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Ajax
Ajax logo
Full nameAmsterdamsche
Football Club Ajax NV
Nickname(s)Godenzonen (Sons of the Gods)
Joden (Jews)
FoundedMarch 18, 1900
GroundAmsterdam ArenA
Amsterdam
Capacity51,628 [1]
ChairmanNetherlands John Jaakke
ManagerNetherlands Adrie Koster(temporary)
LeagueEredivisie
2006-07Eredivisie, 2nd

Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (Euronext: AJAX), also referred to as AFC Ajax, or simply Ajax, is a professional football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands. The club is historically one of the three clubs that dominate the Dutch national football league (Eredivisie), the other two being Feyenoord and PSV.

Ajax is one of the five teams that has earned the right to keep the European Cup; they won consecutively in 1971-1973. In 1972, they completed The Treble by winning the Dutch Eredivisie, KNVB Cup, and the European Cup; to date they are the only team to keep the European Cup and accomplish the European Treble, also Ajax are one of the only two teams (with Manchester United in 1999) to win the The Treble and the Intercontinental Cup in the same season/calender year, this was achieved in the legendary 1971/72 season [2]. They are also one of only three clubs (with Juventus and Bayern Munich) to have won all three major European trophies at least once (the European Cup, the European Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Cup). They were the first team to win what has become the UEFA Intertoto Cup [3]. Ajax has also won the Intercontinental Cup twice.

History

The club was founded in Amsterdam on March 18, 1900 by Floris Stempel, Carel Reeser and the brothers Han and Johan Dade. It was the second incarnation, after a short-lived previous attempt (as the Footh-Ball Club Ajax) in 1894.

After several years, Ajax succeeded in promotion to the highest level of football in 1911, under the guidance of Jack Kirwan (their first official coach). Besides the achievement itself, this year turned out to be another historical milestone: due to the fact that Sparta Rotterdam (a respected and successful football club in those days) already wore the jersey with the vertical red and white stripes, Ajax was prompted to alter its own design with the famous red-and-white combination that they have donned as their home outfit until this day.

Although their efforts were not unnoticed (Gé Fortgens became a frequent member of the Dutch national team for a while) they were relegated in 1914. While they immediately bounced back, they had to wait until 1917 to regain higher level status again: they did become league champions in both 1915 and 1916, however the 1915 league was declared unofficial (due to World War I), whereas in 1916 they did not make it through the promotion round.

Under the guidance of Jack Reynolds (Kirwan's successor as of 1915) the club promoted to the highest level in 1917 and won the Dutch national cup final - defeating VSV with 5-0. Ajax went on to win their first national championship in 1918.

The championship was secured in Tilburg (where they faced Willem II in the league), though not without some consternation: Jan de Natris, arguably the club's first 'star player', missed the train to Tilburg and opted to stay in Amsterdam instead - earning him a fine of 10 cents. In the following season he even earned a six month ban, but Ajax did well in his absence: not only did they retain the championship title, their 1919 campaign was also an unbeaten run for them - an accomplishment that was only repeated 76 years later by Ajax themselves.

Now a regular contender for the Western Regional championship in the Netherlands, Ajax marched through the twenties with regional titles in 1921, 1927 and 1928, next to a few minor cups. The 1930s would prove to be more successful however; with household names as Wim Anderiesen Sr., Dolf van Kol, Piet Strijbosch, Wim Volkers, Jan van Diepenbeek, Bob ten Have, Erwin van Wijngaarden and prolific striker Piet van Reenen, Ajax' period from the late twenties until World War II was so successful that many people dubbed it 'the golden century' (a pun on the 17th century, the heyday of the Dutch Republic

With no less than six regional titles (1930, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1939) and 5 national championships (1931, 1932, 1934, 1937, 1939) Ajax was the most successful team of that era. The thirties were also notable for the final culmination of the rivalry with Feyenoord, another squad that earned many awards in that time, as well as the creation of the stadium 'het Ajax-Stadion' dubbed 'De Meer' (named after the borough of its residence). Until the emergence of the Amsterdam ArenA in 1996, this was Ajax' home ground (alongside the Olympic Stadium for matches of greater notoriety).

As of the 1940's, perhaps in line with Jack Reynolds' retirement (he had stayed - save for a few spells of absence - on for the entire time as Ajax' manager since his entry in 1915), Ajax went through a period of recuperation. Except for Gerrit Fischer and Erwin van Wijngaarden, Ajax got a complete make-over. Now with Joop Stoffelen, Guus Dräger, Gé van Dijk, Jan Potharst and later Rinus Michels and Cor van der Hart as the new icons, Ajax managed to keep its name among the greatest in the Dutch national league. After a Cup Final victory in 1943, Ajax went on to finish second in the championship league in 1946 (behind HFC Haarlem followed by a number one finish in 1947.

They became regional champions in 1950 again, though they never came near winning the championship. Nevertheless, their performance was not an anonymous one, as this contained the famous match against Heerenveen. In that match Ajax were completely overthrown by Heerenveen in the later phase of the match, not even able to maintain a lead with a 1-5 score (the match ended 6-5 in favor of the Frisian side). In March 1941 Ajax performed the opposite: after being 6-0 behind to VUC in The Hague they managed to pull out a draw in the end (6-6).

Until 1954, the year that professional football was introduced in the Netherlands, Ajax had some minor successes, with the regional title in 1952 and a second place in the regional championship in 1954 (equalling in points with fellow Amsterdam club DWS).

Professional football and the road to the top

While professional football was finally permitted in the Netherlands, Ajax was still far from the international top, as was demonstrated in the European Cup match against Vasas SC, where they were overthrown by the Hungarians 4-0 in the Népstadion). Similar disappointing international knock-outs followed in 1960 (by the Norwegian amateurs of Fredrikstad FK, and, in the Cup Winners' Cup in 1961 against the Újpesti Dózsa of Ferenc Bene.

But they did fairly well on national level, earning the first Eredivisie-championship in 1957 and again in 1960. Especially that last title became memorable because of the way it was won; after equalling in points with arch-rivals Feyenoord a decisive match had to be played between the two contenders. Ajax cruised to a 5-1 victory with striker Wim Bleijenberg getting his name on the score sheet in threefold.

Bleijenberg was not the great striker of that time however, that title belonged to Henk Groot (although his older brother Cees Groot also scored a 100 goals for Ajax in his 5 year stay.). Arriving in 1959 from Stormvogels he immediately went on a scoring spree, scoring 38 goals in 1959/60 and 41 goals in 1960/61. He was a vital part of the Ajax in the early sixties, virtually replacing Piet van der Kuil (the star in the late fifties, who left to PSV in 1960) as the new 'man of the hour'. Alongside the man who would later become Mister Ajax, Sjaak Swart, Co Prins, Ton Pronk, Bennie Muller and a young Piet Keizer Ajax added the National Cup in 1961 and the Intertoto Cup 1962 to their trophy cabinet.

After missing the championship after a 5-2 defeat against PSV in 1963, Ajax went descendo in the national competition. Henk Groot left to Feyenoord that summer, and in 1964/65 it went so bad that they were near direct relegation. Things would turn for the better though, especially after former player Rinus Michels replaced Vic Buckingham as the head manager. Ajax managed to secure a midtable spot under Michels, but Buckingham's second tenure was not a complete disappointment as he was the first coach to introduce Johan Cruijff (during the 3-1 loss at GVAV).

Michels started a revolution in Amsterdam, beginning with the return of Henk Groot and Co Prins, as well as the installment of Gert Bals as the new first goalie. Taking delicate steps on the way to the 'total football' that Michels envisioned, he showed no mercy in sacrificing players who he considered not to be good enough. Most notable example of this was defender Frits Soetekouw (who was replaced by Ajax' new leader Velibor Vasović), whose own goal aided to the victory of Dukla Prague in the quarter-final of the European Cup in 1966/67, after Ajax had knocked out Beşiktaş and defeated Liverpool with 5-1.

Ajax sealed their second consecutive championship in 1967. Not as dominant as the previous year, but with a seemingly unstoppable offensive side: they scored no less than 122 goals (still a national record), of which 33 were from Johan Cruijff, at 20 years old already the star player. It was also the season for another important milestone: for the first time in history, Ajax won the double (after defeating NAC in the cup final).

It earned them a European Cup match-up against Real Madrid in the next season, providing them an even greater reputation than they had last year. However, after two 1-1 draws, Ignacio Zoco scored the winner for Los Merengues in extra time.

Ajax won the Dutch title of 1968 (after Feyenoord had led the league for a long while) and reached the European Cup final of 1969 in Madrid. Getting there proved to be quite difficult though. After deafeating FC Nürnberg in the first round, they were almost knocked out by Benfica in the second one, losing 3-1 to them in Amsterdam. Thanks to an amazing comeback, given shape by goals of Inge Danielsson and Johan Cruijff, Ajax returned their favour in Lisbon and knocked the Portuguese champions out in a decisive match played in Paris (3-0). They repeated this score against the next opponent, Spartak Trnava, but barely survived in the away match.

Keeping the score at 2-0, Ajax went on to be AC Milan's opponent in the final. The Italians, lauded for their excellent defense and counter-attacks, waltzed over them with ease. Pierino Prati opened the score after 7 minutes and went on to become the man of match with three goals, while Velibor Vasović was the only Ajax player to get one back at Milan by scoring a penalty. Thanks to Milan-striker Angelo Sormani the game ended in 4-1.

Gloria Ajax

As of the new season, Ajax' primary team was renewed. Among the new additions were national top scorer Dick van Dijk and midfielders Gerrie Mühren and Nico Rijnders, while second team player Ruud Krol was promoted to the first eleven. They replaced Klaas Nuninga, Inge Danielsson, Theo van Duijvenbode (all sold to other clubs) and Henk Groot (quit football after an injury while playing against Poland, while Ton Pronk and Bennie Muller were no longer as frequently in the first XI after many years of service.

With a refreshed selection, Ajax went for another attempt to win the European Cup. They had lost the Eredivisie title to Feyenoord last season, but conquering this season's title proved to be an easy task, winning 27 out of 34 games by scoring exactly 100 goals. For a long while Feyenoord stayed close to the men from Amsterdam, but they had to settle for a second place. In the end both clubs could bring a cup home: Ajax won the Eredivisie title while Feyenoord won the European Cup.

After Ajax reached the semi-finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1970 (being knocked out by Arsenal after defeating Hannover 96, Napoli, Ruch Chorzów and Carl Zeiss Jena), 1971 became the long awaited year of glory. For a long while Ajax seemed to be on their way to the treble (a feat only previously performed by Celtic in 1967) if it weren't for the longer breath that Feyenoord had in the competition. The national cup stayed in Ajax' hands however (won after a double final against Sparta).

Ajax had defeated (17 Nëntori, FC Basel, Celtic and Atlético Madrid en route to the 1971 European Cup final played at Wembley on June 2. There, 83,000 spectators witnessed how Dick van Dijk opened the score against Panathinaikos. Ajax scored another goal in the dying minutes of the game when Arie Haan's shot was deflected by defender Kapsis.

Wrapping things up with a 2-0 score, team captain Vasović could finally lift the European Cup (losing the final in 1966 with FK Partizan and again in 1969), showing it later to the crowd that was celebrating on the streets of Amsterdam.

In the following years Ajax established itself as the new ruler of Europe. Staff and team changes could not discourage the team's power. Whether it was Stefan Kovacs replacing coach Michels in 1971, Rijnders and Vasović' departure in the same year, Van Dijk's departure in 1972 - it seemed like nothing could stop them. Perhaps the greatest example of this was their performance chart of 1972, winning all the of the competitions that they participated in (European Cup, Intercontinental Cup, UEFA Super Cup, National Championship and the KNVB Cup), an achievement never shown again by any other club. And 1973 seemed like a simple continuation of that situation, securing themselves of yet another Dutch championship and moreover, the third consecutive European Cup.

It all started to fall apart when Johan Cruijff left the gang for Barcelona in 1973, effectively ending the reign of the 'Twelve Apostles' (The usual line-up Heinz Stuy - Wim Suurbier, Barry Hulshoff, Horst Blankenburg, Ruud Krol - Arie Haan, Johan Neeskens, Gerrie Mühren - Sjaak Swart, Johan Cruijff, Keizer plus the usual twelfth man which was Ruud Suurendonk until 1972 and then Johnny Rep). Were clubs like Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Internazionale, Arsenal, Juventus and Independiente not too big of an obstacle until then, they could not get past CSKA Sofia in late '73. With the UEFA Super Cup of '73 as a consolation prize, Ajax had to wait for a couple of decades for another era of European success.

Nevertheless, the 'total football' that they had propagated became a lasting memory for many football fans, also because of the great performance of the Dutch national team on the following World Cup - using similar tactics. Manager Tomislav Ivić would later dub the era 'Gloria Ajax', illustrating the impact of their years at the top.

The 1st Renaissance

That same Ivić coached Ajax to their first championship after their heyday, in 1977. After that year Ajax resumed to frequently winning national honours, though impressive international performances were sparse. An unfortunate knock-out against Juventus in the quarterfinal of the European Cup in 1978 and a European Cup semifinal in 1980 (KO by Nottingham Forest) was all that Ajax could do until the late eighties. Especially the run between 1980 and 1986 was disappointing, not getting past the second round for six years in a row. 1987 would become the turning point however, in two different ways.

Until then there was rarely something to complain on national level (although the club went through a period of several internal conflicts) as they won 5 championships after '77 as well as 4 cups. Johan Cruijff even came back in 1981, giving the talented youngsters Wim Kieft, John van 't Schip, Marco van Basten, Gerald Vanenburg, Jesper Olsen and Frank Rijkaard - Ajax's trademark players of the 80's - some guidance. After leaving the club in '83 (after a conflict with president Harmsen) for Feyenoord, he returned once again in 1985 as the new manager.

Cruijff's offensive tactics are immediately illustrated in his first active season, when Ajax ends the season with 120 goals in total on the scoresheet, of which 37 were from Ajax' new great star, forward Marco van Basten. It was not enough to retain the championship however, losing for two years in a row to PSV.

Despite the lack of a championship Cruijff's Ajax did bring a European Cup back to Amsterdam. Following the victory against Lokomotive Leipzig, they could once again celebrate on the balcony on the Leidseplein, this time to show Amsterdam the '87 Cup Winners Cup. They got close to winning it in the consecutive year, but KV Mechelen proved to be too strong in the final which Ajax ended with 10 men.

By that time Cruijff was already gone, as a result of the declining results in the national league. With most of the 80's stars also departed, Ajax continued to compete for the title with PSV in the next years, usually ending in favour of the latter party. Other negative aspects of the period 1988-1991 was the fraud-case in 1989, as well as the European suspension after a hooligan threw a bar at the goalie of Austria Wien in a UEFA-Cup match in the same year.

Things seemed to clear up a bit later that year, as they even went on to win the championship race with PSV for a change in 1990, and came shy of two goals in 1991 for a back-to-back run.

Early in the next season, the coach under whom the abovementioned was achieved left; lured by his former club, Leo Beenhakker went back to Real Madrid. His successor was Louis van Gaal, the former assistant-coach. Like Cruijff, Van Gaal rapidly made his mark by altering Ajax' tactics. Also like Cruijff his efforts were rewarded in his first season at the helm, by winning the UEFA Cup after a thrilling final against AC Torino. Although he did not play the last game of the final, Europe had also definitely met the skills of Ajax' most talented player: Dennis Bergkamp, who had contributed six goals on the road to their victory.

In the Netherlands, Bergkamp had already won 2 consecutive topscorer titles (1991, 1992) but once again the Eredivisie title had to be left for PSV to take. In 1992/93 Ajax even had to settle for a third spot in the final ranking (for first time since 1984), somewhat making up for it by winning the national cup.

It turned out to be the last award that Bergkamp would win with Ajax, as he and buddy Wim Jonk left to Internazionale. His loss was quickly forgotten by an excellent performance of Jari Litmanen on his position, establishing himself as the new number 10 of Ajax. Aside from Litmanen, Ajax attracted Finidi George and the returned Frank Rijkaard, providing the base for van Gaal to build on.

They won the national title of 1994, followed by a Champions league victory in 1995. Preceded by an unbeaten run in the national league to take the title of 1995, the season was a memorable way for Rijkaard to end his playing career, while striker Patrick Kluivert had an excellent start to his, with the then 18-year-old coming off the bench to score a late winner to beat AC Milan in the final of the Champions League. Ajax went on to beat Brazilian side Grêmio on penalties to win the unofficial World Club Cup -- the Intercontinental Cup, also known as the Toyota Cup.

The following season, Ajax continued to succeed on the European front, succumbing only to Juventus on penalties in the final. Van Gaal's success came to an end in 1997, and he duly parted ways with the Amsterdam club.

Danish coach Morten Olsen was brought in. He attracted Danish national team captain Michael Laudrup to the club, and together they won the Double of league championship and the Dutch cup. In his second year at the club, tension arose between Olsen and the Dutch players Ronald de Boer and Frank de Boer, and Olsen was sacked in 1998.

Soon all the team's young stars that had heralded the Ajax Renaissance were gone -- Clarence Seedorf in 1995 Edgar Davids, Michael Reiziger, Finidi George and Nwankwo Kanu in 1996 Patrick Kluivert, Marc Overmars and Winston Bogarde in 1997 Ronald de Boer and Frank de Boer in 1998 and Edwin van der Sar and Jari Litmanen in 1999, together with the retirment of Frank Rijkaard in 1995 and Danny Blind in 1999 every key player of the fabulous 1994/1995 team left Amsterdam; together with the departure of the technical team and the change of homeground from De Meer to the Amsterdam ArenA and the fact that the football club went public by going to the Amsterdam Stock Exchange the AEX index, it signaled the end of an era for the club.

Recent events

Since the success with the 1995 Champions league, Ajax have struggled to rediscover their European form. The only minor encouragement came in the 2002/03 season. Led by captain Cristian Chivu, Rafael van der Vaart, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Mido and the return of a legend in Jari Litmanen, manager Ronald Koeman guided a new crop of talent to within seconds of the Champions League semifinal. Ajax surged through to the quarterfinal of the Champions League, getting past two group stages that contained a number of European heavyweights including Inter, Lyon, Valencia, Roma, and Arsenal. Facing AC Milan in the quarterfinals, Ajax held their own against the Rossoneri, but were finally undone by a last-gasp winner in the dying seconds of the second-leg encounter at the San Siro.

File:Arena crowd.jpg
Ajax in a match against NEC in the Amsterdam ArenA in 2006

Koeman's early success was short-lived. In 2005, he resigned after Ajax' defeat to Auxerre in the UEFA Cup tournament. This resignation was also the aftermath of Koeman's long-standing spat with then football director Louis van Gaal who had questioned Koeman's managerial abilities after Ajax' dry spell in the domestic league — which saw them languishing in fifth position at the beginning of 2005. Former Ajax-player Danny Blind, who, aside from working as Koeman's technical coach and advisor, had virtually no top-level manager experience, was unveiled as their new coach. Blind instantly caused consternation by announcing that the club was to play using a 4-4-2, abandoning the Total Football-oriented 4-3-3 that has become Ajax' trademark. This season also saw the departure of key players Rafael van der Vaart and Nigel de Jong to Hamburger SV, while six others (Hatem Trabelsi, Tomáš Galásek, Hans Vonk, Nourdin Boukhari, Steven Pienaar and Maxwell) revealed they would leave the club at the end of the 2005-2006 season. Blind was sacked on May 10, 2006 after 422 days in charge. New coach Henk ten Cate, who won the Champions League and La Liga in 2006 as the assistant of Frank Rijkaard with FC Barcelona gave youngsters a shot to enter the selection of the first team. Ten Cate said youngsters Jan Vertonghen, Rydell Poepon and Robbert Schilder would be included in the selection, whereas Greek forward Angelos Charisteas was sold to Feyenoord. Ten Cate announced that he wished to return to form and win the Eredivisie in 2007.

Ajax missed out on a Champions League place in 2006/2007 after their defeat against FC Copenhagen (3-2 on aggregate). As a result, Ajax played against IK Start from Norway in the first round of the UEFA Cup September 14 and 28, and won the match 9-2 on aggregate (2-5 away and 4-0 home). Having then gotten through the Group Stage, they drew German club Werder Bremen in the Round of 32. In the first leg in Germany, Ajax lost 3-0. On the return leg in Amsterdam, they rallied for two second half goals to win 3-1, but lost 4-3 in aggregate.

In the 2006-07 season Ajax also achieved some successes with Henk ten Cate in charge. They won the Johan Cruijff Shield after a 3-1 win over rivals PSV and they also beat AZ 8-9 on penalties in the Dutch Cup final after a 1-1 draw after extra time. Ajax was very close to clinch the Eredivisie title after deducting a 10 point deficit from PSV, but lost it on goal difference on the last matchday to PSV (PSV: 75-25, Ajax 84-35).

In the following 2007-08 season Ajax sold two of the biggest talents, Ryan Babel for 17 million Euros to Liverpool and Wesley Sneijder for 27 million Euros to Real Madrid. Luis Suárez came from FC Groningen to replace Ryan Babel. Ajax decided not to buy a replacement for Wesley Sneijder because of the difficulty in finding a similar-position type of player to replace him and also because the deal was finished close to the transfer deadline and Ajax would not rush though any signings.

These events together with Edgar Davids breaking a leg disrupted the preparation for the qualification games for a Champions League place. Opponent Slavia Prague won both matches; with a 2-1 scoreline in Prague and 0-1 victory in Amsterdam. The failure to clinch a position in the Champions League group stage led to great critism from both the supporters and the media, mainly directed at Henk ten Cate and the board of directors. A 1-0 victory over PSV for the Johan Cruiff Shield could not make up for the loss of a Champions League spot. Despite quite a good start in the competition with a lot of goals from both Luis Suárez and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Ajax lost ground again in Europe after not making it to the group phase of the UEFA Cup; managing a 0-1 win away against Dinamo Zagreb but lost the tie in Amsterdam after extra time with the score 2-3 to Dinamo. With these string of European failures, coach Ten Cate has already failed to lead the team to the Champions League group stage for two seasons in a row and no European football at the ArenA for the remainder of the 2007/2008 season. With this result, Ten Cate lost the confidence of the supporters who demanded that the board sack him. A more viable solution came when Chelsea (in the same week) offered Ten Cate the job of assistant manager with a 3-year deal. On Tuesday 9 October Ten Cate left Ajax. Adrie Koster was selected to helm the squad.

Youth program

The club is also particularly famous for its renowned youth program that has introduced many great footballers - Cruijff being the best example. Ajax has also expanded its talent searching program to South Africa with Ajax Cape Town. Ajax also had a satellite club in the United States under the name Ajax America, this club filled for bankruptcy. There are some youth players from Ajax Cape Town that have been drafted into the Eredivisie squad, such as Steven Pienaar and Aaron Mokoena. In 1995, the year that they won the Champions League, the Dutch national team was almost entirely composed of Ajax players, with goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, players such as Michael Reiziger, Frank de Boer and Danny Blind in defense, Ronald de Boer, Edgar Davids and Clarence Seedorf in midfield, and Patrick Kluivert and Marc Overmars in attack. The team was coached by Louis van Gaal, and also featured foreign stars such as Jari Litmanen, Nwankwo Kanu and Finidi George. Its current successes are mostly domestic, notwithstanding some minor successes in the 2002-03 Champions League. Its youth team continues to develop talented individuals like Wesley Sneijder, John Heitinga, Hedwiges Maduro, Urby Emanuelson, Ryan Babel and Maarten Stekelenburg. At the 2006 World Cup, Sneijder, Heitinga, Babel, Maduro and Stekelenburg were included in the national squad, alongside other players from the youth program who now play elsewhere, such as Edwin van der Sar and Rafael van der Vaart.

Rivalry

Although Ajax have been vying for the championship with PSV in recent years, its main traditional rivalry is with Feyenoord from Rotterdam, culminating every year in the "Klassieker". It is a match between the two largest cities of the Netherlands, which are both really distinct from each other. Amsterdam is a historic, touristic as well as a business city (the 6th most important in Europe) and it is the (financial) capital of the country. Furthermore the city identifies itself with artists, creativity and sophistication. Whilst Rotterdam hosts the biggest port of Europe and thus identifies itself with hard, no-nonsense, industrial labour. There have been many violent clashes between the supporters of both clubs, of which the Beverwijk fight in 1997 was the most infamous, resulting in the murder of Ajax supporter Carlo Picornie. Ajax is historically both the most successful and the most popular club in The Netherlands. At the same time Ajax is also the most hated club by supporters of other clubs. Its historic success and with that its attitude, which is often seen as arrogant, contribute to that negative stance towards Ajax. Not only Feyenoord from Rotterdam but also fans of FC Utrecht and ADO Den Haag regard Ajax as their main rival.

Satellite clubs

The following clubs are affiliated with AFC Ajax:

In 1900, when the club was founded, the emblem of Ajax was just a picture of an Ajax player. In 1928, the club logo was introduced with the head of the Greek hero Ajax. The logo was once again changed in 1990, making the old one more abstract. It should also be noted that the portrait of Ajax on the logo is drawn with eleven lines, symbolising the eleven players of a football team. [5]

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 colors of the flag of Amsterdam. However, when, under manager Jack Kirwan, the club got promoted to the top flight of Dutch football for the first time in 1911 (then the Eerste Klasse or 'First Class', later named the Eredivisie), Ajax were forced to change their colors because Sparta Rotterdam already had the exact 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 colors 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. Ajax's shirts have been sponsored by ABN AMRO since 1991, the current sponsorship contract is going to run through the end of the 2007-08 season. Next season AEGON will replace ABN AMRO as the new head sponsor and is going to take the prominent place on the official match kits of all Ajax teams. This sponsorship deal between Ajax and AEGON has been laid down for a period of 7 years.[6] The shirts have been manufactured by Adidas since 2000 (until at least 2009); before that Umbro (1989-2000) was manufacturing clothing for the team.[7] On the April 1 2007, Ajax wore a different sponsor for the match against Heracles Almelo: Florius. Florius is a banking program just launched by ABN AMRO who wanted it to be the shirt sponsor for one match.

Stadium

Main article: Amsterdam ArenA
File:Amsterdam ArenA.JPG
Amsterdam ArenA
Exterior of Stadium

Ajax' first stadium was built in 1911 out of wood and was simply called The Stadium. Ajax later played in the stadium that was built for the 1928 Summer Olympics, held in Amsterdam. This stadium, designed by Jan Wils, is known as the Olympic Stadium. In 1934, Ajax moved to De Meer Stadion in east Amsterdam, where they would play until 1996. During big European and national fixtures the club would often play at the Olympic Stadium, where the capacity was about twice as high.

In 1996, Ajax moved to a new home ground in the southeast of the city known as the Amsterdam ArenA that was built at the cost of $134 million. The stadium is capable of holding approximately 52,000 people. The average attendance in 2006/07 was 48,610 people. The Arena has a retractable roof and was the example for other modern stadiums built in Europe in the following years. In the Netherlands, the Arena had earned a reputation for having a terrible grass pitch caused by the removable roof that, even when open, takes away too much sunlight and ventilation from the ground, and by the NFL Europa's Amsterdam Admirals who played their home games on it.

The much loved De Meer stadium was torn down and the land was sold to the city council.

Supporters

References to Judaism

The Ajax fans have developed the tradition of using Jewish and Israeli symbols to express their allegiance, despite being almost entirely non Jewish in their composition. Regularly, the supporters wave large Star of David flags and scream Joden! Joden! ("Jews! Jews!") to fire up their team. Die-hard Ajax supporters call themselves "F-Siders" or "Joden" — Dutch for "Jews" — a nickname that reflects both the team's and the city's Jewish heritage. This nickname for Ajax fans dates back to before World War II, when Amsterdam was home to most of the Netherlands' 140,000 Jews and the Ajax stadium itself was located near a Jewish neighborhood. Most Dutch Jews were murdered by the Nazis during the occupation, and today very little remains of Amsterdam's old Jewish quarter. But the tradition at Ajax survived. Ajax currently has no Jewish players, the last player with any Jewish roots being Daniël de Ridder.

More recently, the issue has become a significant social problem in that in an increasingly bizarre and racist way, opposing supporters specifically use antisemitism to express their antipathy towards Ajax. This is expressed in chants such as Hamas, Hamas, Jews into the gas (Hamas, hamas, joden aan het gas) or producing hissing sounds that imitate the flow of gas. This in turn does not withhold the 'Jewish' Ajax supporters from celebrating the Bombing of Rotterdam by Nazi Germany when facing Feyenoord with songs like When spring comes we will throw bombs on Rotterdam! (Als de lente komt dan gooien wij bommen op Rotterdam). Songs like this (using the melody of ´Tulips from Amsterdam´) were sung from the stage, i.e. organised, at the celebration of the winning of the Dutch Cup in 2006.

However, hardcore Ajax fans, although almost entirely gentiles, are proud of their 'outsider' image as "Jews" and feel encouraged to display more Jewish / Israeli symbols at matches, using them as a "badge of battle".

Those Ajax fans who are actually Jewish are split on the morality of this matter; some feel it is perversely flattering but many others feel it is disrespectful and racist for non Jews to act in such a way that encourages antisemitic abuse. Dutch authorities have tried to tone down the Jewish symbols of support for Ajax, hoping to lead to a decrease of antisemitic counter-incidents. However, the head of the European Board of Jewish Deputies has signalled his support for the F-siders, stating that antisemitism in Europe would be generally lessened if more non-Jews so readily identified with Jewish culture. The mayor of Amsterdam, Job Cohen, is also Jewish himself and has not condemned the Ajax fans.

However club chairman John Jaakke has asked the club to distance its self from the 'supposed' Jewish identity:

"Ajax is being presented as a 'Jewish club' and some of our supporters have taken to calling themselves 'Jews' as an honorary nickname. I want to state for the record that Ajax wants to shed this image and will do what is necessary to achieve this," [1]

Related Trivia

A similar situation exists at English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, which also has a reputation for having a large Jewish following, where supporters proudly call themselves Yids to diffuse its use as antisemitic provocation by opposition fans.

In the Australian south eastern state of Victoria, there exists the Ajax Amateur Football Club, which is a Jewish Australian rules football club, in that the vast majority of administrators and players are Jewish, and the club has a Magen David (Star of David) on its uniform. Their playing colours are also the same as AFC Ajax.

Players and managers

Current squad

As of October 30, 2007. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Netherlands NED Maarten Stekelenburg
2 DF Netherlands NED John Heitinga
4 DF Belgium BEL Thomas Vermaelen
5 DF Netherlands NED Urby Emanuelson
6 MF Netherlands NED Hedwiges Maduro
7 FW Sweden SWE Kennedy Bakircioglü
8 FW Spain ESP Ismael Urzaiz
9 FW Netherlands NED Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (vice-captain)
10 FW Spain ESP Albert Luque
11 FW Brazil BRA Leonardo
12 GK Netherlands NED Erik Heijblok
13 MF Netherlands NED Edgar Davids (captain)
15 MF Belgium BEL Laurent Delorge
16 FW Uruguay URU Luis Suárez
17 MF Belgium BEL Jan Vertonghen
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 MF Spain ESP Gabri
19 MF Denmark DEN Dennis Rommedahl
20 DF Romania ROU George Ogăraru
21 FW Armenia ARM Edgar Manucharyan
22 DF Netherlands NED Robbert Schilder
23 FW Romania ROU Nicolae Mitea
24 MF Netherlands NED Mitchell Donald
25 DF Netherlands NED Gregory van der Wiel
26 MF Netherlands NED Jeffrey Sarpong
27 MF Netherlands NED Vurnon Anita
30 GK Netherlands NED Dennis Gentenaar
31 DF Netherlands NED Jurgen Colin
37 MF Netherlands NED Jan-Arie van der Heijden
38 MF Netherlands NED Siem de Jong

Reserve & youth squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
28 MF Denmark DEN Michael Krohn-Dehli
32 GK Netherlands NED Marco van Duin
33 DF Netherlands NED Donovan Slijngard
34 FW Netherlands NED John Goossens
35 FW Netherlands NED Javier Martina
49 FW Netherlands NED Willem van Brouwershaven

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
–– FW Netherlands NED Rydell Poepon (on loan to Willem II)
–– GK Netherlands NED Kenneth Vermeer (on loan to Willem II)

Notable Ajax players

Notable professional Ajax players (1954-present)

Notable non-professional Ajax players (1900-1954)

List of Ajax managers

Number 14

As of the following season (2007-08), no player will wear the number 14 shirt at Ajax, since the club decided to retire the shirt in respect to formidable legend, Johan Cruijff, who presented his number for his 60th Birthday, though Cruijff said that it would be better if the best player of the team would wear number 14. Spanish midfielder Roger was the last player to wear the number. [8]

Honours

Official trophies (recognized by UEFA and FIFA)

National

International

Other trophies

Preceded by European Cup
1971, 1972, 1973
Runners-up:
Panathinaikos FC, Internazionale Milano, Juventus 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Champions League
1995
Runner up: A.C. Milan 		Succeeded by
Preceded by UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Winner
1987
Runner up: Lokomotive Leipzig 		Succeeded by
Preceded by UEFA Cup
1992
Runner up: Torino 		Succeeded by

See also

References

  1. ^ "Amsterdan ArenA - Did you know?". Amsterdam ArenA. Retrieved 2006-12-10.
  2. ^ a b c d UEFA sanctioned the UEFA Supercup for the first time in 1973. In 1972 was a unofficial edition and the I Centenary of Rangers FC (see History of the UEFA Supercup in uefa.com).
  3. ^ a b UEFA sanctioned the UEFA Intertoto Cup for the first time in 1995. In 1960's has an unofficial status (See History of UEFA Intertoto Cup in uefa.com).
  4. ^ "Ajax agree technical partnership with FC Omniworld". AJAX-USA.com. Retrieved 2006-12-14.
  5. ^ History of the Ajax logo
  6. ^ "AEGON new head sponsor AFC Ajax". Ajax.nl. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
  7. ^ "Contract with kit sponsor Adidas extended until summer 2009". AJAX-USA.com. Retrieved 2006-12-10.
  8. ^ "Ajax retire number 14". Ajax.nl. Retrieved 2007-04-18.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Football Europe: AFC Ajax; uefa.com

Bibliography

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Unofficial


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  1. ^ [2]
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