved from the Beloften to the Eerste Divisie, in place of VV Katwijk,
SC Veendam
Sportclub Veendam () was a Dutch professional association football club based in Veendam, province of Groningen. Founded on 4 September 1894 as Look-Out, it became P.J. Veendam in 1909, Veendam in 1910, SC Veendam in 1974, BV Veendam in 1997 an ...
and
AGOVV Apeldoorn
AGOVV () is a Dutch association football club based in Apeldoorn. It was established on 25 February 1913. The club played in professional football from 1954 to 1971 and from 2003 to 2013. AGOVV's male first squad plays in 2022–23 in the Tweede ...
, increasing the total number of teams in the Jupiler League from 18 to 20.
Ajax reserve squad Jong Ajax left the Beloften Eredivisie in 2013, having held a 21-year tenure in the reserves league, having also won the league title a record eight times (1994, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2009).
Women's team
AFC Ajax Vrouwen (''English: AFC Ajax Women'') are the women's team of AFC Ajax, competing in the women's eredivisie, the highest level of women's football in the Netherlands. Founded on 18 May 2012, the women's team saw Ajax attracting many of the Netherlands top talents, with International players such as
Anouk Hoogendijk
Anouk Anna Hoogendijk (; born 6 May 1985) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played for Ajax as a midfielder or defender. She is nicknamed ''Noukie''. A full international with over 100 caps since 2004 for the Dutch national team, sh ...
AFC Ajax Amateurs, better known as Ajax Zaterdag, is a Dutch amateur football club founded 18 March 1900. It is the amateur team of the professional club AFC Ajax, who play their home matches at the
Sportpark De Toekomst
Sportcomplex De Toekomst (Dutch for ''Sporting complex The Future'') is a sporting complex in Ouder-Amstel, Netherlands, owned by AFC Ajax N.V. The complex comprises nine football fields and is located close to the Johan Cruyff Arena. Its main fie ...
training grounds to a capacity of 5,000. The team was promoted from the Eerste Klasse to the Hoofdklasse ahead of the 2011–12 season, the league in which they are currently competing. The team has won the Eerste Klasse title twice, as well as the * KNVB District Cup West I on two occasions as well.
Furthermore, Ajax Zaterdag have also managed to qualify for the KNVB Cup on their own accord on three occasions, namely in 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2021. Even advancing to the second round before bowing out to Vitesse on 24 September 2008.
Other sports
Baseball
Ajax HVA
Ajax Honkbalvereniging Amsterdam ( en, Ajax Baseball Club Amsterdam) (), also referred to as Ajax HVA, Ajax Amsterdam or simply Ajax (after the legendary Greek hero), was a Dutch professional baseball club based in Amsterdam. The club were foun ...
(1922–1972) was the
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
team of AFC Ajax founded in 1922, and competed as founding members of the
Honkbal Hoofdklasse
The Honkbal Hoofdklasse ( Dutch for ''Major League Baseball'') is the highest level of professional baseball in the Netherlands. It is an eight-team league that plays a 42-game schedule and is overseen by the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softba ...
, the top flight of professional baseball in the Netherlands. Ajax won the national baseball title a total of four times (1924, 1928, 1942, 1948) before the club opted to no longer field a baseball team, and to focus solely on football in 1972. Ajax spent a total of 50 years at the top flight of Baseball in the Netherlands from 1922 to 1972. The dissolution of Ajax baseball club resulted in the players finding a new sponsor in a
mustard
Mustard may refer to:
Food and plants
* Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment
* Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment
** Mustard seed, seeds of the mustard p ...
manufacturing company called Luycks, while merging with the Diemen Giants to become the Luycks Giants, thus replacing both former clubs.
Esports
In 2016, Ajax launched an esports team, with Koen Weijland as the club's first signing, making their debut on the Global stage of professional gaming. They have since signed the likes of Dani Hagebeuk, Lev Vinken, Joey Calabro and Bob van Uden, the latter spent his first season on loan to the esports team of Japanese club
Sagan Tosu
is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in the J1 League. The team is located in Tosu, Saga Prefecture.
''Sagan'' is a coined word with a couple of meanings behind it. One of its homophones is in Japanese. This symbolises ...
.
Affiliated clubs
The following clubs are currently affiliated with AFC Ajax:
* Almere City (2005–present)
*
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
Beijing Guoan
Beijing Guoan Football Club () is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in the Chaoyang District in Beijing and their hom ...
Guangzhou R&F
Guangzhou City Football Club (广州城) is a Chinese professional football club that competes in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Guangzhou, Guangdong, and their home venu ...
(2017–present)
*
Sagan Tosu
is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in the J1 League. The team is located in Tosu, Saga Prefecture.
''Sagan'' is a coined word with a couple of meanings behind it. One of its homophones is in Japanese. This symbolises ...
(2018–present)
*
Sharjah FC
Sharjah Football Club ( ar, نادي الشارقة لكرة القدم) is an Emirati professional football club based in Sharjah that competes in the UAE Pro League. Their home stadium is Sharjah Stadium.
Founded in 1966, it has been the most ...
Volendam
Volendam () is a fishing town in the municipality of Edam-Volendam, province of North Holland, Netherlands. As of 1 January 2021, it has a population of 22,715. It is twinned with Coventry, England.
History
Originally, Volendam was the location o ...
(2007–2010)
*
Ajax Cape Town
Cape Town Spurs F.C. (formerly known as Ajax Cape Town) is a South African professional football club based in Parow in the city of Cape Town that plays in the National First Division. Dutch Eredivisie club AFC Ajax was their parent club and ...
(1999–2020)
Rivalries
''As one of the traditional big three clubs in the Netherlands, Ajax have amassed a number of intense rivalries over the years. Listed below are the most significant of the rivalries involving Ajax.''
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
are Ajax's archrivals. Every year both clubs play the ''
De Klassieker
De Klassieker (''The Classic'') is the main football rivalry of the Netherlands, between Ajax (of Amsterdam) and Feyenoord (of Rotterdam). The record attendance was on 9 January 1966, when 65,562 watched in Rotterdam.
History Amsterdam vs Rot ...
'' ("The Classic"), a match between the teams from the two largest cities of the Netherlands. During the 1970s, Ajax and Feyenoord were the only two clubs in the Netherlands who were able to clinch national titles, as well as achieve continental and even global success. A meeting between the two clubs became the measure for who was truly the best club in the Netherlands. The ''Klassieker'' is the most famous of all the rivalries in the Netherlands and the matches are always sold out. The fixture is seen in the public eye as "the graceful and elegant football of Ajax, against the indomitable fighting spirit of Feyenoord"; the confidence of the capital city versus the blue collar mentality of
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
. Matches are known for their tension and violence, both on and off the pitch. Over the years, several violent incidents have taken place involving rival supporters, leading to the current prohibition of away supporters in both stadiums. The lowest point was reached on 23 March 1997, when supporters of both clubs met on a field near
Beverwijk
Beverwijk () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The town is located about northwest of Amsterdam in the Randstad metropolitan area, north of the North Sea Canal very close to the North Sea coast. A ...
, where Ajax-supporter Carlo Picornie was fatally injured, the incident is commonly referred to as the " Battle of Beverwijk".
Rivalry with PSV
PSV are also a rival of Ajax, but in terms of tension and rivalry, these matches are not as loaded as the duels with Feyenoord. The rivalry has existed for some time with PSV and stems from various causes, such as the different interpretations of whether current national and international successes of both clubs correlates and the supposed opposition between the
Randstad
The Randstad (; "Rim" or "Edge" City) is a roughly crescent-shaped conurbation in the central-western Netherlands, consisting primarily of the four largest Dutch cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht); their suburbs, and many tow ...
and the province. The matches between these two teams is commonly referred to as "De Topper" ("The Topper"), and involves the two most trophy-laden sides in Dutch football and is essentially a clash of two competing schools of thought in Dutch football. Historically, PSV compete with a workmanlike ethic, preferring a more robust 4–3–1–2 or 4–2–3–1, typically shunning the frivolous 4–3–3 approach favoured in Amsterdam. While
Rinus Michels
Marinus Jacobus Hendricus Michels (; 9 February 1928 – 3 March 2005) was a Dutch football player and coach. He played his entire career for AFC Ajax, which he later managed, and played for and later managed the Netherlands national team ...
Kees Rijvers
Cornelus Bernardus Rijvers (born 27 May 1926) is a Dutch former footballer who was active as a midfielder and later as coach for PSV Eindhoven and the Netherlands national team. He was born in Breda.
Playing career
Rijvers made his debut at N ...
and Guus Hiddink in the late 1970s and '80s. This in turn has created one of the more philosophical rivalries in football, an ideological battleground, which is gradually becoming as heated and intense as the matches Ajax and Feyenoord partake in.
Rivalries with other clubs
Aside from Feyenoord and PSV, Ajax have several other rivalries, although in most cases the sentiment is mostly felt by the opposition and is more directed towards Ajax, with one of them being Utrecht. Although the rivalry is more felt on the Utrecht side then with Ajax, matchups between the two sides are often quite intense. Both teams have fanatic supporters, and clashes off the pitch are more often the rule than the exception. The same goes for ADO Den Haag, with both supporter groups often getting in conflicts, when ADO-Hooligans set fire to the supporters home of Ajax, and Ajax hooligans subsequently broke into the Supporters home of ADO tensions between the two clubs rose. In 2006, supporters from both clubs were banned from attending away matches for five years due to frequent violent outbreaks and clashes.
Further teams who share a rivalry with Ajax include Twente, Vitesse Arnhem, Groningen and AZ, although the latter is often regarded by Ajax supporters as the club's "little brother". With AZ being from nearby Alkmaar and therefore situated in the same province as Ajax, match-ups between the two sides are commonly known as the "De Noord-Hollandse Derby" (" North Holland Derby") and are often very competitive, intense and loaded fixtures.
Past rivalries include local Amsterdam derbies between Ajax and clubs such as Blauw-Wit, DWS and De Volewijckers (which later merged to become
FC Amsterdam
FC Amsterdam was a Dutch football club which was founded on 20 June 1972, from the merger of the Amsterdam football clubs Blauw Wit and DWS. The club Volewijckers joined the side for the 1973–1974 season, in which season FC Amsterdam finished ...
in 1972). However, the tension between the local sides lessened as the division of the clubs through playing in different leagues over time became greater. Years of not competing in the same league resulted in less frequent match-ups, until tensions finally settled between the Amsterdam clubs. The last Amsterdam derby to take place in an official league match was when Ajax defeated FC Amsterdam 5–1 on 19 March 1978.
Supporters
Ajax are known for having fanatic core supporter-groups, of which F-Side and VAK410 are the most famous. F-Side were founded on 3 October 1976, and are situated right behind the goal in the Johan Cruyff Arena, on the southern end of the stadium in rows 125–129. Their name is derived from the group's former location on the F-side of the old De Meer Stadion. The F-side supporters are responsible for a big part of the atmosphere in the stadium, but are also known for rioting during and after matches. If in any match Ajax should win the coin toss, the second half of the match Ajax always play towards the south-end of the stadium. VAK410 (English: Row 410) were founded in 2001 and are situated in the Zuidhoek (''South corner'') of the stadium on the upper ring in rows 424–425. The group was originally situated on the North-West side of the stadium in row 410, from where it derives its name, until relocating to their current place in the stands in 2008. Members of VAK410 are known to perform various stunts, which include massive banners, to enhance the atmosphere in the stadium. Neither F-Side or VAK410 have seats in their sections of the stadium, and both groups stand for the duration of the match.
Through the official ''Football Top 20'' of Dutch sports research group ''SPORT+MARKT'', it was revealed in 2010 that Ajax had approximately 7.1 million supporters throughout Europe. This is significantly more than rivals Feyenoord and PSV (each 1.6 and 1.3 million, respectively), which puts Ajax as the club with the 15th-most supporters across Europe. The study also revealed that approximately 39% of the Netherlands were Ajax supporters. Not only does Ajax have many supporters, but several fans attend their matches in European competition, with an average attendance of 48,677 spectators for every international match Ajax played, putting the team at 12th place in Europe for highest attendance, ahead of high-profile clubs such as Milan and
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
. It is noteworthy that not all stadiums share the capacity of the Johan Cruyff Arena.
Supporters clubs
The Supporters Club Ajax ( nl, Supportersvereniging Ajax) is officially the largest supporters club in the Netherlands with 94,000 members. Founded on 7 May 1992, the supporters club organize big monthly events throughout the Netherlands, and particularly around the official Ajax Open Training Day, which attracts thousands of supporters each year. Furthermore, the supporters group is responsible for the Ajax Life website, as well as the fanzine which is issued 20 times a year.
In 2006, the
AFCA Supportersclub
The AFCA Supportersclub is an independent and official supporters' association linked to AFC Ajax football club, based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The groups administration and financial structure is completely separate from that of the football ...
was introduced as the club's second official supporters' association, through the merger of the Onafhankelijke Fanclub Ajax (OFA) and the Ajax Supporters Delegatie (ASD). The AFCA Supportersclub has a reported 42,000 members, as well as a former member on the Board of Administration of Ajax, in Ronald Pieloor.
The third official supporters club is the Ajax Business Associates (ABA). Founded in 1991 the ABA is the Business club of Ajax. Members occupy the skyboxes in the Stadium and can make use of the clubs' amenities and luxury suites including the ABA club and lounge. The ABA is also responsible for hosting the annual Ajax Business Golf Trophy, an amateur golf tournament where several active and former Ajax players, as well as prominent people and members of the ABA, participate.
Average attendance
This graph displays the average attendance for home matches of Ajax from 1988 to 2018, whereby the difference in capacity of the De Meer Stadion and the Johan Cruyff Arena (est. 1996) is clearly visible.
Mascot
* Lucky Lynx, is the official team mascot.Lucky Lynx Bio ", Ajax.nl, accessed 7 August 2013. (2000–present)
Jewish connection
Historically, Ajax was popularly seen as having "Jewish roots". While it had fewer Jewish players than WV-HEDW, Ajax has had a Jewish image since the 1930s when the home stadium was located next to a Jewish neighbourhood of Amsterdam-Oost and opponents saw many supporters walking through the Nieuwmarkt/Waterloopleinbuurt (de Jodenhoek—the "Jews' corner") to get to the stadium. The city of Amsterdam was historically referred to as a
Mokum
''Mokum'' (מקום) is the Yiddish word for "place" or "safe haven". It is derived from the Hebrew word ''makom'' (מקום, "place").
In Yiddish, the names for some cities in the Netherlands and Germany were shortened to ''Mokum'' and had t ...
city, Mokum (מקום) being the
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
word for "place" or "safe haven", and as anti-Semitic chants and name calling developed and intensified at the old De Meer Stadion from frustrated supporters of opposing clubs, Ajax fans (few of whom are actually JewishAmsterdam Journal; A Dutch Soccer Riddle: Jewish Regalia Without Jews –
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
, 28 March 2005) responded by embracing Ajax's "Jewish" identity: calling themselves "super Jews", chanting "Jews, Jews" ("Joden, Joden") at games, and adopting Jewish symbols such as the Star of David and the Israeli flag.Understanding football hooliganism: A Comparison of Six Western European Clubs by Ramon Spaaij, published 2006
This Jewish imagery eventually became a central part of Ajax fans' culture. At one point ringtones of " Hava Nagila", a
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
folk song, could be downloaded from the club's official website. Beginning in the 1980s, fans of Ajax's rivals escalated their antisemitic rhetoric, chanting slogans like " Hamas, Hamas/Jews to the
gas
Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma).
A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...
" ("Hamas, hamas, joden aan het gas"), hissing to imitate the flow of gas, giving
Nazi salute
The Nazi salute, also known as the Hitler salute (german: link=no, Hitlergruß, , Hitler greeting, ; also called by the Nazi Party , 'German greeting', ), or the ''Sieg Heil'' salute, is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. Th ...
s, and other things. The eventual result was that many (genuinely) Jewish Ajax fans stopped going to games.
In the 2000s, the club began trying to persuade fans to drop their Jewish image. In 2013, a documentary titled '' Superjews'' was released by NTR and Viewpoint Productions which premiered at the
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam. Over a period of twelve days, it has screened more than 300 films and sold more than 250,000 tic ...
(IDFA). The film was directed by Nirit Peled, an Israeli living in Amsterdam, and an independent film maker who offers a very personal view into the game, the lore of Ajax and its relation to
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
from both the supporters as well as from a Jewish perspective.
Forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
* Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Sm ...
, 1964–73, 1981–83). ''Number retired on 25 April 2007 at Cruyff's 60th birthday celebration match.''
''Notes'':
;Executive Board
*Chairman: Frank Eijken
**Board members: 6 – ( Jan Buskermolen, Ruud Haarms, Wendy Nagel, Cees van Oevelen, Maarten Oldenhof and Marc Stuut)
;Board of Directors
*General director:
Edwin van der Sar
Edwin van der Sar (; born 29 October 1970) is a Dutch football executive and former professional player who is currently the chief executive of AFC Ajax, with whom he began his senior playing career in the early 1990s; he is considered to be a m ...
*Financial director: Susan Lenderink
*Marketing director: Menno Geelen
*Director of football: 2 – ( Gerry Hamstra,
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
Dirk Jan Klaas "Klaas-Jan" Huntelaar (; born 12 August 1983) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a striker.
Huntelaar played for PSV, De Graafschap, AGOVV Apeldoorn, Heerenveen, Ajax, Real Madrid and Milan, before joining ...
)
;Supervisory Board
*Chairman: Leen Meijaard
**Board members: 4 – ( Annette Mosman, Ernst Ligthart, Peter Mensing, Georgette Schlick)
Current staff
;Coaching staff
*Head coach:
Alfred Schreuder
Alfred Schreuder (; born 2 November 1972) is a Dutch football coach, currently as head coach of Ajax.
Club career
During his career, Schreuder played for RKC Waalwijk, NAC Breda, Feyenoord, FC Twente and Vitesse. After he had stopped playing ...
Michael Reiziger
Michael John Reiziger (, born 3 May 1973) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played mainly as a right back, currently the assistant manager of AFC Ajax.
After making a name for himself at Ajax, with whom he won one Champions League ...
*Member of coaching staff:
Richard Witschge
Richard Peter Witschge (born 20 September 1969) is a Dutch former footballer who played as a midfielder. He was known for his technique and passing ability.
In an 18-year professional career he played mainly for Ajax, but also represented, among ...
*Goalkeeper coach: Anton Scheutjens
;Medical staff
*Team doctor: Bas Peijs
*Team doctor: Don de Winter
*Physiotherapist: Ralph van der Horst
*Physiotherapist: Pim van Dord
*Physiotherapist: Frank van Deursen
*Fitness coach / Recovery trainer: Björn Rekelhof
;Accompanying staff
*Team manager:
Jan Siemerink
Johannes Martinus ("Jan") Siemerink (born 14 April 1970) is a retired tennis player from the Netherlands. The former Dutch Davis Cup captain reached a career-high ATP ranking of 14.
Career Tennis
As a junior player, Siemerink was the Dutch 18 ...
Floris Stempel
Floris Stempel (January 18, 1877 – January~March, 1910) was the first chairman ever in the history of football club Ajax Amsterdam.
Career
Floris was born in Amsterdam and in 1877 created the first version of Ajax as a football club along w ...
(1900–08)
* Chris Holst (1908–10)
*
Han Dade
Henrich Daniël (Han) Dade (9 February 1878 – 15 December 1940) was a Dutch sports director. He was one of the three founders of the association football club Ajax Amsterdam, along with Floris Stempel and Carel Reeser, and was also chairman ...
(1910–12)
* Chris Holst (1912–13)
* Willem Egeman (1913–25)
* Frans Schoevaart (1925–32)
* Marius Koolhaas (1932–56)
*
Wim Volkers
Willem Frederik Volkers (3 October 1899 – 4 January 1990) was a Dutch football player and coach.
Career statistics
International goals
References
External links
VoetbalStats.nl
1899 births
1990 deaths
Dutch footballers
Netherlands ...
(1956–58)
* Jan Melchers (1958–64)
*
Jaap van Praag
Jacob Philip (Jaap) van Praag (born 11 May 1911 in Amsterdam – died 12 April 1981 in Utrecht) was a Dutch humanist who played a prominent role in establishing the Dutch Humanist League. He was its chairman from 1946 to 1969. And, from 1954 to ...
(1964–78)
* Ton Harmsen (1978–88)
*
Michael van Praag
Michael van Praag (born 28 September 1947) is a Dutch association football, football Administrator (business), administrator and former referee (association football), referee. He was the Royal Dutch Football Association, President of the Royal ...
(1989–2003)
* John Jaakke (2003–08)
*
Uri Coronel
Maurice Uriel "Uri" Coronel (24 December 1946 – 18 July 2016) was a Dutch sports director and chairman of Ajax Amsterdam, a position he held at the club from April 2008 to 25 July 2011. He was born in Amsterdam.
Career
Uri Coronel was a b ...
(2008–11)
* Hennie Henrichs (2011–20)
* Frank Eijken (2020–present)
Harold Rose
Harold Bernard Rose (27 March 1900 – May 1990) was an English football player and manager.
Playing career
Rose, who played as a centre half, played in the Football League for Reading and Bristol Rovers. He also played for Reading Liberal C ...
Vilmos Halpern
Vilmos Halpern (12 February 1910 – 27 September 1969) was a Hungarian football player and manager who managed Dutch side Ajax between 1940 and 1941, before moving to Dutch amateur side NOAD.
He later managed a number of club sides in Switzer ...
(1940–41)
*
Wim Volkers
Willem Frederik Volkers (3 October 1899 – 4 January 1990) was a Dutch football player and coach.
Career statistics
International goals
References
External links
VoetbalStats.nl
1899 births
1990 deaths
Dutch footballers
Netherlands ...
(1941–42)
*
Dolf van Kol
Adolf Henri "Dolf" van Kol (2 August 1902 – 20 January 1989) was a Dutch footballer who earned 33 caps for the Dutch national side between 1925 and 1931, scoring four goals. He also participated at the 1928 Summer Olympics. He played club fo ...
Walter Crook
Walter Crook (28 April 1913 – 27 December 1988) was an English football player and manager.
Career
Playing career
Crook, who played as a full back, played in the Football League for Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers, making a total of 2 ...
Karel Kaufman
Karel Joseph Kaufman (1898 – 1977) was a Dutch football player and manager who managed Feyenoord in 1940, and the Netherlands national team in three separate spells, in 1946, 1949, and from 1954 to 1955.
As a player, Kaufman played for Achil ...
(1952–53)
*
Walter Crook
Walter Crook (28 April 1913 – 27 December 1988) was an English football player and manager.
Career
Playing career
Crook, who played as a full back, played in the Football League for Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers, making a total of 2 ...
(1953–54)
*
Karl Humenberger
Karl Humenberger (25 October 1906 – 28 December 1989) was an Austrian association football player and manager, the brother of fellow player Ferdinand Humenberger.
Club career
Born in Vienna, Humenberger played in Austria for Floridsdorfer AC an ...
(1954–59)
*
Vic Buckingham
Victor Frederick Buckingham (23 October 1915 – 26 January 1995) was an English football player and manager.
He played for the then second division side Tottenham Hotspur. As manager he won the 1953–54 FA Cup with West Bromwich Albion and f ...
(1959–61)
*
Keith Spurgeon
Keith Matthew Spurgeon (29 August 1932 – December 1984) was an English football player and manager.
Playing career
Spurgeon played for Tottenham Hotspur, Margate, Leytonstone, Folkestone Town, Herne Bay and Snowdown Colliery Welfare. In Oct ...
(1961–62)
*
Joseph Gruber
Joseph Karl Gruber (4 May 1912 – 29 September 1967) was an Austrian association football, football player and manager who managed Dutch side AFC Ajax, Ajax between 1962 and 1963.
He also coached Alemannia Aachen, VV DOS, DOS, Vitesse Arnhem Pit ...
(1962–63)
*
Jack Rowley
John Frederick Rowley (7 October 1918 – 28 June 1998) was an English footballer who played as a forward from the 1930s to the 1950s, mainly remembered for a 17-year spell with Manchester United. He was nicknamed "The Gunner" because of his pr ...
(1963–64)
*
Vic Buckingham
Victor Frederick Buckingham (23 October 1915 – 26 January 1995) was an English football player and manager.
He played for the then second division side Tottenham Hotspur. As manager he won the 1953–54 FA Cup with West Bromwich Albion and f ...
(1964–65)
*
Rinus Michels
Marinus Jacobus Hendricus Michels (; 9 February 1928 – 3 March 2005) was a Dutch football player and coach. He played his entire career for AFC Ajax, which he later managed, and played for and later managed the Netherlands national team ...
(1965–71)
*
Ștefan Kovács
Ștefan Kovács ( ro, Ştefan Covaci; hu, Kovács István; 2 October 1920 – 12 May 1995) was a Romanian football player and coach. By winning 15 major titles he is one of the most successful association football coaches in the history of th ...
(1971–73)
*
George Knobel
George Knobel (10 December 1922 – 5 May 2012) was a Dutch football manager.
Knobel was born and died in Roosendaal. He was the coach of the Netherlands national football team for 15 matches (9 wins, 1 draw, 5 losses) from 1974 to 1976. Durin ...
(1973–74)
*
Bobby Haarms
Bobby Haarms (8 March 1934 – 6 June 2009) was a Dutch professional football player and coach.
Career
Playing career
Haarms joined the youth team of Ajax in 1947 and made his professional debut in 1952. Between 1952 and 1960, Haarms made 58 app ...
Jan van Daal
Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to:
Acronyms
* Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN
* Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code
* Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group
* Japanese Article Numb ...
(1975, interim)
*
Rinus Michels
Marinus Jacobus Hendricus Michels (; 9 February 1928 – 3 March 2005) was a Dutch football player and coach. He played his entire career for AFC Ajax, which he later managed, and played for and later managed the Netherlands national team ...
(1975–76)
*
Tomislav Ivić
Tomislav Ivić (; 30 June 1933 – 24 June 2011) was a Croatian professional football player and manager. Often described as a brilliant strategist, Ivić is credited with helping develop the modern style of the game. In April 2007, Italian spo ...
(1976–78)
*
Cor Brom
Cor Brom (27 August 1932 – 29 October 2008) was a Dutch football player and manager.
Playing career
During his playing career, Brom played with Zwarte Schapen, VSV, Limburgia and Telstar.
Managerial career
After retiring as a player, Brom ma ...
(1978–79)
*
Leo Beenhakker
Leo Beenhakker CM (; born 2 August 1942) is a Dutch international football coach. He has had an extensive and successful career both at club and international level. He led both Ajax and Feyenoord to Dutch championships and also had domestic s ...
(1979–81)
*
Aad de Mos
Adriaan "Aad" de Mos (born 27 March 1947) is a Dutch retired professional football manager whose career spanned for almost thirty years.
He has managed teams in his home country, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Greece, as well m ...
(1981, interim)
*
Kurt Linder
Kurt Linder (8 October 1933 – 12 December 2022) was a German professional football manager and player. He played for Young Boys, Rapid Wien, Rot-Weiss Essen and Lyon, among other teams.
After his playing career, Linder became a professional ...
(1981–82)
*
Aad de Mos
Adriaan "Aad" de Mos (born 27 March 1947) is a Dutch retired professional football manager whose career spanned for almost thirty years.
He has managed teams in his home country, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Greece, as well m ...
(1982–85)
*
Antoine Kohn
Antoine "Spitz" Kohn (1 November 1933 – 24 November 2012) was a Luxembourg football player and football manager.
Club career
Kohn played as a striker, and spent most of his career plying his trade abroad, in Germany, Switzerland, and ...
,
Tonny Bruins Slot
Tonny Bruins Slot (1 April 1947 – 1 November 2020) was a Dutch association football coach who was well known for his analysis of matches and opponents.
Career
Tonny Bruins Slot was coach of FC Amsterdam from 1978 to 1980 and assistant-coach ...
, and
Cor van der Hart
Cor van der Hart (25 January 1928 – 12 December 2006) was a Dutch footballer. He is known as one of the best defenders of the Netherlands national team in history, who was physically strong, who read the game very well and who had a qualit ...
Kurt Linder
Kurt Linder (8 October 1933 – 12 December 2022) was a German professional football manager and player. He played for Young Boys, Rapid Wien, Rot-Weiss Essen and Lyon, among other teams.
After his playing career, Linder became a professional ...
(1988)
*
Antoine Kohn
Antoine "Spitz" Kohn (1 November 1933 – 24 November 2012) was a Luxembourg football player and football manager.
Club career
Kohn played as a striker, and spent most of his career plying his trade abroad, in Germany, Switzerland, and ...
,
Bobby Haarms
Bobby Haarms (8 March 1934 – 6 June 2009) was a Dutch professional football player and coach.
Career
Playing career
Haarms joined the youth team of Ajax in 1947 and made his professional debut in 1952. Between 1952 and 1960, Haarms made 58 app ...
, and
Barry Hulshoff
Bernardus Adriaan “Barry” Hulshoff (30 September 1946 – 16 February 2020) was a Dutch footballer who played for Ajax Amsterdam and was part of their European Cup victories in 1971, 1972 and 1973. He earned 14 caps for the Netherlands na ...
(1988–89, interim)
*
Leo Beenhakker
Leo Beenhakker CM (; born 2 August 1942) is a Dutch international football coach. He has had an extensive and successful career both at club and international level. He led both Ajax and Feyenoord to Dutch championships and also had domestic s ...
(1989–91)
*
Louis van Gaal
Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former football player and manager. At club level, he served as manager of Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, as well as having three spe ...
(1991–97)
*
Morten Olsen
Morten Per Olsen (born 14 August 1949) is a Danish football manager and former player. He was the head coach of the Denmark national team for 15 years from 2000 until 2015, guiding Denmark to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, 2004 European Championshi ...
Hans Westerhof
Hans Westerhof (born 24 November 1948) is a Dutch football coach and currently supervisory board member at SC Heerenveen. Besides the Netherlands, he has coached in the United States and Mexico.
As a player, Westerhof played for BV Veendam and ...
(2000, interim)
*
Co Adriaanse
Co Adriaanse (born 21 July 1947) is a Dutch football manager and former player who played as a centre-back.
Playing career
As a professional player, Adriaanse played for six seasons with (now dissolved) De Volewijckers (from 1964 until 1970) and ...
(2000–01)
*
Ronald Koeman
Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is the younger brother of his former international teammate Erwin Koeman and the son of former Dutch international Martin Koeman. Koeman was cap ...
(2001–05)
*
Ruud Krol
Rudolf ("Ruud" or "Rudi") Jozef Krol (; born 24 March 1949) is a Dutch former professional footballer who was capped 83 times for the Netherlands national team. Most of his career he played for his home town club, Ajax, and he became a coach ...
(2005, interim)
*
Danny Blind
Dirk Franciscus "Danny" Blind (; born 1 August 1961) is a Dutch former football player and coach. He played as a defender for Sparta Rotterdam, Ajax and the Netherlands national team. As coach he has managed Ajax and the Netherlands national te ...
(2005–06)
*
Henk ten Cate
Hendrik Willem ten Cate (born 9 December 1954) is a Dutch football manager and former professional player.
In the 2005–06 season, he was assistant to Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona when the team won the UEFA Champions League and La Liga titles. ...
(2006–07)
*
Adrie Koster
Adrianus Cornelis "Adrie" Koster (; born 18 November 1954) is a Dutch football manager who was most recently the manager of Willem II. He is a former winger and former manager of Ajax, Club Brugge and the Netherlands U21 team.
Career
He pla ...
John van 't Schip
Johannes Nicolaas van 't Schip (; born 30 December 1963) is a Dutch Canadian and former Dutch international footballer, who played as a winger. He spent his club career with Ajax, where they won four Eredivisie titles, a UEFA Cup and a Europe ...
(2009, interim)
*
Martin Jol
Maarten Cornelis "Martin" Jol (born 16 January 1956) is a Dutch football manager and former midfielder. He played over 400 games during his career which included spells in the Netherlands, Germany, and England, as well as earning three caps wit ...
(2009–10)
*
Frank de Boer
Franciscus de Boer (; born 15 May 1970) is a Dutch football manager who was most recently the head coach of the Netherlands national team. A former defender, De Boer spent most of his professional playing career with Ajax, winning five Eredi ...
(2010–16)
*
Peter Bosz
Peter Sylvester Bosz (, born 21 November 1963) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. Playing career
Club
A midfielder, Bosz started his professional career played with Vitesse in 1981; after a loan season with then amat ...
(2016–17)
*
Marcel Keizer
Marcel Keizer (born 15 January 1969) is a Dutch football coach and former player who is the manager of Emirati club Al Jazira.
His playing career as a midfielder began at Ajax and was mainly spent at Cambuur, and he had brief spells managing bo ...
(2017)
*
Erik ten Hag
Erik ten Hag (, born 2 February 1970) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player, who is currently the manager of Premier League club Manchester United. As a player, Ten Hag played as a centre-back in the Dutch league for 13 ye ...
(2017–2022)
*
Alfred Schreuder
Alfred Schreuder (; born 2 November 1972) is a Dutch football coach, currently as head coach of Ajax.
Club career
During his career, Schreuder played for RKC Waalwijk, NAC Breda, Feyenoord, FC Twente and Vitesse. After he had stopped playing ...
(2022–)
Honours
Official trophies (recognized by UEFA and FIFA)
National
*Netherlands Football League Championship /
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
2020–21
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
2020–21
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
,
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
European Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
Ajax also won in 1972, however UEFA only sanctioned the UEFA Super Cup for the first time in 1973 so the 1972 edition was an unofficial one. Played against Rangers, winners of the 1971–72 European Cup Winners' Cup, it actually went ahead as 'a celebration of the Centenary of Rangers F.C.' (see below) because Rangers were serving a one-year ban at the time, imposed by UEFA for the misbehaviour of their fans. That victory meant Ajax had won every tournament (5 in total) they entered that year, a feat
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
achieved in 1967 (with 6 trophies),
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
in 2009 (6 trophies), and
Bayern
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
,
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
Football Europe: AFC Ajax ; uefa.com
Other trophies
Ajax have won numerous friendly tournaments, unsanctioned by UEFA or FIFA, including the
Amsterdam Tournament
The Amsterdam Tournament ( nl, Amsterdam Toernooi) was a pre-season association football competition, held in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The competition was hosted by Eredivisie club Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena. It was inaugurated in 1975 as the A ...
Trofeo Santiago Bernabéu
The Santiago Bernabéu Trophy ( es, Trofeo Santiago Bernabéu) is dedicated to the memory of long-time Real Madrid president Santiago Bernabéu. It is a friendly tournament organised each year by Real Madrid at the beginning of the season, somewh ...
,
Eusébio Cup
The Eusébio Cup is a pre-season friendly football match hosted by Portuguese club S.L. Benfica since 2008. It has been played mostly at their home stadium, Estádio da Luz, with the two exceptions being the 2015 and 2018 editions (played at E ...
Chippie Polar Cup
''Chippie'' (''hr2-Computermagazin'') was a German radio program. It was one of the first programs on computer topics, produced by the Hessischer Rundfunk
Hessischer Rundfunk (HR; "Hesse Broadcasting") is the German state of Hesse's public ...
. (''For a complete list, see the
list of AFC Ajax honours
Below is a list of all trophies and awards that have been won in all sports and competitions by AFC Ajax, since the club's inception 18 March 1900.
Football
National championship
Professional level
;Ajax I
*Eredivisie: 28
:: 1956–57, 1959–6 ...
FIFA Club of the Century
FIFA Club of the Century was an award presented by FIFA to decide the best football club of the 20th century. Real Madrid was the winner of the award with 42.35% of the vote, announced at the annual FIFA World gala, held in Rome on 11 December 2 ...
: shared 5th place
:: 20th Century
* ''kicker Sportmagazin'' Club of the Century: 2nd place
:: 20th Century
*Best Dutch club after 50 years of professional football : 1
:: 2004
*Football shirt of the Year : Ajax away shirt by adidas
:: 2013–14
*The Four-Four-Two Greatest Club Side Ever : Ajax (1965–1973)
:: 2013
*VVCS Best Pitch of the Year : 1
:: 2012
Honorary club members
Ajax have a total of 45 honorary club members, from people who have been invested within the club's administrative engagements, to committed players who have excelled in the athletic department. Of those 45 members 40 have since died. Five members still remain, having been reduced from eight members after
Piet Keizer
Petrus Johannes "Piet" Keizer (14 June 1943 – 10 February 2017) was a Dutch professional footballer who played as a left winger.
As part of the " Total Football" Ajax Amsterdam team of the 1960s and 1970s, Keizer was particularly notable duri ...
renounced his membership, seven after the passing of Johan Cruyff and six after the passing of
Uri Coronel
Maurice Uriel "Uri" Coronel (24 December 1946 – 18 July 2016) was a Dutch sports director and chairman of Ajax Amsterdam, a position he held at the club from April 2008 to 25 July 2011. He was born in Amsterdam.
Career
Uri Coronel was a b ...
.
* Hennie Henrichs
*
Arie van Os
Arie van Os (born 1937) is a Dutch businessman and financial director.
Career
Arie van Os made his fortune as partner of the company Van der Moolen. In the eighties he was the director and chairman of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, together ...
*
Michael van Praag
Michael van Praag (born 28 September 1947) is a Dutch association football, football Administrator (business), administrator and former referee (association football), referee. He was the Royal Dutch Football Association, President of the Royal ...
* Rob Been
*
Sjaak Swart
Jesaia Swart (born 3 July 1938), commonly known as Sjaak Swart, is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a winger for Ajax. During his career at Ajax, he amassed a total of almost 600 matches, a record for the club.
Biography
Swa ...
The remaining 40 honorary members who have since died:
*
Floris Stempel
Floris Stempel (January 18, 1877 – January~March, 1910) was the first chairman ever in the history of football club Ajax Amsterdam.
Career
Floris was born in Amsterdam and in 1877 created the first version of Ajax as a football club along w ...
*
Han Dade
Henrich Daniël (Han) Dade (9 February 1878 – 15 December 1940) was a Dutch sports director. He was one of the three founders of the association football club Ajax Amsterdam, along with Floris Stempel and Carel Reeser, and was also chairman ...
* Chris Holst
* L.W. van Fliet
* K.W.F. van der Lee
* Henk Alofs
* Frans Schoevaart
* Jan Grootmeijer
* J. Oudheusden
* Willem Egeman
* Jan Schoevaart
* Marius Koolhaas
*
Jordanus Roodenburgh
Jordanus (Daan) Roodenburgh (23 July, 1886 – 4 February, 1972) was a Dutch urban-architect and former General director of AFC Ajax.
Career
Born 23 July 1886 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Daan started his career working for K.P.C. de Bazel and H ...
*
Theo Brokmann
Theodorus Johannes Franciscus Brokmann (19 September 1893 – 28 August 1956) was a Dutch footballer who played for Steeds Voorwaarts in the Derde Klasse, and then for Ajax where he played from 1912 to 1925 scoring 78 goals in 175 matches. He al ...
* F.H.W. de Bruijn
* Jan de Boer
* Frans Couton
* A.L. Desmit
*
Wim Anderiesen
Willem Gerardus "Wim" Anderiesen (27 November 1903 – 18 July 1944) was a Dutch footballer.
Club career
Born in Amsterdam, he played for Romein and 't Gooi before being admitted to Ajax, where he would play from 1925 to 1940, winning five ...
*
Wim Volkers
Willem Frederik Volkers (3 October 1899 – 4 January 1990) was a Dutch football player and coach.
Career statistics
International goals
References
External links
VoetbalStats.nl
1899 births
1990 deaths
Dutch footballers
Netherlands ...
* Jan Elzenga
* Roef Vunderink
* Kick Geudeker
* G. de Jongh
* Jack Reynolds
* Ferry Dukker
* Arie de Wit
* W.F.C. Bruijnesteijn
* Jan Westrik
*
Jaap van Praag
Jacob Philip (Jaap) van Praag (born 11 May 1911 in Amsterdam – died 12 April 1981 in Utrecht) was a Dutch humanist who played a prominent role in establishing the Dutch Humanist League. He was its chairman from 1946 to 1969. And, from 1954 to ...
*
Henk Hordijk
Hendrik "Henk" Hordijk (19 September 1893 – 4 December 1975) was a Netherlands association football player, who played as a midfielder for AFC Ajax
Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Aj ...
* M.J.W. Middendorp
*
Rinus Michels
Marinus Jacobus Hendricus Michels (; 9 February 1928 – 3 March 2005) was a Dutch football player and coach. He played his entire career for AFC Ajax, which he later managed, and played for and later managed the Netherlands national team ...
* Henk Timman
*
Jan Potharst
Jan Hilbert Potharst (4 January 1918 – 6 September 2008) was a Dutch association football player, who played as a defender for AFC Ajax and for the Netherlands national team.
Career AFC Ajax
Born and raised in Amsterdam, Jan Potharst began h ...
*
Bobby Haarms
Bobby Haarms (8 March 1934 – 6 June 2009) was a Dutch professional football player and coach.
Career
Playing career
Haarms joined the youth team of Ajax in 1947 and made his professional debut in 1952. Between 1952 and 1960, Haarms made 58 app ...
* André Kraan
* Willem Schoevaart
* Johan Cruyff
*
Uri Coronel
Maurice Uriel "Uri" Coronel (24 December 1946 – 18 July 2016) was a Dutch sports director and chairman of Ajax Amsterdam, a position he held at the club from April 2008 to 25 July 2011. He was born in Amsterdam.
Career
Uri Coronel was a b ...
Results
Domestic results
Below is a table with Ajax's domestic results since the introduction of the in 1956.
Continental results
Team records
* Most match appearances: 463 –
Sjaak Swart
Jesaia Swart (born 3 July 1938), commonly known as Sjaak Swart, is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a winger for Ajax. During his career at Ajax, he amassed a total of almost 600 matches, a record for the club.
Biography
Swa ...
* Most goals scored: 273 –
Piet van Reenen
Piet van Reenen born (17 January 1909 – 8 June 1969) was a Dutch former professional footballer who was a prolific goalscorer at Ajax. With 278 goals in 240 matches from 1929 to 1943, he is the club's all-time top goal scorer. He was also the ...
* Most goals scored in a season: 41 –
Henk Groot
Hendrik Groot (22 April 1938 , Ajax.nl, Retrieved 28 May 2013 (Dutch) – ...
* First Ajax player to receive an
International cap
In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...
: Gerard Fortgens for the Netherlands in 1911
* First Ajax player to score a goal for the national team:
Theo Brokmann
Theodorus Johannes Franciscus Brokmann (19 September 1893 – 28 August 1956) was a Dutch footballer who played for Steeds Voorwaarts in the Derde Klasse, and then for Ajax where he played from 1912 to 1925 scoring 78 goals in 175 matches. He al ...
for the Netherlands in 1919
Club van 100
The Club van 100 is the official list of
Football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
players who have appeared in one hundred or more official matches for AFC Ajax. The club currently has a total of over 150 members. The record for league appearances is held by Mr. Ajax himself
Sjaak Swart
Jesaia Swart (born 3 July 1938), commonly known as Sjaak Swart, is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a winger for Ajax. During his career at Ajax, he amassed a total of almost 600 matches, a record for the club.
Biography
Swa ...
, who appeared in 463 league matches for Ajax. There is a beneficiary team called Lucky Ajax, which was initiated by Sjaak Swart. Lucky Ajax participate in at least one match a year, usually in the name of charity, and commonly at football ceremonies to bid farewell to retiring players. One of the prerequisites for playing on Lucky Ajax, which is invitational only, is that you are a member of the Club van 100, having made at least 100 official match appearances for Ajax in the first team of the club.
Lucky Ajax
Lucky Ajax are a beneficiary team that was initiated by Sjaak Swart in the seventies, competing in at least one match a year, usually in the name of charity and/or to bid farewell to retiring former Ajax players. The team is made up of various members of the Club van 100 of Ajax who will come out of retirement for this match to face the Ajax squad that is current of that year. Past participants have included
Barry Hulshoff
Bernardus Adriaan “Barry” Hulshoff (30 September 1946 – 16 February 2020) was a Dutch footballer who played for Ajax Amsterdam and was part of their European Cup victories in 1971, 1972 and 1973. He earned 14 caps for the Netherlands na ...
,
Sonny Silooy
Jan Jacobus "Sonny" Silooy (born 31 August 1963) is a Dutch former professional footballer and football manager. His last team as a manager was United Arab Emirates club Al Shabab under 19. His most successful time as a player was in his period ...
,
Simon Tahamata
Simon Melkianus Tahamata (born 26 May 1956) is a Dutch-Moluccan Association football, football coach and former professional player who played for Dutch and Belgian clubs. He also played 22 times for the Netherlands national football team, Dutch n ...
,
Ronald Koeman
Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is the younger brother of his former international teammate Erwin Koeman and the son of former Dutch international Martin Koeman. Koeman was cap ...
,
Tscheu La Ling
Tscheu La Ling (Chinese: 林球立; pinyin: ''Lín Qiú Lì''; born 6 January 1956) is a Dutch former professional footballer of mixed Dutch and Chinese descent, who played for clubs in the Netherlands, Greece and France. His name has been spelle ...
,
Gerrie Mühren
Gerardus ("Gerrie") Dominicus Hyacinthus Maria Mühren (2 February 1946 – 19 September 2013) was a Dutch footballer who played as a midfielder. He was the older brother of Arnold Mühren, who likewise played for the Netherlands national team ...
,
John van 't Schip
Johannes Nicolaas van 't Schip (; born 30 December 1963) is a Dutch Canadian and former Dutch international footballer, who played as a winger. He spent his club career with Ajax, where they won four Eredivisie titles, a UEFA Cup and a Europe ...
,
Brian Roy
Bryan Eduard Steven Roy (born 12 February 1970) is a Dutch football manager and a former professional player.
As a player he was a winger and notably played for Ajax, Nottingham Forest and Hertha BSC. His spell at Forest culminated in three P ...
,
Stanley Menzo
Stanley Purl Menzo (born 15 October 1963) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and worked as a manager of Ajax Cape Town in the South African Premier Soccer League. He is currently the manager of Chinese Super L ...
,
Peter van Vossen
Peter Jacobus van Vossen (; born 21 April 1968) is a Dutch former professional football player and manager.
Club career
Van Vossen was born in Zierikzee. As a footballer, he played for Beveren, Anderlecht, Ajax, Istanbulspor, Rangers, Feyenoor ...
and
Fred Grim
Johann Georg Friedrich "Fred" Grim (born 17 August 1965) is a Dutch football coach and former player who most recently worked as head coach of Willem II. A former goalkeeper, Grim represented Ajax and Cambuur during his playing career.
Playin ...
. The name Lucky Ajax is derived from the famous "Lucky Ajax" nickname from how people used to refer to the club when Ajax would either win a match by chance, by a decision of a referee, or by coincidence such as was said to be the case during the infamous '' Mistwedstrijd'' ("Fog Match").
Number 14 shirt
As of the 2007–08 season, no player could wear the number 14 shirt at Ajax after the club decided to retire the shirt out of respect for Johan Cruyff, "the legendary number fourteen". Cruyff himself laughed off the tribute, saying the club had to let its best player play with number 14. Spanish midfielder
Roger
Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...
was the last player to wear the number.
Marvin Zeegelaar
Marvin Romeo Kwasie Zeegelaar (born 12 August 1990) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a left-back or a left midfielder.
Club career Early years
Born in Amsterdam of Surinamese descent, Zeegelaar finished his formation with local A ...
wore the shirt number In preparation for the 2011–12 season in one preseason match, while
Aras Özbiliz
Aras Özbiliz ( hy, Արաս Օզբիլիզ; born 9 March 1990) is an Armenian professional footballer who plays as a winger for FC Pyunik and the Armenia national team.
Early life
Özbiliz was born on 9 March 1990 in the Bakırköy distri ...
wore the number 14 shirt in one pre-season match ahead of the 2011–12 season as well. The club stated that this was, in fact, not done in error.
Below is a list of all players to wear the number 14 shirt since Johan Cruyff's departure.
Former captains
Team tournaments
Amsterdam Tournament
Established in 1975 as the Amsterdam 700 Tournament to celebrate 700 years of history in the city. The tournament was hosted annually each summer by Ajax until 1992, when the last edition of the original tournament was played. It returned in 1999 with the backing of the International Event Partnership (IEP). Four teams participated in the competition, played in a league format since 1986. Since its return, the tournament used an unusual point scoring system. As with most league competitions, three points were awarded for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. An additional point, however, was awarded for each goal scored. The system was designed to reward teams that adopted a more attacking style of play. Each entrant played two matches, with the winner being the club that finished at the top of the table. The original competition was held at Het Olympisch Stadion where Ajax played the bigget games until 1996. The Amsterdam Arena (now Johan Cruyff Arena) played host to the event since its return until the last edition was played in 2009. Ajax is the most successful team of the tournament, having won it a record ten times, while Benfica from
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
were the last team to win the tournament, in 2009.
Copa Amsterdam
Established in 2005, the
Copa Amsterdam
The Copa Amsterdam (''known for sponsorship reasons as the'' Aegon Copa Amsterdam), formerly known as the ''Gestion Copa Amsterdam'', is an annual youth football tournament, organized and hosted by AFC Ajax for under-19 youth teams which takes pl ...
is an international friendly football tournament for Under-19 youth teams, that is organized by Ajax and the
Amsterdam city council The Government of Amsterdam consists of several territorial and functional forms of local and regional government. The principal form of government is the municipality of Amsterdam, Netherlands. The municipality's territory covers the city of Amster ...
, which takes place at the
Olympic Stadium
''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...
as part of the annual Amsterdam Sports Weekend, a citywide sponsored initiative to promote 'sports and recreation' within the city of Amsterdam. Each Summer the city of Amsterdam and Ajax invite U-19 teams from various top clubs from around the World to participate in the tournament. Seven teams are invited and play in the competition every year. Over the years, clubs such as
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
and Real Madrid have had their senior youth teams participate in the tournament.Cruzeiro from
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
are the most successful club in the history of the tournament, having won it three times in total.
Future Cup
Established in 2010, the
AEGON Future Cup
The Future Cup (officially known as the ABN AMRO Future Cup, and previously known as the AEGON Future Cup) is an annual friendly international youth tournament which is organized by the Dutch football club AFC Ajax. The tournament is created fo ...
is an international friendly tournament for Under-17 youth teams, which is organized by AFC Ajax and their main sponsor, the insurance company AEGON. The tournament is held each year at the Johan Cruyff Arena and at the
Sportpark De Toekomst
Sportcomplex De Toekomst (Dutch for ''Sporting complex The Future'') is a sporting complex in Ouder-Amstel, Netherlands, owned by AFC Ajax N.V. The complex comprises nine football fields and is located close to the Johan Cruyff Arena. Its main fie ...
, the team's training ground, which also inspired the name of the competition, since ''De Toekomst'' in Dutch means The Future. Every year during the
Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
weekend, six U-17 teams are invited to participate in the competition, while the seventh place for the contesters is reserved for the winners of the "Craques Mongeral AEGON Future Cup" in Brazil, the sister competition of the tournament in
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
and many more have participated in the competition over the years. Ajax are the most successful club of the tournament, having won the trophy a total of five times.
See also
*
List of football clubs in the Netherlands
The Dutch Football League is organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB, Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond).The most successful teams are Ajax (35), PSV (23) and Feyenoord (15). Important teams of the past are HVV (10 titles), Sp ...
Bibliography
*
David Endt
David Endt (born 12 February 1954) is a Dutch sports journalist, author and columnist. From 1997 to June 2013 he was the team manager of Ajax before Technical Director Edwin van der Sar expressed that his services would no longer be required wi ...
, ''De godenzonen van Ajax'', Rap, Amsterdam, 1993,
*
Jan Baltus Kok
Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to:
Acronyms
* Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN
* Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code
* Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group
* Japanese Article Numbe ...
, ''Naar Ajax. Mobiliteitspatronen van bezoekers bij vier thuiswedstrijden van Ajax'',
University of Amsterdam
The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...
, Amsterdam, 1992,
*
Simon Kuper
Simon Kuper is a South African-British author. He writes about sports "from an anthropologic perspective."
Kuper was born in Uganda of South African parents, and moved to Leiden in the Netherlands as a child, where his father, Adam Kuper, was ...
, ''Ajax, The Dutch, The War. Football in Europe during the Second World War'',
Orion Books
Orion Publishing Group Ltd. is a UK-based book publisher. It was founded in 1991 and acquired Weidenfeld & Nicolson the following year. The group has published numerous bestselling books by notable authors including Ian Rankin, Michael Connelly, ...
, London (Translation of: Ajax, de Joden en Nederland ("Ajax, the Jews, The Netherlands)", 2003,
*
Evert Vermeer
Evert is a Dutch and Swedish short form of the Germanic masculine name "Everhard" (alternative Eberhard).Evert at the , ''95 jaar Ajax. 1900–1995'', Luitingh-Sijthoff, Amsterdam, 1996,